Lisbon rewards the unhurried. The city is all hills and staircases and miradouros — viewpoints — where it's perfectly acceptable to sit for an hour with a glass of vinho verde and do absolutely nothing.

Tram 28, before the crowds

By ten o'clock, the famous yellow tram is packed shoulder to shoulder. At seven, it's yours. Ride it from Martim Moniz up through Graça and down into Alfama as the city wakes: shopkeepers hosing down cobbles, the smell of grilled sardines already drifting from somewhere.

Eat like a local

  • Pastéis de nata at Manteigaria, eaten standing, with a bica espresso.
  • Bifana — a garlicky pork sandwich — from any tasca with a handwritten menu.
  • Seafood at Cervejaria Ramiro. Order the garlic prawns. End with a steak sandwich. Trust me.

Fado after dark

In a tiny Alfama restaurant with eight tables, the lights dimmed and a woman in a black shawl began to sing. Nobody spoke. Saudade, they call it — a longing for something you may never have had. By the end of the song, half the room was in tears, and I understood the word completely.

Lisbon doesn't try to impress you. That's exactly why it does.