Here you have the best of the two worlds: The location is as central as it gets, but distant enough from the nightlife so that it is relatively quiet at night. During the day, if you open the double glassed windows, you may hear some students practicing classical music in the conservatory across the street, slow cars over cobblestone, or locals chatting on their way home from the grocery store.
This beautiful attic is the top floor of a typical, old Bairro Alto building, with wooden ceiling, floorboards and shuttered windows in three directions. It has about 50 square meters, divided into two private bedrooms, one bathroom and a bright open space in the middle, including a fully equipped kitchenette. One bedroom has a double bed (1.40 x 2.00 m), the other has two single beds (0.80 x 2.00 m each).
To reach the apartment you have to climb up decent 3 floors (no elevator), and the last stairs are quite steep, but you are re-compensated by some marvelous views over Lisbon old town roofs and towards the river.
If you rent the apartment, it is all yours for the time of your stay. The bathroom has a bathtub with shower and a washing machine with tumble dryer. You have wireless internet and cable tv, a printer in case you need it for your boarding pass. The kitchenette has all that you could need, including dishwasher, espresso machine, toaster, stove, oven, refrigerator, freezer.
When you arrive one of us will welcome you, explain the place and hand over the keys. Being expats in Lisbon already for many years we are ready to share any inside knowledge about interesting spots in Lisboa. Otherwise we usually give our guests space to explore the city on their own and to make the apartment their temporary home.
Please note that the uppermost stairs to the attic are not high, but very steep, so please do not book this place if climbing steep stairs is problematic for you.
We do not explicitly recommend this apartment for children, but only for two reasons: They have to mind the steep stairs, and it is theoretically possible to climb out of the windows towards the roof top. If these two issues are under control of the parents or another responsible person, however, travelers with kids are welcome.

The Neighborhood

Bairro Alto is one of Lisbon's old, traditional quarters. During the day it is a quiet, well functioning residential neighborhood, mixed with tourists passing through and enjoying picturesque facades, small shops and cafés, and dinner places for every wallet abundant. Nearby you have Santa Catarina, with photogenic Elevador da Bica and Lisbon's popular meeting point, the Miradouro de Santa Catarina, called Adamastor by locals, with a spectacular view over the Tejo river, the 25 de Abril bridge, the gigantic cruise ships down in the port and even a glimpse of the Atlantic ocean. Also in walking distance is Chiado, Lisbon's fancy shopping area, where you also find the emblematic Café Brasiliera. Another interesting area, Principe Real, is just a few hundred meters away. Some of Lisbon's recent in-places are there, including traditional and new restaurants, some of them vegetarian, the recently opened Embaixada shopping gallery and an open air bio market on the weekend.
At night, Bairro Alto turns into Lisbon's central and most desegregated bar district, with its typically vibrant southern European night life, with young and older folks, local and foreign, rich or poor hanging out with drinks on the crowded streets until three in the morning. The apartment is fortunately a bit distant from the noisiest spots so that it is a relatively quiet refuge for the night (Note, relatively quiet means for Bairro Alto standards. It will never be as quiet as in a suburb). However, if you walk just 150 meters from the apartment you are on Rua Atalaia, one of Bairro Alto's spinal axes, full of live music, trendy bars and restaurants. If you are interested in Fado, there is Tasca do Chico in Rua do Diario de Noticias 39, a parallel street to Rua Atalaia, which is refreshingly distinct from the usual tourist traps.
Finally, near Principe Real are Lisbon's best known LGBT clubs, open until very late and some of them quite popular also for hetero folks.

Getting around

Bairro Alto and its surroundings are described in all Lisbon guides. As the apartment is so central, one can reach the most popular spots by walking, but you can also jump on the famous 28 tram (beware of pickpockets) that carries you down to Baixa and uphill again to Alfama, passing the old Sé Cathedral and the Lisbon castle, then going to Graça and down again to Martim Moniz.
About 5 min walk from the apartment is the entry to the underground (Metro) station Baixa-Chiado, where the blue line and the green line cross. After one Metro stop with the green line (or 10 min walk down to the river) you reach Cais de Sodré, where ferry boots cast off to Cacilhas on the other side of the river and a train departs that goes down along the river to Cascais at the Atlantic cost. After one Metro stop from Baixa-Chiado with the blue line (or 8 min walk via Largo do Carmo) you are at Restauradores with the Rossio train station from where commuter trains (departing two times per hour) take 40 min to Sintra.
The Metro also goes directly to the airport, but you have to change train at Alameda (green line) or at S. Sebastião (blue line) to the red line.

Luggage issues

Please note that it is not possible to leave your luggage in the apartment after check-out. Luggage lockers can be found at Rossio Metro Station and at the following train stations: Cais do Sodré, Entrecampos, Lisboa Oriente, Lisboa Santa Apolónia, Rossio and Sete Rios. Moreover, there is a luggage storage service called "Luggage Storage at Lisbon City Center" at shop 27 Espaço Chiado Shopping Center at the Mezzanino, left at the top of the elevator, on the SS floor, entrance from Rua da Misericórdia, nº14.