Portugal

Lisbon Street Art Tour

(Last Updated On: 05/02/2023)

One of my priorities during my 3 days in Lisbon was to explore its street art scene. I’ve been hearing so much about how amazing and exceptional it is and I’ve been more than ready to see if this is true. After all when I was thinking about the street art cities Lisbon never came to my mind as the one worth checking, I more tied it in with fado music or charming yet crumbly architecture of Alfama.

Lisbon Street Art Tour

When it turned out the hostel I was staying at – Lisbon Destination Hostel – organizes street art tours I was really eager to join! After going for the street art tour in Buenos Aires I figured this is the best way to learn about the local scene, not only to look at amazing works but also to hear stories behind them. And I wasn’t disappointed! The Lisbon street art tour was pretty great, we’ve managed to see works I’d probably never have found by myself and altogether I had a wonderful time among other street art fans. There were only 5 of us plus two guides – young guys who really knew a lot about the street art and could answer just about every question related to it (and even more!)

Lisbon Street Art Tour

Lisbon Street Art Tour

We hanged out mostly in the spots outside of the downtown Lisbon. There was an underway passage next to the train stop, the newest hip and creative spaces of Lisbon, the first legal street art wall in the city or the area around the mental care hospital. Every and each of these places had some exceptional street art works, created both by local and international artists with the use of some incredible techniques. I can easily say that some of the murals I’ve seen on that day were among the best I’ve ever encountered. To my great surprise I also found Mr. Chat – crazy grinning cat that I’ve seen before in Sarajevo or Pristina, Kosovo!

Lisbon Street Art Tour

Lisbon Street Art Tour

Lisbon Street Art Tour

One of the reason why I enjoy street art so much is its creative way of talking about important things. And Lisbon didn’t disappoint me here. The city is full of murals with political of social meaning, bringing people’s attention to issues that need to be talked about. That’s what made Lisbon quite an unique destination for me and I enjoyed every piece there so much!

Lisbon Street Art Tour

Lisbon Street Art Tour

Lisbon Street Art Tour

I was also impressed by the way some of the works were made in. It was the first time I’ve seen the street art being sculpted on the wall, creating incredible faces of people. The Portuguese artist Vhils is behind it and seeing his work left me speechless each time. It was probably the most creative technique I’ve ever encountered.

Lisbon Street Art Tour

Lisbon Street Art Tour

What I also really liked about street art in Lisbon was how the work used some of the local patterns like azulejos (blue tiles that can be found all over the country and are probably the most Portuguese thing you can think of). We’ve seen pretty many of these and what’s even funnier some of the stencils were not done properly. I’d never have noticed that by myself!

Lisbon Street Art Tour

The tour lasted almost 4 hours and I honestly don’t know how the time has passed so quickly. We covered a really big area of the city and I really felt like I learnt a lot about the Lisbon street art scene. The tour was definitely a highlight of my stay in the city and a wonderful way to explore its alternative side. I can totally recommend it to everyone who want to experience something more than just a beautiful sights of Lisbon! And yes, the rumours were true, the capital of Portugal really is one of the best street art cities in the world that can easily compete with Berlin, Athens or Rio de Janeiro.

Lisbon Street Art Tour

Lisbon Street Art Tour

Have you ever been on a street art tour? What are your favourite street art cities?


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Note: The street art tour by Lisbon Destination Tours starts from the Rossio Train Station at 10am on Tuesdays and Sundays. It costs 18.75€/person. I was their guest at the tour however all opinion remain my own, as always.

If you think of visiting Portugal or just want to read more about the country take a look what else I wrote about it!

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46 Comments

  • Reply
    Esther
    28/04/2015 at 06:53

    Cool! I’ll be visiting Lisbon in a couple of weeks and the streetart is definitely on the top of my list.

    • Reply
      kami
      10/05/2015 at 09:18

      You’ll love it for sure, it’s pretty amazing!

  • Reply
    kamieverywhere
    28/04/2015 at 11:29

    Super! widzę parę nowych rzeczy, które pojawiły się na lizbońskich murach od mojej ostatniej wizyty – już wiem, gdzie się udam w czerwcu :)

    • Reply
      kami
      10/05/2015 at 09:18

      A ktore nowe sie pojawily?

  • Reply
    Agnieszka
    28/04/2015 at 12:33

    Nie znałam tego oblicza Lizbony. Dzięki!

    • Reply
      kami
      10/05/2015 at 09:19

      Polecam sie :) calkiem fantastyczny street art tam maja!

  • Reply
    Agnieszka /Zależna w podróży
    28/04/2015 at 17:43

    Ten ostatni to też Whils? Rewelacyjny!

    Naprawdę super! Jak się jedzie do Wiednia polskim busem, to w Bratysławie przejeżdża się obok oazy street artu. Wczoraj sobie podziwiałam. Też dawały radę.

    • Reply
      kami
      18/05/2015 at 22:04

      tak, ale w duecie z Pixel Pancho!

      muszę w końcu tą Bratysławę odczarować! a jak jest street art to już w ogóle muszę! :)

  • Reply
    Magdalena
    28/04/2015 at 18:45

    Until debt tear us apart:) Świetny post!

    • Reply
      kami
      10/05/2015 at 09:21

      Najlepszy byl ten napis! Dzieki :)

  • Reply
    Marcin Wesołowski
    28/04/2015 at 20:51

    Kompletnie inna Lizbona od tej, którą poznałem! Równie piękna!

    • Reply
      kami
      10/05/2015 at 09:21

      Przy kolejnej okazji odczaruj taka Lizbone, naprawde daje radę!

  • Reply
    balkanyrudej
    29/04/2015 at 09:51

    This “wall cat” looks so alive! Street art can be so trully inspirational. Thanks for sharing with us those Lisbon street art places :)

    • Reply
      kami
      18/05/2015 at 22:05

      It really is inspirational, or has a big meaning! Thank you for your nice comment :)

  • Reply
    Mr_Szpak
    29/04/2015 at 10:00

    Muralia zawsze na topie… :))) niektore wyjatkowo dobre… :)))

    • Reply
      kami
      18/05/2015 at 22:07

      ba, rewelacyjne!

  • Reply
    Hannah
    29/04/2015 at 10:51

    Don’t you love it when you only have a few people in your tour? You get so much more out of it I find. LOVE the sculpted art in the buildings, I’ve never seen anything like that either.

    • Reply
      kami
      31/05/2015 at 14:46

      To be honest I just can’t imagine myself at the tour with 20+ people, it would be just painful! ;)

  • Reply
    Alli
    29/04/2015 at 13:53

    Very interesting artwork! A lot of it I find very “Kafka-esque!” It’s dark . . . but bright and lively at the same time.

    • Reply
      kami
      31/05/2015 at 14:56

      you’re right, I haven’t thought of it that way! :)

  • Reply
    Karol Werner
    29/04/2015 at 16:35

    Aż mi się przypomniał Tadżykistan i spotkane kilkukrotnie tam domy, gdzie też układali wielkie kontenery jeden na drugim, a od góry zamykali je najzwyklejszym dachem spadzistym….

    • Reply
      kami
      31/05/2015 at 14:57

      hmmm, interesująca koncepcja! masz zdjęcia?

  • Reply
    Tim
    29/04/2015 at 17:48

    Very cool. Some amazing street art featured here; thought provoking and hopefully effective.

    • Reply
      kami
      31/05/2015 at 15:07

      I totally agree!

  • Reply
    Julia
    29/04/2015 at 21:57

    Kama, you are the Street Art Master! How do you find all that places?! The first one is my favourite <3

    • Reply
      kami
      31/05/2015 at 15:08

      I don’t know, it’s just there! :D Very often I don’t even look for those :)

  • Reply
    Sam
    30/04/2015 at 14:02

    How did we miss all this amazing street art?! I don’t remember seeing any of these pieces. Clearly we should’ve done that tour. Bonus: your tour guide was pretty hot!

    • Reply
      kami
      31/05/2015 at 15:22

      yes he was ;) You definitely should have gone for the tour! It was so much fun and all the pieces were incredible! There’s just too much street art in Lisbon to see everything ;)

  • Reply
    Magda
    30/04/2015 at 19:27

    I love street art and I have many of the same images in my archive.

    • Reply
      kami
      31/05/2015 at 15:27

      What’s your favourite street art city, Magda?

  • Reply
    Ewa
    30/04/2015 at 19:59

    I have never known this kind of Lisbon. Maybe when I return there I will explore some as well :)

    • Reply
      kami
      31/05/2015 at 15:27

      you definitely should, both going back and exploring! :)

  • Reply
    Stef
    04/05/2015 at 00:13

    I didn’t go on a street art tour in Lisbon but already getting lost in the city and seeing all those street art was beautiful. One of the best cities for street art!

    • Reply
      kami
      31/05/2015 at 15:28

      Definitely! Too bad you missed the tour, it was so interesting!

  • Reply
    Jenna
    04/05/2015 at 08:19

    I love street art! Wonderful photos! I will definitely have to make it to Lisbon to check out all the art sometime!

    • Reply
      kami
      31/05/2015 at 15:28

      you definitely should! Lisbon is great and not only because of the street art! :)

  • Reply
    antonette - we12travel
    05/05/2015 at 13:52

    I found the best street art in Lisbon close to our hotel, it said “Die with memories, not dreams” -> which is exactly how I’m living my life. Lisbon’s street art was awesome!

    • Reply
      kami
      31/05/2015 at 15:29

      ah, what a beautiful sentence! Too bad I haven’t seen it! Lisbon street art is just the best!

  • Reply
    Rafał Tetzlaff
    10/06/2015 at 19:53

    Art kobiety z robotem i mężczyzny ze statkiem wymiatają. Bardzo fajmy wpis ukazujący inne oblicze tego pięknego miasta. Byłem dwa razy, ale szczerze powiem, że nigdy nie zwracałem większej uwagi na sztukę uliczną.

    • Reply
      kami
      27/01/2016 at 09:04

      akurat oba tego samego artysty, Vhilsa – mistrzowskie są! Ostatnio sztuka uliczna wszędzie się pojawia, ale w Lizbonie jest na naprawdę niezłym poziomie!

  • Reply
    Aleksandra
    11/06/2015 at 18:26

    Great Pictgures,

    First Street Art with the Cat is stunning. and “pray for portugal” as well.
    Wish to visit Lisbon too !

    • Reply
      kami
      27/01/2016 at 09:05

      Thanks! I think that overall the street art scene in Lisbon is really incredible! Hope you will visit the city soon!

  • Reply
    Iza
    07/09/2015 at 11:46

    Beautiful. Did you see street art in Poland for example in Lodz?

    • Reply
      kami
      27/01/2016 at 09:07

      Thanks! I’ve seen lots of street art in Poland (I’m surrounded by some of the great pieces here in Warsaw) yet I haven’t explored the street art scene in Łódź! That’s plan for this year!

  • Reply
    Jamie
    23/01/2016 at 18:59

    Great pictures :) I think Lisbon’s street art is amazing and it’s the best way to experience the city and the Portuguese culture.

    • Reply
      kami
      27/01/2016 at 09:23

      Thank you! Lisbon really has one of the best street art scenes in Europe!

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