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The best independent guide to Lisbon
LisbonLisboaPortugal.com
The best independent guide to Lisbon
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Lisbon at Christmas
Lisbon is a magical location for a Christmas holiday.
The city comes alive with Christmas festivities, and this time of year is adored by the Portuguese who fully embrace the traditions and spirit of Christmas.
In the lead-up to Christmas, Lisbon hosts various festive markets and fairs. The entire city gets extensively decorated with lights, tinsel, and the obligatory Christmas trees.
Tourism really picks up during December, and there is a real buzz about the city. Every night, the nightlife districts of Barrio Alto and Cais de Sodre will be packed with revellers enjoying the festive atmosphere.
Unlike much of Europe, which tends to be gloomy and cold, Lisbon boasts some of the best weather in mainland Europe, with sunshine and days warm enough to forego a jacket.
The only slight damper with all of the merriness and Christmas excitement is that flights, accommodation, and everything tourism-related will cost significantly more than in November or January.
Ultimately, if you get the chance to spend any part of the Christmas holiday in Lisbon, you can look forward to an amazing experience and holiday.
Insight: The Portuguese for Merry Christmas is "Feliz Natal", and Happy New Year is "Feliz Ano Novo."
Related articles: 3 days in Lisbon – Where to stay in Lisbon?
Lisbon’s Christmas tree in the Praça do Comércio
The weather in Lisbon at Christmas
The best way to describe Lisbon's weather during the Christmas holidays is mild but unpredictable. Historical data suggests an average daytime temperature of 15C and a nighttime minimum of 8C, but this masks the variability that is possible. There's an equal chance of mild sunny weather as cool, wet weather. You should not be heading to Lisbon expecting winter sun; however, it will be significantly better than the rest of central and northern Europe.
A Christmas holiday in Lisbon is more about the festive and vibrant atmosphere more than the having good weather.
The temperatures to expect at Christmas.
The average hours of sunshine per day and monthly rainfall
Warning – Many restaurants will be shut for Christmas; always make sure you have a reservation, as many of the restaurants open will be fully sold out.
Christmas Portuguese celebrations
For most Portuguese families, Christmas Eve (24th of December) is the most important day of the Christmas holidays. This is the night children stay awake until midnight to receive their gifts, and the main Christmas meal (the Ceia de Natal) is served prior to the present giving. In Lisbon, this traditional Christmas family meal will centred around Bacalhau com Natas (Bacalhau with cream) with a host of sweet and savoury pastries and cakes.
Historically, the meal was served before the midnight mass (Missa do Galo), and the present giving was done after the church service.
Insight: 'Missa do Galo' translates to 'Mass of the Rooster.' During the service, an image of baby Jesus is presented for the congregation to kiss.
For younger people, Christmas Eve is a night to party and will be one of the busiest in central Lisbon.
Christmas Day is a day of spending time with family, relaxing and eating! Most families host a Christmas Day lunch, which will extend for the majority of the day. The Christmas holidays are short in Portugal; most people return to their normal work on the 26th.
The traditional cake of Christmas is the Bolo Rei (King's Cake), a brioche-dough sweet bread that contains port-infused fruit and topped with glace cherries. It's as delicious as it sounds and can be found in every café and supermarket in the lead-up to Christmas.
Have you booked your hotel yet?
Lisbon is a popular tourist destination, and there is always a very high demand for accommodation.
We always advise booking your accommodation as early as possible to secure the best locations and prices.
The map below shows the best accommodation in Lisbon. If you adjust it to the dates of your holiday it will show current prices and availability.
Christmas markets
Lisbon has fully embraced the concept of Christmas markets, with many of varying sizes scattered throughout the city.
One of the largest Christmas markets is the Winter Wonderland, held in the Parque Eduardo VII. This includes market stalls, food venues, pop-up bars, fairground rides and a selection of Christmas-focused activities.
For a more conventional market head to Rossio plaza, where from the beginning of December, there are multiple stalls selling Christmas gifts.
Lisbon's department stores and shopping centres will be exploding with Christmas cheer and decorations, making them perfect places to visit during inclement weather. The largest shopping centre of Lisbon is Colombo, closely followed by Vasco da Gama, while El Corte Inglés is the premier department store. For a full guide on where to go shopping in Lisbon, please click here.
The main Christmas tree of Lisbon is positioned in the Praça do Comércio, but instead of being a conventional tree, it is a towering cone structure covered in green tinsel…
The Presépios (Nativity Scenes)
A sweet Portuguese tradition around Christmas is the nativity scene, the Presépios.
In Portugal, the nativity scene has very old traditions which are rooted in popular customs. It is customary for it to be displayed from the beginning of Advent without the Baby Jesus figure, which is only placed in the scene on Christmas Eve, after Midnight Mass.
Traditionally, it is near the nativity scene that the gifts are placed and given out to the family once the model of the Baby Jesus is placed in the Presépios.
In Lisbon, beautiful nativity scenes can be found in the Basílica da Estrela and the Sé de Lisboa cathedral.
If you get a chance to visit Evora, the Bone Chapel in the Igreja de São Francisco has the world's largest collection of nativity scenes.
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