Europe’s best city? Lisbon, apparently

Lisbon has been named Europe’s best city. It’s Monday, 19 October. Twenty-four degrees. Air quality: 37 (Good). Here’s what you need to know.

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LISBON NAMED EUROPE’S BEST CITY AS PORTUGAL SWEEPS THE “TOURISM OSCARS”

Lisbon has been named Europe’s best city destination at the World Travel Awards Europe 2026, the industry awards often called the “tourism Oscars”. The city also took the title of Europe’s best cruise destination. The awards were handed out on Saturday night at a ceremony in Montenegro’s Bay of Kotor, the first time the country has hosted them in their 33-year history.

It was a big night for Portugal as a whole. The country won 32 of the 157 categories, including Europe’s best destination. Porto was named best cultural city destination, the Algarve best beach destination and Madeira best island destination, a title it also won last year. The Azores won in the regional adventure tourism category, Turismo de Portugal was named Europe’s best official tourism organisation, and TAP won best airline to both Africa and South America. The Dark Sky Alqueva project in the Alentejo picked up two awards, and the Paiva Walkways near Arouca kept the title they won in 2025.

There’s no judges’ citation explaining the win. The winners are decided by online votes, open to both the public and travel industry professionals, whose votes count double. The Lisbon Tourism Association credits the result to the city’s international appeal and the variety of what it offers, from its heritage and culture to experiences across the wider Lisbon area. Its director-general, António Valle, described Lisbon as “a unique and authentic destination”, one that sets itself apart from Europe’s other big cities by holding on to its own identity while catering to very different kinds of visitors. The association says its strategy now is to attract visitors who stay longer and spread out across the region, rather than just the centre.

The awards came the same weekend that tents went up in Rossio, in the heart of tourist Lisbon, as protesters demanded action on housing.

Bottom line: Lisbon now heads to the World Travel Awards’ global final in Tanzania on 12 December as Europe’s best city, with Portugal as its best destination.

⚡ QUICK HITS

Protesters are camping out in central Lisbon and Porto over the cost of housing, and Chega has announced an emergency housing package. The camps began in Porto’s Praça D. João I just over a week ago. Police cleared it on Thursday, but protesters returned at the weekend. In Lisbon, tents went up in Rossio on Saturday evening, after tens of thousands marched through the city over housing and the cost of living. Both camps were still standing last night, with no clashes reported. The protesters want the government’s rental law dropped, more public housing and an end to evictions of people with nowhere else to go, and they’re now working out how to keep the camps going through the working week. André Ventura, leader of the hard-right Chega, responded with an “emergency” package, including a review of tax breaks for wealthy buyers and a 50% increase in income tax deductions for rent and mortgage payments. He said a budget deficit would be “worth the risk”. He also warned that Chega won’t back the government’s rental law unless it makes the changes the two parties agreed.

A strike by non-teaching staff could close schools across Portugal today. The 24-hour strike, called by the National Union of Education Professionals (SINAPE), covers school assistants, administrative staff and technicians in public education, the people who supervise children and keep schools running. The union says many of them now earn close to the minimum wage despite years of experience. It wants better pay, proper career paths with a chance of progression, and more staff, arguing that many schools don’t have enough to cope. It also objects to how the civil service performance assessment system judges their work, and wants more stable contracts for technicians. There are no minimum services, so if enough staff walk out, some schools and pre-schools may not be able to open safely, even with teachers available. Check your school’s notices and confirm it’s open before dropping children off, and expect possible disruption to meals and admin even at schools that do open.

Lisbon–Porto rail passengers may see fewer signalling breakdowns, but not yet near Lisbon. The government is spending almost €66 million to modernise signalling on the Linha do Norte, the main railway between the two cities, which has had a run of failures this year. A signalling fault near Cartaxo halted trains for almost two hours in September, another suspended services between Azambuja and Santana-Cartaxo for much of an afternoon in July, and earlier this month, planned works and signalling problems left some Alfa Pendular trains running more than two hours late. The money will install a European train control system between Granja and Gaia and modern rail communications between Porto’s Campanhã station and Entroncamento, with the stretch from Entroncamento to Souselas prepared for the same upgrade. The government says this will make the line safer and more reliable, and ready to link up with the future high-speed line. Up to 85% of the cost will come from EU funds. None of the work, though, is on the stretch between Entroncamento and Lisbon, where this year’s failures happened.

UMC - Smart, Easy Healthcare for Expats and Visitors

Needing a doctor somewhere new is stressful enough without waiting lists, referrals and a language barrier on top. Most of the international team at UMC, United Medical Clinic, are expats themselves, so they know those problems first-hand, and they’ve built their clinics in Lisbon and Porto to make getting care easier, whether you live here or are just visiting.

You can get same-day and same-week appointments with doctors across all specialities, with no queues and no referral needed. You don’t need a número de utente, the SNS health number, either. UMC promises appointments that start on time and no last-minute cancellations by doctors. The whole team, doctors included, speaks English, and because the team is international, there’s a good chance you can see a doctor in your own language, from German and French to Italian, Russian and Ukrainian. If you need translation, it’s free.

UMC offers GPs, paediatricians, gynaecologists and other specialists, plus lab tests, ultrasound and other diagnostics, and plans to open a large diagnostic centre in central Lisbon in 2027. They work with any international insurance, and self-pay patients are always welcome. You can book in person or on WhatsApp, with a reply in around five minutes, and online consultations are available wherever you are in the world.

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→ Book your first visit here ←

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🍽️ SPOT OF THE DAY

DUNA KEBAB (ARCO DO CEGO)

Cristina Alonso opened Duna late last year with a simple aim: to make the kebab something people eat any day of the week, not just at 4am. Originally from Spain, she lived in France and Germany, where good kebabs are part of everyday life, before moving to Lisbon four years ago and noticing how hard they were to find here. So she keeps it simple and does it properly: the chicken is bought fresh every day and marinated in-house, and the bread arrives fresh each morning from a Turkish baker.

You choose chicken or falafel, then how you want it: as a döner, open in pita-style bread, or as a dürüm, rolled tight like a burrito. Either way, it comes with lettuce, red onion, tomato, cucumber, feta, garlic sauce and yoghurt sauce, with a hot sauce you can have on the side. To start, there’s falafel with yoghurt sauce or hummus with pomegranate and sumac, and to finish, a pistachio Basque cheesecake. A kebab is €9.50, or €13.50 with fries and a drink.

Worth knowing before you go: it’s tiny, with four tables outside and most orders taken away. At weekday lunchtime, office workers and delivery riders gather at the door, so expect a wait. It’s open every day from noon to 11pm.

→ Find them here ←

Insider tip: go after the lunch rush, when it’s quieter, and ask for the hot sauce on the side so you can judge the heat for yourself.

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