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‘What beauties doth Lisboa first unfold!’ gasped Lord Byron in his poem Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. He wrote that line — about one’s first impression of Portugal’s capital — in 1812. Lisbon is still wowing people in the summer of 2025.

It ranks in the top 10 cities worldwide when it comes to Michelin-starred restaurants per capita (it has 17). With its sea views, sunny weather and ornate tiled façades — which attract not just tourists, but digital nomads, in droves — Lisbon was named Europe’s ‘Best Urban Destination’ at the 2024 World Travel Awards.

Moreover, a record 35.1 million passengers used Lisbon airport last year — pretty much double the number who did so in 2014.

And then there’s its art scene, which is positively thriving. The design museum MUDE and the Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian (CAM) both reopened to the public in 2024 after major renovations. A museum and five-star hotel called MACAM — Museu de Arte Contemporânea Armando Martins opened its doors earlier this year, as did an art centre in honour of the late Portuguese artist Julião Sarmento.

‘Everything is happening in Lisbon right now,’ says CAM’s director, Benjamin Weil. ‘It’s as if, in artistic terms, the city had been dormant for many years, but has now awakened — with incredible new energy.’