Is Lisbon Safe for Solo Female Travelers?

Lisbon is generally safe for solo female travelers. The city maintains a low crime rate, and the locals are usually friendly and helpful. Daytime travel is especially safe, but it's advised to stick to well-lit areas and be cautious at night. Beware of pickpockets in crowded places and maintain basic cautious behavior.

Safety rating

4.7 /5

Based on 45 experiences

4.5 /5

Based on research and crime data

Safety overview

Safety at night:Safe

Lisbon is generally a safe city, even at night. Like any other city, it has its areas of concern; however, the central and tourist areas are well lit and very active, making it safer to go around. Vigilance is still advised, particularly in less-traveled areas and the city's outskirts, just like in any other city worldwide. Nonetheless, instances of serious crime are relatively low. Hotels, restaurants, and bars are also usually open late into the night which can contribute to overall safety. Public transport services like trams, buses, and the metro also operate until late, providing safe transit options. It’s always helpful to plan your returns at night and be cautious of your surroundings to maintain your safety.

Public transportation: Safe

Public transportation in Lisbon including trams, buses, and metros, is generally safe and reliable. It is used frequently by both locals and tourists. However, during peak hours or in crowded conditions, be aware of pickpockets. Late at night, consider using taxis or rideshares for an extra level of safety.

Street harassment: Low

Lisbon is generally known for its friendly and respectful locals. Harassment on the streets is not common. However, like any other big city, it's always advised to remain vigilant and aware of your surroundings, especially while walking alone at night or in less crowded areas.

Petty crimes:Low

Lisbon is generally a safe city for solo female travelers with a relatively low occurrence of petty crimes. Crimes such as pickpocketing and bag snatching are occasionally reported, primarily in crowded, tourist-filled areas and on public transportation. However, by being cautious, mindful of your belongings, and avoiding less populated areas at night, the risk of experiencing petty crime can be diminished significantly.

Tap water:Very safe

Tap water in Lisbon is perfectly safe to drink. It is treated and monitored according to EU standards making it clean and reliable. Bottled water isn't necessary unless preferred for the taste.

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Travel experiences

Overall rating

4.8 /5

based on 45 experiences

Rating summary

Things to do

4.9/5

Safety

4.7/5

Food

4.8/5

Budget-friendly

4.1/5

Group travel experience

Me and my friend spent our holiday in Portugal for 2 weeks. We were in Lisbon, Porto, Sagres, & Lagos. Me and my friend are queer we felt safe & were also able to find some bars and clubs to go out to. Our hostel experiences were also great. Price performance ratio of hostels and food was also good. Lisbon is generally more expensive tho. There are many activities to do in each city and surfing in Sagres is really recommendable.

Posted: November 29, 2023
Things to do: 5/5Food: 5/5Budget-friendly: 5/5Safety: 5/5
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Ami

Ami (34)

India

Solo travel experience

What a wonderful city, that is easy to commute, make friends in, has a dozen places to explore and feels modern with an old world charm. Great bars, things to see and do too. Sit by the river grabbing a beer or go watch a football match, grab a drink at insolito with the city's best views or catch the fado at povo or in alfama

Posted: November 24, 2023Experienced: November, 2023
Things to do: 5/5Food: 5/5Budget-friendly: 5/5Safety: 5/5
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Solo travel experience

One of the most amazing cities I’ve ever been to as a female solo traveller! Beautiful, so much to do, so much amazing food and so perfectly safe. The locals are the kindest people I have ever met. You will also get some of the best hotels in the world there. I would I recommend to everyone and anyone!

Posted: November 21, 2023
Things to do: 5/5Food: 5/5Budget-friendly: 5/5Safety: 5/5
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Couple travel experience

LOVED Lisbon!! It was a very vibrant and creative city with so much passion and character. Very easy to get around on public transport with trains cheap and easy to catch. We stayed in Lumiar and found it very safe and friendly with lots of cafes and delicious restaurants around. It wasn’t touristy and was very close to a train station that took 30 mins to get into the city. The food was outstanding. Bread and olives are brought out for free at the start of a meal at most Portuguese restaurants and every meal is prepared with love and care. Perfect destination if you’re a foodie. Very budget friendly overall! Food and accommodation is well priced. I’d recommend going in the off season and staying in a hotel rather than Airbnb as locals mentioned that they are being priced out of the city and their rentals due Airbnb and mass tourism. If you decide to go that’s something to keep in mind. It’s very important to respect the culture, learn at least some of the language and try your best to use it, support small businesses and ask for advice and recommendations from locals on places to eat and try and visit these places! Beautiful city and culture! We did more travelling around Portugal and it’s now one of my favourite countries to visit in Europe.

Posted: November 13, 2023Experienced: May, 2023
Things to do: 5/5Food: 5/5Budget-friendly: 5/5Safety: 4/5
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Solo travel experience

I traveled solo in Lisbon last November and loved it. The city is very walkable and there is so much to see. I always felt safe but didn’t walk down dark alleys at night. I stayed where other people were.

Posted: October 2, 2023
Things to do: 5/5Food: 5/5Budget-friendly: 5/5Safety: 5/5
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Solo travel experience

I didn’t feel safe all of the time, the streets felt grimy at times and it felt like people were watching me. I also saw cockroaches in the streets. I’ve been to many big cities and I was disappointed by Lisbon - the only reason I would go back would be for the day trips. I fell in love with Sintra and Tomar. Lisbon in itself was cheap.

Posted: September 30, 2023
Things to do: 5/5Food: 5/5Budget-friendly: 4/5Safety: 3/5
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Solo travel experience

Beautiful experience. Food, history, landscapes, view everything was amazing. The yellow trams give a rustic old world feeling. The dock views are mesmerizing. Highly recommend port wine and their custard dessert.

Posted: September 21, 2023Experienced: May, 2023
Things to do: 5/5Food: 5/5Budget-friendly: 5/5Safety: 5/5
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Solo travel experience

Lisbon is a beautiful city and very easy to navigate. I went on an amazing tour from the city to the beautiful Sintra and Cascais which is so worth it. I cannot recommend this city enough.

Posted: August 9, 2023
Things to do: 5/5Food: 5/5Budget-friendly: 5/5Safety: 5/5
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Group travel experience

Overall Lisbon feels safe during daytime, but after dark I can imagine it could feel a bit less safe as a woman alone at the less crowded places. Besides that, Lisbon is a very pretty city to visit! (Be prepared to do A LOT of steep streets and stairs tho🤣) I would totally recommend visiting sintra and the tile museum of Lisboa. Just wandering around in the city is also the best way to discover the beauty of the city. As for food, there are some amazing brunch places if you like that. (Eat pray love, Heim café,…) The transport was very good, lots of busses!

Posted: July 30, 2023
Things to do: 4/5Food: 4/5Budget-friendly: 4/5Safety: 3/5
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Solo travel experience

I was solo in Lisbon and it was super safe. Absolutely stunning and the food was amazing. Met a lot of other solo travelers there randomly throughout my stay. Transportation was super easy and there was always someone somewhere willing to help in good faith in my experience.

Posted: July 19, 2023
Things to do: 5/5Food: 5/5Budget-friendly: 5/5Safety: 5/5
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Meet locals in Lisbon

Eunice

Eunice

Speaking

About Me

I'm a girl from a small town that loves traveling, meeting new people, learning about different culture and always learning from others people experience

Countries I’ve Visited

🇦🇴 Angola, 🇧🇷 Brazil, 🇭🇷 Croatia, 🇨🇳 China, 🇫🇷 France, 🇮🇹 Italy, 🇰🇪 Kenya, 🇲🇻 Maldives, 🇲🇺 Mauritius, 🇲🇿 Mozambique, 🇳🇦 Namibia, 🇵🇹 Portugal, 🇸🇨 Seychelles, 🇿🇦 South Africa, 🇨🇭 Switzerland, 🇹🇿 Tanzania, 🇹🇷 Turkey, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom, 🇪🇸 Spain, 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates

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Susana

Susana

Speaking

About Me

Hello! My name is Susana, I’m from Madeira island but live in Lisbon. I’m finishing my master degree in Data Science. I’m planning on doing an interrail during the month of September:)

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WezaS

WezaS

Speaking

About Me

I am simple, friendly, as well as fragrant, lively, intelligent, polite and delicious. you'll have good company for sure, if you go with me, of course

Countries I’ve Visited

🇦🇺 Australia, 🇧🇪 Belgium, 🇧🇷 Brazil, 🇨🇦 Canada, 🇩🇪 Germany, 🇬🇷 Greece, 🇮🇹 Italy, 🇱🇧 Lebanon, 🇱🇺 Luxembourg, 🇪🇸 Spain, 🇹🇷 Turkey, 🇵🇹 Portugal, 🇲🇿 Mozambique, 🇲🇻 Maldives, 🇫🇷 France, 🇪🇬 Egypt

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Stay with locals in Lisbon

Maria

Maria

Speaking

You can stay for:

1 day

About me

Hi all! I’m Maria from Portugal :) I work in health and am also studying law at the moment. I love traveling, meeting new people, Yoga, music, hiking and of course being with family and friends:) I play the saxophone and am also a Yoga instructor so happy to share some sessions with you! :D

Countries I’ve Visited

🇦🇷 Argentina, 🇦🇺 Australia, 🇦🇹 Austria, 🇧🇪 Belgium, 🇧🇷 Brazil, 🇰🇭 Cambodia, 🇨🇳 China, 🇨🇿 Czech Republic, 🇪🇬 Egypt, 🇫🇷 France, 🇩🇪 Germany, 🇬🇮 Gibraltar, 🇬🇷 Greece, 🇭🇰 Hong Kong, 🇮🇪 Ireland, 🇯🇵 Japan, 🇰🇪 Kenya, 🇲🇨 Monaco, 🇳🇱 Netherlands, 🇳🇿 New Zealand, 🇵🇱 Poland, 🇵🇹 Portugal, 🇸🇰 Slovakia, 🇸🇮 Slovenia, 🇪🇸 Spain, 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka, 🇨🇭 Switzerland, 🇹🇿 Tanzania, 🇹🇭 Thailand, 🇹🇳 Tunisia, 🇹🇷 Turkey, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom, 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates, 🇺🇸 United States, 🇻🇦 Vatican City, 🇻🇳 Vietnam, 🇮🇳 India, 🇮🇩 Indonesia, 🇭🇺 Hungary, 🇮🇹 Italy, 🇱🇺 Luxembourg, 🇲🇴 Macao

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Julia

Julia

Speaking

You can stay for:

3 days

About me

Hey!, I'm Julia and I'm interested in architecture, art, backpacking, camping, culture, cinema, cycling, events & social, hiking, live music, photography, nightlife, solo travel, swimming and van life

Countries I’ve Visited

🇧🇾 Belarus, 🇭🇷 Croatia, 🇨🇿 Czech Republic, 🇩🇰 Denmark, 🇫🇷 France, 🇩🇪 Germany, 🇬🇷 Greece, 🇭🇺 Hungary, 🇳🇴 Norway, 🇵🇱 Poland, 🇵🇹 Portugal, 🇸🇰 Slovakia, 🇸🇮 Slovenia, 🇪🇸 Spain, 🇸🇪 Sweden, 🇨🇭 Switzerland

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Norika

Norika

Speaking

You can stay for:

3 days

About me

I’m software engineer/digital nomad!

Countries I’ve Visited

🇫🇷 France, 🇩🇪 Germany, 🇮🇳 India, 🇯🇵 Japan, 🇲🇾 Malaysia, 🇺🇸 United States, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom

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Upcoming visitors to Lisbon

Kim

Kim

Speaking

About Me

Hi!! Trying to spend more traveling this year and found this app, not sure how to use it just yet!

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eylül

eylül

About Me

Helloo, I am Eylül. I am 24 and currently living in Barcelona (doing my erasmus exchange in here). I am a master student in Biotechnology. I like reading, yoga and travelling obviously. In the next three weeks I have some spare time that I will spend travelling. I am coming to Bordeaux and Lisbon soon, and looking for a couch to sleep on basically :). I can totally offer my couch in my flat in Barcelona in return (or not return, just ask me if you needed!) I will travel solo and my first time using this app. I would also appreciate any tips about it! Thanks a lot in advance :)

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Vanita

Vanita

Speaking

About Me

Hey!, My name is Vanita and I'm interested in history, art, nightlife and solo travel

Countries I’ve Visited

🇦🇹 Austria, 🇧🇪 Belgium, 🇨🇿 Czech Republic, 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic, 🇫🇷 France, 🇬🇷 Greece, 🇮🇳 India, 🇮🇹 Italy, 🇯🇵 Japan, 🇲🇦 Morocco, 🇪🇸 Spain, 🇹🇭 Thailand, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom

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Local discussions

Solo travelHas anyone stayed overnight at Lisbon Airport or have recommendations for accommodation near it?

hey ladies, has anyone had to stay overnight at Lisbon Airport or has any recommendations for accommodation near the airport? my plane lands in the airport at 23.00, my other flight departs at 5.30 in the morning 😔

Posted: August 25, 2023
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Solo travelWhere can I find a cute cocktail bar in Lisbon?

I'm going to be in Lisbon and would love recommendations. I've been doing workaway around Portugal for 3 months on farms and semi-roughing it so really want an opportunity to get all glam and go to a cute cocktail bar pics for the kind of thing I'm looking for .

Posted: June 22, 2023
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Solo travelWhat advice do you have for my solo trip to Lisbon?

I just booked my first ever solo trip! I am super excited! I am going to Lisbon from Jan 15-23, 2023! would love any advice on where to stay, recommendation for things to do, see and eat, and traveling alone.

Posted: December 1, 2022
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Safety in Portugal