Situated on the banks of the Rio Tejo, the country's capital offers a number of museums and galleries, an unpretentious atmosphere and a pleasant blend of architectural styles, making it a favourite with many visitors.

ALBERGARIA PALACIO BELMONTE
Pateo Don Fradique 14 (00 351 21 886 2582; fax: 886 2592; www.palaciobelmonte.com). Made from the shell of a former count's palacio, the Belmonte is still fit for nobility: eight spacious suites and three garden apartments, decorated with ancient tapestries, traditional antiques and contemporary art and equipped with Bose stereos and satellite TVs. Many of the rooms have en-suite verandas looking out over the River Tagus, Lisbon's landmark 24th of April Bridge. The hotel's x factor is its swimming pool, surrounded by gardens planted with orange trees. ££

AS JANELAS VERDES
Rua das Janelas Verdes 47 (00 351 21 396 8143; fax: 396 8144; www.heritage.pt). Occupying a small, ivy-clad 18th-century palace, complete with neoclassical decor, a verdant courtyard and a cosy bar, the hotel is to be found in a quietly smart residential area. Under the same ownership as the Britania, it shares its warm, hospitable attributes, combined with a luxurious elegance all of its own and is probably the best upmarket hotel in the city. £

BAIRRO ALTO HOTEL
Plaça Luis de Camões 8 (00 351 21 340 8288; www.bairroaltohotel.com). In the vibrant Bairro Alto area, where the cobbled streets and bars are frequented by writers, artists and intellectuals. The style is minimalist with 1950s furniture and black-and-white photographs . There are 51 smallish and four suites with wood floors, plasma-screen TVs and frescoes of birds painted on white-washed walls.

CARLTON PALACE HOTEL
Rua Jau 54. (00 351 21 361 5600; fax: 361 5625; www.pestana.com). The 194-room Carlton Palace Hotel is housed in a 19th-century palacio which was once the home of the Marquis de Valle-Flor. Features include an Art Deco swimming pool and walls lined with old master paintings. For the ultimate in luxury, book the Princess Suite (or suite D'Amelia), its antique bath overlooks the hills of Belem. ££

FOUR SEASONS HOTEL RITZ
Rua Rodrigo da Fonseca 88 (00 351 21 381 1400; www.fourseasons.com). This landmark building faces the Eduardo VII Park and the wide avenues of Lisbon with the old town beyond. The no-expenses spared interiors mix Art Deco with opulent Louis XVI furniture. There are 282 rooms, most with private balconies and imposing marble bathrooms with original 1950s fittings. There is a huge new fitness centre, with a Pilates room and a running track on the roof. £

HOTEL AVENIDA PALACE
Rua 1 de Dezembro 123 (00 351 21 346 0151; fax: 342 2884). This is central Lisbon's grandest hotel and follows the familiar recipe of over-ripe luxury, all chandeliers and swags of chintz. ££

HOTEL BRITANIA
Rua Rodrigues Sampaio 17 (00 351 21 315 5016; fax: 315 5021; www.heritage.pt). Lisbon's only-surviving original Art Deco hotel is situated on a quiet street in an elegant residential area. This smallish, family-friendly establishment has a homely feel, with warm, attentive service. There is no lunch or dinner available in the hotel. £

LAPA PALACE
Rua do Pau de Bandeira 4 (00 351 21 394 9494; www.lapapalace.com). In a quiet area popular with diplomats on one of Lisbon's seven hills, minutes from the city centre. This hotel provides understated elegance in an 1870 palace, with numerous homely touches. Royalty, aristocrats, ministers and pop stars. Paul McCartney was a recent guest. There are 109 sumptuous rooms, including 18 suites in the original palace, all with marble bathrooms. Ask for a view of the Tagus River. Chef Giorgio Damasio at the hotel's Ristorante Hotel Cipriani prepares Venetian favourites and classic Portuguese cuisine with a twist. The La Prairie treatment room has a massage bed in the fragrant garden. ££

LISBOA REGENCY
Rua Nova do Almada 114 (00 351 21 325 6100; fax: 325 6161). Has unusual decoration, best described as cool modernist with oriental overtones. £

ORION EDEN
Praça dos Restauradores 24 (00 351 21 321 6600; fax: 321 6666; email: lisboa@citadines.com). Around the corner, in a revamped 1940s cinema, the apartment hotel Orion Eden has functional modern apartments, some with private mini-terraces overlooking the gardens of the Palacio de Foz, and is worth considering as a self-catering option. There is also an impressive rooftop pool and bar area. £

RESIDENCIAL YORK HOUSE
Rua das Janelas Verdes 32 (00 351 21 396 2435). A 16th-century convent around a palm-shaded courtyard. ££SHERATON LISBOA HOTEL & TOWERS
Rua Latino Coelho 1 (00 351 21 357 5757; fax: 354 7164). Conveniently positioned for the airport, business and government offices, this is an excellent choice for business travellers. The attractive 25-storey tower features two restaurants, a well-stocked business centre, and the top-floor Panorama bar with spectacular views across the city. ££

SOLAR DO CASTELO
Rua das Cozinhas 2 (00 351 218 870 909; fax: 218 870 907; www.heritage.pt). Recently opened in the former kitchens of St George's castle; the design combines old with new and comfort with style. The hotel has an amazing position within the castle walls, in the historic district overlooking Alfama. There are 14 rooms in two sizes, standard or superior, plus a quaint garden courtyard. The hotel serves breakfast only. £

VIP EDEN
Praca dos Restauradores 24 (00 351 21 321 6600; www.viphotels.com). On one of Lisbon's elegant 19th-century squares in Baixa, Lisbon's commercial centre. A stunning Art Deco building that was formerly a theatre. The original lobby is a delight. The clientele is tourists of all ages with an eye for a beautiful bargain. There are 75 studios for two and 59 apartments with bedroom and sitting room, all have well-equipped kitchenettes. The rooftop swimming pool has views of St George's Castle. £

BICA DO SAPATO
Avenida Infante Dom Henrique XX (00 351 21 881 0320). Most fashionable by far of Lisbon's new wave of eateries, located in a riverside dock conversion almost opposite Santa Apolonia. The high-ceilinged dining room has plate-glass windows looking out over the river. Serves fine Portuguese cooking with a Mediterranean twist: grilled fresh scallops with rocket salad and parmesan; roast cod in maize-bread crust with potato purèe, olive oil and olives; roast leg of kid.

CERVEJARIA TRINDADE
Rua Nova da Trindade 20 (00 351 21 342 3506). A classic old Lisbon restaurant and beer hall (cervejaria), dating from 1836. Try the seafood stew or the bacalhau à bras (salt cod with eggs and fried potatoes).

O PITEU
Largo de Graca 95 (00 351 21 887 1067). Located in the Graca district, this is an excellent Portuguese eating house, well off the beaten tourist track. Specialises in roast meats and simply-cooked fish, and has a good Portuguese wine list.

RAMIRO
Avenida Almirante Reis 1G-H (00 351 21 885 1024). Ramiro is a seafood restaurant and cervejaria that is highly rated by discerning Lisboetas despite an unpromising location. It majors in shellfish, including grilled tiger prawns, lobster and Porto shrimps, and also serves cured presunto ham, as well as two varieties of roast suckling pig.

TAVARES RICO
Rua da Misericòrdia 37 (00 351 21 342 1112). A suit-and-tie, gilt-and-mirrors place, one of Lisbon's classiest establishments. It serves Portuguese cooking with a strong French influence, such as stuffed squid and partridge breast on toast. The self-service restaurant in the same building serves much of the same food at a third of the price.

PAP' AÇORDA
Rua de Atalaia 57 (00 351 21 346 4811). Housed in a converted bakery, this restaurant attracts fashionable Lisbon with dishes such as its trademark açorda, a bread-and-shellfish stew made with coriander and raw egg.

Other bars and cafès include: Pastelaria Versailles, avenida da Rèpublica 15; A Brasiliera do Chiado, rua Garrett 120; Pavilhão Chines, rua D Pedro V 89; and Bar Cerca Moura, Largo das Portas do Sol 4.

The best nightclubs include: Salsa Latina, Gara Maritima da Alcantara; Blues Cafè, rua da Cintura do Porto, Edificio 226; Alcântara-Mar, rua da Cozinha Economica 11; Bar do Rio, Armazen A-Porta 10, Cais do Sodre; Speakeasy, Rocha do Conde de Obidos; Indochina, rua da Cintura do Porto de Lisboa, Armazen H; and Velho Patio de Santana, rua Dr Almeida Amaral 6.

SIGHTS AND DISTRICTS
There is no better architectural expression of the city's maritime character than the Praça de Comèrcio, the great civic square of which three sides are walls of arches and colonnades and mustard-yellow facades, while the fourth side is open to the river and the sea.

As a historic capital city, Lisbon has a long list of cultural and artistic sights, some of the high points being the Gulbenkian Foundation, the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga and the Centro Cultural de Belèm, a temple of contemporary culture housed in a post-modern fortress by the river. (Take the little train from Cais do Sodrè station.) The Museu do Azulejos (tile museum) is a particular gem, and much more restful to the spirit than the kind of Important Art Museum in a foreign city that you enter with a heavy heart. But the best Lisbon sights of all are the streets and neighbourhoods, the cafès and bars and old-fashioned corner shops.

The Chiado neighbourhood is a delightful outpost of 19th-century elegance, now thoroughly restored since a disastrous fire swept through its streets in 1988. It is proud of its opera house, its smart cafès such as A Brasileira, on the Rua Garrett, and its posh shops.

The Bairro Alto is a sleepy residential neighbourhood by day, low-key and discreet. By night, it transforms itself into an ebullient party zone where, on a weekend, it seems that the entire city has pitched up to drink, eat and dance until the early hours.

The Baixa is the busy commercial district laid out in a grid behind the Praça de Comèrcio.

Take a boat trip from the Praça, and you will pass the Alfama, a harmonious jumble of yellow, pink and blue-tiled walls and terracotta roofs crowned with the Castle of São Jorge. Up on the left, on a hill of its own, is the Bairro Alto, the Alfama's rival in civilised decrepitude. Pass under the great Ponte 25 de Abril, which spans the river in a graceful scarlet arabesques and three of Lisbon's finest sights come into view: the ice-cream turrets of the Jèronimos monastery, built to celebrate Vasco da Gama's discovery of the sea route to India; the Torre de Belèm, a defensive tower with Moorish spires and curlicues; and the impressive modern monolith known as the Padrũo dos Descobrimentos, which depicts the great 15th-century explorer Prince Henry the Navigator standing on the prow of a ship, gazing out solemnly towards the open sea and the unknown lands beyond it.

Lisbon makes a speciality of its historic modes of public transport: the tram, the cable car and the elevadores (lifts) which crank you up mechanically from one part of the city to another. Opposite the Casa Chineza stands the Elevador Santa Justa, a grey-painted filigree structure with a Gothic look.

Visit the Alfama district by tram. Jump on the Number 28, an ancient vehicle, wood-panelled on the inside, that grinds up the precipitous sloping streets, at its stop in Rua da Conceiçutildeo. It will take you up into the heights, past the Cathedral and the church of Sao Antònio (Saint Antony being Lisbon's most prayed-to saint, since he was born on the site of this church and baptised in the cathedral). At the foot of the Alfama, a brand-new museum and performance space, the Casa do Fado e da Guitarra Portuguesa, has opened in a pink-painted former pumping station, and dozens of fado-themed of bars and restaurants (fado is Portugal's very own urban folk music and Lisbon's answer to the blues) have sprung up all over the bairro.

MARKETS
Feira da Ladra is Lisbon's most famous flea market, where piles of fascinating junk are laid out along the pavement

AIRPORT
Lisbon airport is only a few kilometres from the centre of town. Aerobus 91 leaves from the airport to Praca dos Restauradores every 20 minutes. Journey times vary between 20 and 45 minutes depending on traffic.

AIRLINES FROM THE UK
British Airways (0845 7799977; www.british-airways.com) and TAP Air Portugal (0845 601 0932; www.tapairportugal.pt) both fly direct to Lisbon.

Go in late summer, when Lisbon is sultry, sexy and quiet, or in late spring for warm days, cool nights and mild manners all around.

Contact the local tourist office on 00 351 21 844 2000.