How do I get around Lisbon?

The metro is your workhorse. Four lines, clean stations, trains every four minutes during the day. It runs from Aeroporto straight down to Baixa-Chiado and Cais do Sodré — that covers the airport arrival, the waterfront, and most of the nightlife district without surfacing once. Buy a green Viva Viagem card from any ticket machine for €0.50, load it with zapping credit, and each tap costs €1.65 regardless of mode. That single card works on metro, Carris buses, trams, and the Transtejo ferries to Cacilhas. The 24-hour pass at €6.80 pays for itself after four rides, which you'll hit before lunch. Mind you, the metro closes at 1 AM — not helpful for a city where dinner starts at 9 PM and the bars in Bairro Alto are still filling at midnight.

Here is the thing nobody warns you about until your calves are burning: Lisbon is built on seven hills, and the historic neighborhoods — Alfama, Graça, Mouraria, São Jorge — sit on the steepest of them. The calcada portuguesa cobblestones are beautiful and slippery. In summer they radiate heat upward; in winter rain turns them into a skating rink. Walking downhill is fine. Walking uphill in Alfama at 2 PM in July, with the sun bouncing off white limestone walls and the smell of grilled sardines drifting from someone's window, is an endurance event. The funiculars (Glória, Bica, Lavra) exist for exactly this reason — €3.80 one-way or free with the 24-hour pass. The Elevador de Santa Justa looks tempting but the queue regularly hits 40 minutes for a 45-second ride. Skip it.

Bolt is the correct ridehail here, not Uber. Both operate, but Bolt runs about 15-20% cheaper on the same routes — roughly €5-7 from Cais do Sodré to Alfama, €8-12 to Belém. Surge pricing hits hard on Friday and Saturday nights around Bairro Alto between midnight and 2 AM; if you're leaving that area at peak hour, walk downhill to Cais do Sodré where drivers stage and the surge tends to be lower. Taxis exist with a €3.25 flagfall and green roofs. They're fine. Some still resist credit cards, so having a few euros helps.

Tram 28 deserves its own warning. Every guidebook calls it a scenic route through Alfama and Graça. It is. It's also a sardine can of tourists and the single highest-density pickpocket environment in the city. Locals haven't ridden it in years. If you want the tram experience without the crush, take Tram 12E on the same Carris network — similar route, a fraction of the crowd. The 15E tram to Belém is legitimately useful transit rather than a tourist attraction, running flat along the waterfront with actual breathing room. For crossing the Tagus to the Cristo Rei statue or the seafood restaurants in Cacilhas, the ferry from Cais do Sodré takes seven minutes and costs the same €1.65 zapping fare. The breeze off the river on the upper deck is worth it alone.

Walkability is high once you accept the terrain. The flat corridor from Cais do Sodré through Baixa to Rossio to Martim Moniz is genuinely pleasant — wide sidewalks, shade from buildings, the clatter of tram wheels on rails, street vendors selling roasted chestnuts in autumn. Belém is flat and walkable too, spread along the riverfront. But planning a walking day that chains Alfama, Bairro Alto, and Principe Real means three serious hill climbs. Break it up. Take the metro or a Bolt between hilltops and save your legs for wandering within each neighborhood. That's how locals do it.