Food tour · Lisbon
Eight tastings and four drinks, from Vinho Verde to ginjinha, in the taverns and family-run eateries of the Baixa.
Eight tastings across the Baixa grid, four drinks to wash them down and a traditional Portuguese dessert to end on.
The Baixa tour in four numbers
The district
On 1 November 1755 an earthquake, a tsunami and a fire destroyed most of Lisbon, including the royal palace on the river. The Marquis of Pombal, the prime minister, took charge of the rebuilding and set strict conditions. The Baixa, the low downtown, came back as a grid of straight streets running north from Praça do Comércio, a plan that broke sharply with the tangle that stood there before. That regular plan is what lets a guide link one tasting to the next on foot, street by street.
A petisco is a small plate, and a tasca is the kind of tavern that serves them. The Baixa tour is built from that kind of eating: taverns, street-food counters and family-run eateries rather than a single restaurant table. Along the way come classic petiscos, seafood favourites and a bifana, the pork sandwich that Portuguese taverns serve with a mug of beer.
Vinho Verde is a young wine from the far north of Portugal, released within months of the harvest and often faintly fizzy. Ginjinha is the sour-cherry liqueur Lisbon drinks as a small shot, with a cherry left in the cup. Local beer is among the tour's four drinks, and guests aged 18 and over can add the Port Wine Upgrade. Non-alcoholic drinks are available for anyone who would rather skip the spirits.
The walk ends on a traditional Portuguese dessert before everyone heads out into the night. Guests who have written about the tour mention finishing on pastéis de nata, the custard tarts that grew out of a recipe made by monks at the Jerónimos Monastery, and many say they left very full.
Six places, one walk
How the three hours run, from the square on the river to the square at the end of the avenue. Each stop carries the minutes the outline gives it.
The outline is a sketch, not a promise: stops, dishes and their order can change.
The walk begins in Praça do Comércio, the harbour-facing square the Marquis of Pombal's planners laid out after 1755. The first ten minutes are on the story of the new Lisbon, outside the Supreme Court on the square, before the first plate arrives.
The first food stop on the outline sits on this street. Petiscos are what the whole tour is made of: small plates of the taverns and counters that locals use, and a first sip of the Portuguese drinks that go with them.
The longest stop on the outline, thirty minutes. Seafood favourites and the bifana are on the tour's list of tastings, with Vinho Verde, local beer or a non-alcoholic drink alongside.
Another twenty minutes on a street of the Pombaline grid, with the story of the rebuilt city carried on between the stops.
Ginjinha Sem Rival, a bar that has served Lisbon's sour-cherry liqueur since 1890, is the last named stop. It comes as a small shot with the fruit in the cup, and it is quick: ten minutes on the outline.
The tour ends on a traditional Portuguese dessert and a finish at Praça dos Restauradores, the square at the foot of Avenida da Liberdade with the obelisk to the 1640 restoration of independence.
In the glass and on the plate
The dishes and drinks that recur across the three Lisbon tours, and which tour puts them in front of you.
The Baixa in pictures
The district and the food it is known for, photographed by others; these are not pictures of a particular tour or stop.
Which tour
| Tour | On the walk | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Baixa food tour with dinner and drinks | Eight tastings and four drinks, Vinho Verde, ginjinha and local beer among them, from Praça do Comércio to Praça dos Restauradores. Three hours with a Carpe Diem Tours guide, in English; private groups can book it, and the Port Wine Upgrade is for guests aged 18 and over. | People who want the evening to be dinner: first-time visitors, couples, small groups and solo travellers who want company. |
| Food and wine small-group walk | Fifteen tastings across six stops: Vinho Verde with a codfish cake, Port with local cheese, a bifana with draft beer, ginjinha at the bar that first sold it in 1840, chouriço with red wine and a rice dish with wine. Three hours from Praça Dom Pedro IV with an Inside Lisbon tours guide. | Wine lovers and big appetites who want the most tastings for the fare. Vegan and coeliac guests cannot be catered for. |
| Tastes and traditions morning tour | Breakfast and lunch across seven stops, with eight tastes and three drinks: pastries and espresso, salt cod and acorn-fed Iberian ham, ginjinha at a family-run stall, a bifana, a sit-down lunch at a tasca, the story of tinned fish and a pastel de nata. Three hours from Praça da Figueira with a Devour Tours guide. | Visitors whose free time is the morning, and anyone who would rather eat Lisbon at breakfast and lunch than at night. |
Three ways to eat Lisbon on foot
A Baixa walk built around dinner and drinks, a longer walk with fifteen tastings and plenty of wine, and a morning tour that covers breakfast and lunch. Each card describes only its own tour.
Eight tastings and four drinks, Vinho Verde, ginjinha and local beer among them, from Praça do Comércio to Praça dos Restauradores. Three hours with a Carpe Diem Tours guide, in English; private groups can book it, and the Port Wine Upgrade is for guests aged 18 and over.
Check dates for this walk ↗Fifteen tastings across six stops: Vinho Verde with a codfish cake, Port with local cheese, a bifana with draft beer, ginjinha at the bar that first sold it in 1840, chouriço with red wine and a rice dish with wine. Three hours from Praça Dom Pedro IV with an Inside Lisbon tours guide.
Check dates for this walk ↗Breakfast and lunch across seven stops, with eight tastes and three drinks: pastries and espresso, salt cod and acorn-fed Iberian ham, ginjinha at a family-run stall, a bifana, a sit-down lunch at a tasca, the story of tinned fish and a pastel de nata. Three hours from Praça da Figueira with a Devour Tours guide.
Check dates for this walk ↗More to do around Lisbon
Good to know first
The Baixa tour meets at Praça do Comércio 744 and finishes at Praça dos Restauradores 62. Praça do Comércio has its own metro station, Terreiro do Paço, beneath the square.
The booking calendar lists the start times for each date. Choose the date first and the times appear; nothing is charged at that point if you use Reserve now & pay later.
Vegetarian options exist but the selection is more limited than the standard menu. The tour cannot accommodate every restriction or severe allergy, coeliac disease and vegan diets included. Tell the operator about any dietary need when you book.
Four traditional drinks are part of the tour, and non-alcoholic options are available. The Port Wine Upgrade is only for guests aged 18 and over.
This is a walking tour through busy streets. A few guests mention that some stops are noisy and the guide is harder to hear there, so stay close to the guide at the counters. The tour is not suitable for wheelchair users.
Private groups can book the Baixa tour. Wear comfortable shoes and arrive hungry: guests say they leave full.
Notes from a Lisbon food writer
Where the walk starts, what the outline shows and how eight tastings add up to dinner.
Read the full note → the districtThe earthquake, the Marquis of Pombal and the squares at either end of your route.
Read the full note → the foodThe small plates, sandwiches and staples that turn up on a Baixa food walk, and what each one is.
Read the full note → the drinksWhat is in each glass, where it comes from and which of the three tours pours it.
Read the full note → dietary notesWhat each tour can and cannot accommodate, and what to tell the operator before you book.
Read the full note → choosingThe three tours side by side: what each tastes, where each starts and who each suits.
Read the full note →FAQ
No. The tour cannot accommodate all dietary restrictions or severe food allergies, and it names coeliac disease and vegan diets among the ones it cannot cover. The fifteen-tasting wine walk and the morning tour say the same about vegan and coeliac guests, so none of the three is the right pick if you eat that way.
Yes, on the Baixa tour, but the selection is more limited than the standard menu, so you will not taste every dish the other guests do. Tell the operator when you book. The morning tour also adapts for vegetarians, pescatarians and dairy-free guests, though it may not have a replacement dish at every stop.
It is sold as dinner and drinks: eight tastings and four drinks over three hours, ending on a traditional dessert. Guests who have written about it say they came hungry and left very full. It is a walk from tavern to tavern rather than one sit-down meal.
Four traditional drinks are part of the tour, among them Vinho Verde, ginjinha and local beer. Non-alcoholic drinks are available. The Port Wine Upgrade is an extra for guests aged 18 and over.
It meets at Praça do Comércio 744 and finishes at Praça dos Restauradores 62. The walk crosses the Baixa on foot in between, with the first stop a ten-minute talk on the story of the rebuilt city.
The booking calendar shows the start times for each date. Pick a day and the times appear below it.
Yes, the Baixa tour is available as a private group; the booking page for your date shows how.
No. It is a three-hour walking tour, and it is not suitable for wheelchair users.
The fifteen-tasting walk is wine-heavy and starts at Praça Dom Pedro IV; the morning tour covers breakfast and lunch from Praça da Figueira. The Baixa tour is the one built around dinner and drinks. The comparison table above sets all three side by side.
All three tours offer free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start, and Reserve now & pay later lets you book without paying today.
The fare appears in your own currency for your date and group size, and the full total is shown before you pay.