Boutique Hotels in Lisbon

The choice is mostly a matter of which hill. In Alfama, behind a red door, Palácio Belmonte has been a palace since 1449: ten suites, hundreds of tile panels and a black slate pool. On the Santa Catarina hill, Verride Palácio Santa Catarina has 18 rooms, a rooftop bar with the whole city in view and a library behind an unmarked door, which you have to ask for. In Bairro Alto, by the Glória funicular, The Lumiares turns a count's palace into 53 suites with kitchens. A few minutes on in Príncipe Real, The Vintage puts a gin and tonic trolley in every room and expects you to carry the result up to the roof. Members book at rates we hold for the Club.

Down on the river at Cais do Sodré, in a building of Pombal's own style, Corpo Santo dug down for a spa and found a stretch of the city wall of 1373, now one wall of its reading room. For the sea, Longevity Senses Cascais is an adults-only clinic and spa hotel of 39 rooms on the coast between Cascais and Guincho.

On foot, from the top down, with the miradouros of Santa Luzia and Portas do Sol for the view. The 28 tram is everything the photographs promise and also the city's best-known place to have your pocket picked, so ride it early and wear your bag in front. Belém, downriver, has the Jerónimos Monastery, the Tower and the custard tarts whose recipe the monks sold to a sugar refinery in 1834, and which has been kept in a secret room since. Sintra and Cascais are each about 40 minutes by train, from Rossio and Cais do Sodré, and neither needs a car.

Spring and early autumn are the months for walking these hills. July and August are hot and dry, with the queues to match, and winters are mild and wet. The night of 12 June is the feast of Santo António, with marches down the Avenida da Liberdade and an all-night street party in Alfama, sardines on every grill. It is the best night of the year here and the worst to look for a room, since prices rise to meet it, so book early or come in another week.