Lisbon may be one of Western Europe’s most underrated capitals, and indeed, whether you visit as a tourist or use it as a base as a digital nomad, it really has a lot going for it: fantastic weather, gorgeous architecture, easy access to nature, low cost of living, and perhaps most importantly, good wifi! Lisbon is also a great place to start a road trip of Portugal.

All these things together make it an excellent base for digital nomads, indeed something that may be signed by the fact that it has a growing startup scene and has been dubbed by some “the next Berlin“.

Portugal also has a strong café culture, meaning there are plenty of nice cafés to choose from, many of which are ripe for sitting and working in.

These were some of our favourites from our recent visit, but in fact almost all the cafés have wifi, and most of them either don’t require a password at all or they advertise the password on the menu or a board somewhere, so you don’t even have to ask for it!

For vegans, however, it is unfortunately not that common that cafés in Lisbon offer soy milk, or if they do, they will undoubtedly charge extra, anything between €0.50 and €1. To be assured of that option, Starbucks is probably the best bet.

It’s also not that easy to find vegan cakes or pastries in most of these places (with a few exceptions), but there are however numerous places to eat vegan in Lisbon.

Planning a trip to Lisbon? Find your ideal hotel here, or sign up to Airbnb and save money on your Lisbon trip! Also, consider booking a Lisbon tour with a local guide!

(Last update: 13th April 2017)

Largo Café

This place has the cheapest drinks of any café we worked in, with a large, refillable tea for €1. They also serve bagels, which they’ll happily customise for you, as well as a soup of the day (usually vegan) and a range of cakes and other pastries (not vegan).

The wifi connection is reliable, though not super fast and there are plenty of tables, though very few power outlets. Once when we visited, we were told that we could not sit at the tables nearest the entrance (and therefore with the most natural light) with our laptops but rather had to sit at the back of the café in the darkest part, but with more comfortable chairs.

Details

Our score: 6/10 for vegan friendliness; 7/10 for digital nomad friendliness

Café Tati

I’ve already touted this as a good place to see live jazz on Sunday afternoons, but it’s also a excellent workspace with good wifi and several power sockets. Plenty of others have cottoned on to this as a good place to work too, so you will likely not be alone. The food is also good, and they have (savoury) vegan options but no soy milk.

lisbon_cafe_tati

Details

Our score: 8/10 for vegan friendliness; 9/10 for digital nomad friendliness

Fabrica dos Sabores

This bakery-café-restaurant offers a tempting range of cakes (none vegan as far as I could tell), fresh teas and a large variety of coffees for middling prices. They also have soya milk (€1 extra) and serve lunch. They won’t, however, give you more hot water for your tea!

There are large tables (communal and individual) with lots of natural light and the wifi connection is solid. There aren’t many power outlets, though, and it can get pretty busy around lunch time.

Details

Choupana Caffè

The popular joint offers brunch and light lunches as well as typical pastries (not vegan) and drinks, but no soy milk. Even though it's on a main road and sits slightly below street level, it's a bright space with a terrace at the back.

There are only a few power outlets near the front of the café, and it gets quite busy around lunchtime, but the wifi works well and you'll be left alone by staff to do your work.

Details

Our score: 5/10 for vegan friendliness; 7/10 for digital nomad friendliness

Noobai Café

Come to this bar on a warm afternoon for a fantastic view over the river and out to the Ponte 25 de Abril, as long as you can find a good spot to work in the shade.

The wifi works fine, but there are no power outlets. There is indoor seating if it’s a bit too chilly to sit on the terrace or if the sun is too bright for you to see your laptop screen.

lisbon_noobai_cafe

Details

Our score: 4/10 for vegan friendliness; 7/10 for digital nomad friendliness

Brown’s Coffee Shop

Located in the lobby of a hotel, this café is somewhat lacking in natural light or proper tables and chairs (rather there are plenty of big, comfy chairs and several coffee tables), but you be left alone to crack on with your work for hours on end.

Drinks are comparatively a little expensive, they don't have soy milk and the wifi isn’t the fastest (it’s fine for emails and web browsing, but streaming YouTube videos could be a problem) but you can easily spend an entire afternoon here on a small cup of tea and will not be disturbed.

Details

Our score: 4/10 for vegan friendliness; 8/10 for digital nomad friendliness

Maravilhas (Closed!)

This café would not be out of place in Berlin with mismatching furniture, hipster art on the walls and and dried flowers in jars, and indeed the management told me that was partly their intention when setting it up. They also confirmed that they happily welcome people coming to work on their laptops.

The wifi works a treat, there are a few power outlets nearby proper tables as well as a cosy sofa area at the back of the café. They serve brunch (with a vegan option), they can provide any of their milky drinks with soy milk and about once a week they offer vegan cakes, usually muffins.

lisbon_maravilhas_cafe

Details

Our score: 8/10 for vegan friendliness; 9/10 for digital nomad friendliness

You can also download this guide in the GPSMyCity app!

To find out more about how we travel as digital nomads, get our free ebook “How We Travel as Gay, Vegan, Digital Nomads” when you sign up to our monthly newsletter with the form below!

[mailmunch-form id=”102300″]

Related Posts

Similar Posts