Lisbon is a market town. On the weekends, it’s common to see folding-table vendors popping up in just about every public space to hock their hand-crafted hard and soft goods alike. One is held on Saturdays and Sundays under the arches at Praça Comércio and includes about 30 different vendors. It’s one of the smallest you will find.
The biggest one is held on Thursdays and Saturdays and is aptly named Feira da Ladra (thieve’s market) in the neighborhood of Alfama, accessible by the Tram 28. The market starts at the Arco de São Vicente and continues well behind the Santa Engracia Church. Feira da Ladra offers everything from 16th-century tiles to mobile phone chargers. Haggling is not only welcome, it’s expected.
Another great flea market happens twice a month in the neighborhood of Belém in front of the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos. Vendors at the Feira de Antiguidades e Velharias de Belem, as the name suggests, sell antiques and other old things, i.e., books, as well as tourist trinkets. A great place for good-quality used cameras. The market extends into the modern courtyard of the Centro Cultural de Belém, where another market takes place the first Sunday of every month — this one’s much craftier, snazzier, and more in line with what your typical hipster family would expect from their Sunday shopping: artisanal edibles, locally made wearables, quirky “original” home goods, hand-made soaps, and a good selection of honey. It’s quite good.
See other markets as they come and go here.
