Lisbon Online
YouTube
There are now plenty of YouTube content creators based in Portugal nowadays, when 3 or 4 years ago there were only a few. I have one word of advice - please be aware that many are trying to get clicks (& money) by selling you a false paradise.
While no one should be as dumb as me to do this work for free, there are creators being intentionally misleading by refusing to talk about the less-positive realities and promoting false naratives in order to sell you sell you something, like their overpriced consulting services or a course (as soon as you see the acronym F.I.R.E, press exit).
But don’t worry, here’s the good stuff:
Instagram. You Tube. Websites. Nothing beats on the ground and in person, however our screens have become their own source of connection and information. So while we’re all on our devices anyway, here are my recommendations to get a virtual dose of portugal.
Honeymoon Always
Based in Lisbon, Dan & Michelle don’t make Portugal focused content anymore, but if you go to their channel’s playlists, you’ll find useful videos back from when they moved here, including real surprises and challenges they faced. I appreciated their honest opinions so much when I was in the transition of settling in myself.
(Full disclosure - they are my real-life besties now. But only because I recognised them in the street and accosted them into being my friends on the spot, which we still laugh about.)
Golden Visa Time
An updated version of their nearly five year experience in Lisbon can be found here, on Dan’s new channel. I highly recommend watching this video for a truthful review of what living here is like. Subscribe for more upcoming portugal content.
A heavily American-based perspective that I feel is more nuanced and balanced than most. He has videos about moving to Portugal, but also travel and culture. Never met the guy, but he seems super genuine and makes a concerted effort to give useful, truthful info.
Talk The Streets
When Liz started, there was no one doing European Portuguese language based content. Now there are quite a few and I think I’ve given them all a whirl at this point, but honestly she’s the queen. Her focus is on practical, real conversational Portuguese for your everyday life here. Her videos are short enough and easy to grasp (even for a numpty like me), all focusing on a different theme. I recommend watching one while having your morning coffee and starting your day right. There’s PLENTY to get though.
People Of Lisbon
A short interview format, done very casually (but with high level production value), mostly with a creative professional or someone contributing to the culture here in some way (both local and not), about their perspectives on life in our city. Always interesting, each video is only about 7 minutes long. They’ve also started to really show up on instagram now too.
Substack
Substack is my new fave content platform, where essays, newsletters and blogs have merged into some kind of homogeneous thing.
There are plenty of people discussing their personal rural or village life in Portugal. Lisbon less so (or not that I’ve found, yet). I’m so busy doing this website that people waxing lyrical about orange trees isn’t really for me right now, however, two I do religiously subscribe to are:
Both of these cover Portuguese news and social issues in English that help keep me informed without overwhelming me. Neither seem to have a particular political leaning and are rather balanced.
Stay tuned! We will go live when this beta version has a hard launch, but you can follow us now! We’d LOVE for you to join us there!
Funny, irreverent observational humour about being Portuguese (usually in English). He gives shit to everyone equally, including himself.
Brittany travels the world eating all things sugary & sweet. Based in Lisbon, I swear every time I see her reels she is trying some new and kooky activity or workshop in town. (She also knows all the best brunch spots, if that’s your thing.)
A young American woman living in Setúbal (45 mins south of Lisbon), she uses her account to express quirky observations and address questions she’s asked about life in Portugal in a way I think is real and balanced.
As mentioned above in YouTube, she’s basically the OG on all platforms, and no one does it better. I love Liz’s handy snippets on learning European Portuguese in little insta-sized chunks.
The king of Portugal influencers, is there anyone in Lisbon not following him? Everything he does is perfectly considered and aesthetically stunning. No notes.
Lisbon based professional photographers capturing the gorgeous moments of this city.
Love it or hate it, it’s really not that deep. There are plenty of Portugal/Lisbon accounts, here are a few great ones I follow. (I’ve kept it free of food related accounts, there’s plennnnty of those, your algorithm will do its job without me.)
Websites
You’re on it! Your Lisbon Bestie! Thank you for being here!
I make this content for free and none of my recommendations are paid for.
I wanted a website like this when we got here. One that combined real-life recommendations that wasn’t just touristy or trend related. One that was fun but also had everyday info like utilities and transport to help navigate initial integration. From where to buy a bunch of flowers to the new world of European skincare brands, I had questions going unanswered.
After a while I’d meet newcomers who all had the same questions. So I decided to do it myself!
It’s been an immense amount of work but a true labor of love that I hope you find useful. I will continually add more resources, lists, and recommendations that I stand behind, or you can sign up below to know when new info has dropped.
Currently, I am also working on in-depth neighbourhood guides. so stay tuned for those.
If you appreciate my work, you can support it here. It would give me the much needed (and hugely appreciated) encouragement to keep going.
You can also say hello at yourlisbonbestie@gmail.com.