The Best Public Spots to Meet Your Tinder Date in Lisbon

The Best Public Spots to Meet Your Tinder Date in Lisbon

So you’ve come to Lisbon and you’ve sealed yourself a Tinder date…

Even in Lisbon safety needs to be exercised when meeting with strangers, particularly ones you’ve met via the internet. An ideal first Tinder date in the Portuguese capital involves somewhere public, somewhere there are witnesses and somewhere there are distractions (incase there’s no fire, you know?).

by Christin Hume – Unsplash

Fear not as I have friends who do this all the time and these are the top rated spots for meeting up with your unknown lover in and around the city center. Ready when you are…

Praça do Comércio in Lisbon

The natural progression of a day in Chiado involves starting in the north and working your way down the sloping streets into the south, exploring all the restaurants and retail stores along the way. This is how most free guided walking tours in these parts do it too.

The reacting following the arrival in the deepest south of Chiado is always the same. Once you reach the water you reach the Praça do Comércio, one of the biggest and most beautiful public squares in Lisbon.

Three sides of this square are surrounded by impressive monuments, statues, restaurants and government buildings; the fourth side is the open river.

Praça do Comércio – by Diego Delso – Wikimedia Commons

There aren’t really words to describe the Praça do Comércio at sunset. In spite of there being people everywhere, it becomes one’s own bubble of space, light and ocean water aromas.

A first meeting of a stranger from Tinder always does well here, as there is enough space to stroll, sit and talk before deciding if the meeting should progress further and perhaps move into one of the restaurants or bars of Chiado.

Maria da Mouraria in Lisbon

I have a good friend who stands by her notion that all first dates should involve a fado performance.

It is her firm belief that having fado within the space takes pressure off of both parties to be continuously contributing or creating conversation during the first encounter. And in worst case scenarios: something to watch for an hour instead of sitting in awkward silence.

Maria da Mouraria – by Maria da Mouraria – Uploaded by them

Fado is a Portuguese musical genre that originated right here in Lisbon, in the neighborhood known as Mouraria in fact.

While you can watch fado performances in most of the bars and restaurants in Bairro Alto, I like to head north to the area where the tradition was birthed and experience it in Mouraria itself.

Maria da Mouraria is one of the most famous historic fado houses still in operation in Lisbon. One can drink, snack and/or dine in a traditional Portuguese setting while fado is provided on a nightly basis.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

OPENING HOURS: Wednesday to Sunday – 8pm to 2am

ADDRESS: Rua do Loreto 54, 1200-242 Lisboa, Portugal

Metro STATION: Martim Moniz

Lx Factory in Lisbon

Further down the coast on the Tagus river one comes to one of Lisbon’s most unmissable tourist attractions.

The Lx Factory was created on the grounds of an old abandoned factory yard on the waters edge. It is a co-operative space in which bars, restaurants, cafes, bookstores, cinemas, galleries and other retail outlets exist harmoniously.

Lx Factory – by Kent Wang – Wikimedia Commons

The layout is like that of an outdoor mall, so upon arrival you’re free to roam around until you decide exactly what to partake in first. As far as Tinder dates go, this is a dream.

What’s good to note about the Lx Factory is that there is something on offer here from morning through until late evening, meaning you can arrive for a breakfast date and allow it to spiral into something lengthier if you so desire. Or a dinner date can be extended by a short walk over to one of the rooftop bars for a few more drinks…

Fiera da Ladra in Lisbon

The Fiera da Ladra is a market that takes place just east of the Alfama in Lisbon every Tuesday and Saturday. It has done so for centuries, and remains the oldest trading market in Lisbon — and one of the oldest in the country.

If you can swing your Tinder date to either of these days of the week, then you’ve got a great setting for a first meeting.

Fiera da Ladra Market in Lisbon – by Discover Walks

The market starts in an empty parking lot and spans right through the neighborhood until it reaches back into the Alfama. Here you’ll browse clothing, records, cameras, art, jewelry, furniture etc.

Within the first thirty minutes you should have quite a solid idea of what kind of a person you have the option of dating. One’s musical taste, eye for furniture and hoarding tendencies will be on full display. If they walk past the book stalls without batting an eyelid acknowledge the red flag and get right out of there.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

OPENING HOURS: Tuesday & Saturday – 9am to 6pm

ADDRESS: Campo de Santa Clara, 1100-472 Lisboa, Portugal

Metro STATION: Lisboa Santa Apolónia

Bairro Alto in Lisbon

Bairro Alto is a neighborhood that is quite unavoidable during one’s first trip to Lisbon; this is where most of the nightlife and restaurant options reside .

If you’re solely interested in an evening Tinder date then this would be about the best spot in which to do it.

Bairro Alto – by Aapo Haapanen – Wikimedia Commons

You can eat, you can drink, you can dance, you can even watch fado and there are more than enough people crowding the streets to keep a watchful eye on you and your stranger.

Bairro Alto is considered a party town and most of the establishments go late into the evening. Since the entire neighborhood can be walked in under ten minutes you’ll have a lot of fun moving from place to place with your date and seeing what unfolds during each new interaction.