Freelance UX DesignerElisabeth Mayr

Digital Nomading

Lisbon Coffee shops to work from

Lisbon is one of the top cities for digital nomads. And I can see why. The weather is amazing, there's tons of places you can just chill on your laptop (as much as working is considered to be 'chill') and you're not far from the beach. Oh and you can surf here 🏄🏻‍♀️

Digital Nomads in Lisbon

Be aware that the locals aren't the biggest fans of digital nomads in Lisbon. There have been a couple of protests because of the influx of people booking up AirBnbs and longer term rentals which led to a massive increase in rent.

One of the locals I met told me that us nomads shouldn't feel guilty because it's not our fault - it's the landlords that rank up the prices and that the government doesn't put a cap on it. But either way, just be vary of that. Overall, any locals I had a conversation about this topic felt more grateful for the increase of tourism. But maybe they were also just trying to be polite.

Anyway, let's get to the topic you're here for:

Coffeeshops in Lisbon that won't kick you out

Once I arrived in Lisbon and started to check out all the coffee shops that were recommended on other blog posts, I realised that most of them were no longer very work friendly. A lot of them don't mind you to work there in the mornings or from 3pm, but they want you to avoid the lunch hours to get clients who order more than a coffee and occupy a table.

As soon as I'd arrive at one of the coffee shops that was recommended on basically every single blog post (Hello Kristof), ready to work with my laptop in hand, there were signs on each table saying 'No Laptop'. So I went for a stroll and here's a few places that I worked from:

Best place to work from if you like plants

Flora and Fauna

★★★★☆

Coffee Good
Sockets Not many
Wifi Great
Noise Music and people's chatter
Air condition No
Location Anjos
Find on Google Maps

I always feel very comfortable at places filled with plants, which is also why I booked a coworking desk at SecondHome at my second visit to Lisbon.

Coffee, laptop at a table in Flora & Fauna Anjos

Flora & Fauna in Anjos, Lisbon

So Flora and Fauna was one of my favourites. There were not many people on their laptop, only saw two and everyone else was there for brunch. They do allow people to stay with their laptops but not between 12–3pm, which I think is fair enough because it's a restaurant in the first place, so just be aware of that if you come here for work. This is a chain restaurant, the one I've been to is linked here.


Best place to work from if you want coworking vibes

Moxy

★★★★★

Coffee Good
Sockets Plenty
Wifi Great
Noise Rather quiet
Air condition Yes
Location Picoas Station
Find on Google Maps

One thing I noticed when it comes to places to work from is that the best places are often hotel lobbies. So Moxy isn't a coffee shop as such, but it has a ton of tables with people working, so you don't feel unwelcomed as a digital nomad. There's also coffee and food you can order.

Generally, I liked the vibe there a lot, it felt like a Coworking space rather than a coffeeshop.

Best place to work from in Lisbon if you like friendly staff

Selina

★★★☆☆

Coffee Good
Sockets Yes
Wifi Good
Noise Background music
Air condition Unsure
Location Near Bairro Alto & Time Out Market
Find on Google Maps

If you haven't heard of Selina: It's a hotel/hostel chain with several locations all over the world. So if you're looking for a place to work, it's good to see if there's a Selina nearby.

Overall, the staff is super nice, there's plenty of plugs and I'd say it's a good place to work from if you manage to grab a comfortable seat as some of the wooden chairs aren't ideal.

But if you order food, order early. While I was there, we ordered the salad which took 2 hours to arrive. Then it was also the wrong order (my friend is veggie and got one with jamon on it) But the staff was quite apologetic and sorted it quickly. I assume they were understaffed that day but just go with the expectation that you might have to wait a little.

Coffee was alright. Music got a little loud so it's not ideal for when you have to take calls.

Best place to work from in Lisbon if you don't mind that it's busy

Comoba

★★★★☆

Coffee Good
Sockets Few
Wifi Spotty outside
Noise Chatter and music
Air condition No
Location Near Time Out Market
Find on Google Maps

Comoba Lisbon

Plants and veggie platter with juice at Comoba

It get's busy, so get there early! There's often a few people with their laptops and you can join them on the long table.

Best place to work from Lisbon if you like food

Nicolau

★★★★★

Coffee Great
Sockets Yes
Wifi Good
Noise Mainly people's chatter
Air condition No
Location Between Cloud 9 & General Luna
Find on Google Maps

Absolutely loved this place! There's a bit of music, so not the best for calls, and it's a massive queue during brunch times. But if you go in the early afternoon you might be fine to grab a table.


Food in Nicolau Lisbon

Food at Nicolau

If you'd rather not spent half your morning in the queue, there was a small, less fancy looking, but still pretty decent lunch place one street parallel to it called Mil Sabores which didn't have a queue. Not sure if you can work from there but if you go to Nicolau for the food but just see a massive queue, I suggest this place as a nearby alternative.

Definitely try the brownie!

Lucky find

Cotidiano

★★★★☆

Coffee Good
Sockets No
Wifi Great
Noise Just people's chatter
Air condition No
Location Near Praça do Comércio
Find on Google Maps

cotidiano

Decent coffee, nice bowls, friendly staff at Cotidiano

This place was a lucky find. I forgot about a meeting I had as a reminder popped up while I was walking around to find a place for lunch. As I walked past Cotidiano, I didn't see anyone on a laptop. But when I asked if I could work from there, they gave me a small round table, so no issues, even though there was a queue outside. The coffee was alright, the service was good. Taking a call from there was just fine too.

Best place to work from if you like to sit outside

Zambeze

★★★★☆

Coffee Good
Sockets Not outside, didn't check inside
Wifi Good
Noise Tourists noises
Air condition No
Location At the top of the Pingo Doce elevator near Rossio station
Find on Google Maps
Zambeze Lisbon

Views over Lisbon from Zambeze

I came across this restaurant by accident after I had to find a new place since the wifi at Café da Garagem was bad. You get amazing views, great service and good wifi. It might be a bit tricky to find. You can get there through the elevator inside Pingo Doce.

Despit it being outdoors, due to the little roof you don't get a glare and can actually see what's on your laptop screen.

Great place to work from Lisbon if you like to sit outside

Caffè di Marzano Vermuteria

★★★★☆

Coffee Good
Sockets No
Wifi Great
Noise Just people's chatter
Air condition No
Location Near Praça do Comércio
Find on Google Maps

This place isn't far from the famous library Livraria Bertrand. I didn't have food there but I joined some of my colleagues there another time and they loved the food! So if you don't need to work, come here anyway. Coffee was nice and the wifi is stable.

• • •


More coffee shops to work from

There are a few more places that have been recommended to me by other nomads but I didn't manage to check them out yet. I've added them below in case you want to look for yourself. If you do, let me know in the comments if they were good places to work from.

• Mila

• WISH Concept Store

• Curva

• Heim Cafe

• Ler Devagar

• • •


Conclusion

Lisbon has a lot of coffeeshops and even restaurants you can work from. Always check with the staff if they're okay for you to stay if you don't see other fellow remote workers on their laptops.

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