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As I sat perched on what felt like the world’s most uncomfortable stool, I shrugged off my waterlogged coat and sighed.
My Lisbon holiday wasn’t quite living up to expectations, and the torrential rain throughout the entire five days I’d been there hadn’t helped my mood.
I’d dragged all my friend’s to the ‘hottest destination’ for nightlife in the Portugal capital and found myself wondering how it had gone so downhill.
Pink street in Lisbon, officially known as Rua Nova do Carvalho, was listed as one of the New York Times’ ‘favourite streets in Europe’ and, when I first visited six years ago, I could see why.
It’s quite literally a street with a pink pavement and overhead umbrellas, lined with vibrant bars and clubs, in the Cais do Sodré district of the capital city. It sits on the riverside and is just a four minute walk from the famous Time Out Market.
I first visited with my girlfriends at age 19, and we spent most nights at Pink Street. The bars were busy, but not overcrowded, and the stag and hen dos on the strip brought some welcome energy to the evening.
We enjoyed Sol e Pesca, a bar come low-key restaurant decked out in fishing gear, in an ode to Libon’s love for canned fish. Then we headed over to Pink Wine Point – a more moody bar where I can recall drunkenly proposing to a friend to try and get free drinks.
In short, the vibes used to be pretty cool, but upon returning there in March, I was deeply disappointed.
Upon entering Pink Street my friends and I were harassed by men who were trying to sell drugs to anyone they could. We said no (obviously), but in one night, we were approached upwards of five times.
There are of course street sellers, looking to sell you roses or Lisbon merch, as you get with most tourist hot spots. Thankfully if you said no, they pretty much left you alone.
Then you have the bars themselves. Every single drink I had was watered down so much I genuinely questioned if I paid £8 for juice and ice.
It was also so busy that if you got up to pop to the loo, someone would immediately try and take your seat, and most of my conversations were constantly interrupted by me having to say ‘sorry, someone’s sitting there’.
To put it simply, it absolutely sucked – and it put me off going back. Despite being Lisbon’s former red light district, I’d loved pink street six years ago, but it’s now turned into a seedy area that I didn’t feel safe in.
I’m not the only one who was left a bit perturbed by my experience either.
Ben, who travelled to the tourist spot in November, agrees, writing on Tripadvisor: ‘There is a few decent bars but honestly it’s so rough it’s unreal. Just full of [people] trying to rip off tourists and sell you fake drugs amongst other crap items.
‘They don’t even take no for an answer, which results in arguments or them even following you. If these people weren’t there then it would be decent. There are so many other decent areas around the pink street that are better.’
Another tourist from Lewes, who visited this February, added: ‘”Must go to Pink Street!” the sign at the airport says. Mustn’t bother with Pink Street, is the reality.
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‘Went during day, is about 100m long with some rainbow umbrellas and a pile of tourist tuk tuk passengers taking selfies.’
Sam, from Weymouth also said: ‘Well what a let down! A classic example of mislead by the influencers of social media. It’s a little smelly, dirty strip of bars that ain’t that great. The brollies above the street are nothing special you get better in Bath in the UK.’
Where in Lisbon is worth visiting?
Just a four minute walk from Pink Street is the famous Time Out market which is certainly worth your time. Filled with loads of vendors selling different cuisines, it has a selection of Lisbon’s best eats all under one roof.
Yes, you may struggle to get a table, but once you do, you can indulge in some mouthwatering bites like clams from Pinoquio and croquettes from Croqueteria. You can do all this while listening to live music on a Saturday night – feel free to get up and join the locals dancing too.
Commerce Square is a great spot by the water to grab a bite to eat and watch the world go by – especially with a jug (or two) of white wine sangria.
If you want to take a tram, feel free, but we got Ubers everywhere which never cost us more than a euro each.
The Folks Santos is a great brunch spot, as is Mendo Cafe, and my personal favourite was Zenith. It had brilliant service and life-altering pancakes.
Of course, explore the sites, like Lisbon Cathedral and the Castelo De São Jorge which has amazing views, especially on a sunny day.
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