Backpacking in Portugal: My Stay at the Famous Central Lisboa Hostel

Backpacking in Portugal: My Stay at the Lisboa Central Hostel in Lisboa. So whatever fate brought me to Lisbon (Lisboa) again after all these years, I will never know. In fact, I will know and will share it when life slows down a notch. It was a sentimental late 2017 visit when I soul sook to find a 36 year old missing police car. And somehow despite having a 36 year gap from being in Portugal, I have now been 4 times to the country, 3 times to Lisboa and once to the Algarve. It was all a bit crazy. And each time it was to Lisboa, each were on a handy stop over. On one leg of my Morocco to Western Sahara tour, I had a full day to explore Lisboa, but I wasn’t tired and didn’t need a hostel that time.

When I again arrived in the Portuguese capital for my third visit in two months (yes really after a 36 year absence!), I went back to the lifestyle where this travel dream of mine all began. Your hostel dorm buddy. I booked into Lisboa Central Hostel. Why? Because it’s the best around, voted in the world’s best medium hostels on Hostelworld.com again and again. It’s fairly easy to backpack your way here from the airport. A single Metro ticket costs a mere 1.45€. Portugal could teach the rest of Europe a lesson in pricing. It reminded me of Hong Kong and how cheap it was to get to Hong Kong International Airport back in the day.

Lisboa Central Hostel is located on Rua Rodrigues Sampaio, (number 160) just a few minutes dander from the Marques Pombal Metro Station. It’s unbelievably handy. Here I was exploring Lisboa!

Eight great reasons to stay here when you visit historic and cultured Lisboa.

1.Welcoming, Friedly Staff
I was welcomed by Catarina who was very helpful. She issued me with my key and full tourist information. Given I’d been to Lisbon three times in the space of 2 months, I was glad of the local knowledge. The first two times were 1day stopover and a merely sampled the Lisbon I knew as hearsay from being a travel writer. After Catarina checked me in, Odete gave me a hostel tour and showed me to my room.

Thanks to the staff:
Odete
Miguel
João
Catarina
Ricardo
Daniel
António
Elisabete
Maria

2.Modern and Innovative Dorm Rooms
In an old building, the Lisboa Central Hostel has modern dorm rooms. Mine was room 217. It was a six bed male dorm. I had a cosy lower bed and shared with 5 others including Kee from Bulgarian and James from New Zealand. Indeed Kee was the first Bulgarian I had met since backpacking his country some 4 years prior. I also liked the way each bed had a charger and a mini locker beside it – so well organised. Each bed also has a proper large locker, a fan and a light. Other hostels can learn from the Central Lisboa Hostel, which is ahead on innovation.

3.Free WiFi
Throughout the hostel these is fast free WiFi. Great for a blogger on the move and just about anyone these days. They have more than one network so access is almost always guaranteed.

4.Free Breakfast
Breakfast is a treat and included in your room price. It is served from 8 am to 11 am so it will be caught even by the late risers. Pancakes are cooked daily too and if you are checking out early ask and they will provide you with a cereal and toast before you head. Tea and coffee is free 24 / 7. It is served in the kitchen – croissants, toast, bread, cake, cereals as well as tea, coffee and juice.

5.A Range of Lounges
There is the front lounge. Plus the back lounge. And the patio and a dining room. Well laid out rooms mean there is always a place to chill or chat here.

6.Daily Events
This hostel is fun. There are daily events. Often multiple daily events. Check the notice boards for details. I was here on a Sunday and we had a free Portuguese soup and sandwiches night at 20.00 followed by an indoor cinema night at 21.30.

7.Marvellous Location
Lisboa is an admittedly pretty city and a very easy one to navigate. That is made even easier by the location of the Lisboa Central Hostel. Within 5 minutes you can be on a Metro, a bus or a tram. Within 10 minutes you are in the famous Old Town as i see It- this is a zone called Baixa Chiado.

It is also just a 5 minute walk from Praca Marques de Pombal square with its monument and stairway to the Portuguese flag that sits atop the hill. This is in front of the Palais da Justiça and in Parque Eduardo VII.

The location of the hostel is good. Lisboa is a tourist favourite for many but it will never make my backpacking or tourist top 20 cities though. It’s not quite my scene overall and I’m not sure why. It’s about a 20 minute tram or bus ride from Belem district from the hostel too – another cool district to check out and of course the three big football stadiums – Benfica, Sporting Lisbon and CF Os Belenenses.

8.Tours and Organising Trips
If you are keen to explore Lisbon and other parts of Portugal you landed on a dream here. The hallway in the Lisboa Central Hostel has it all – more information than my beloved Lonely Planet library. You can find out how to access some historic cities, book buses to the coast, trains up north or a backpacking adventure to neighbouring Spain.

As well as all this, there are clean bathrooms, a well equipped kitchen, lots of cool people to meet and of course it is in the world’s top 10 medium hostels, as well as consistently winning awards. Here are a few more photos from my stay here.

Here are the details for booking a dorm or bed at the Lisboa Central Hostel in Portugal: