Jardim do Tabaco only if the house has a balcony with great view to the river, bridge and Cristo Rei. If not I would pass it. Even if it has the Alfama neighborhood right there, it's a bit of a commute to the rest of the city. Subway closest I think is Santa Apolonia which is a bit of a stretch, can't recall how are the tram stations nearby, though there are quite a few buses and of course taxi.

So in short: Alfama is great to visit, being the only neighborhood that survived the 18th century earthquake mostly intact, you can see the arab/mediterranean influence in the houses and narrow streets. But for a first time visitor I wouldn't stay there.

Chiado/Bairro Alto is the best place to stay by far. Just have to take into account that a good house in Chiado should be expensive, and some streets in Bairro Alto are very noisy at night, as there are many restaurants and bars.

I would also avoid staying at downtown centre Baixa/Rossio, because if you're returning to the house late at night there's not much movement and there may be some suspicious characters around.

You can also opt to stay more to the west in Belem/Restelo where are most of the museums, but you'll have to always take the tram to the rest of the city. Or in a more quiet place like Estrela, which would also be dependent on public transportation/taxi drives for the most part.

Not sure about portuguese lessons, but I recall seeing a great online site with language tutors, just google for something like that, not sure if it's the best way to learn a few bits of a foreign language.

If you have access to any internet connection there you shouldn't have any problem playing at pokerstars or any other site. The only thing that's being blocked are some sites that stream soccer games over the net by court ruling. There goes net neutrality out the window.

Spent four days in Lisbon recently, stayed in a hostel in Baixa. Can't believe the sheer number of drug dealers there. I must have been offered weed or coke no less than 200 times in 4 days.

They are not actually selling real drugs. It can be rough if your clearly not local, just don't engage them and don't worry about them. They are pretty harmless.

Lived in Lisbon 2 days at the camp - right in town - no one offered - Lisbon fine

Ok, so Lisbon and its surroundings is a must obviously, and then depending on how you plan on going to Seville (bus/train) and with how much time to spend travelling i can recomedn maybe some Alentejo cool spots along the way.

zero problemas.

That is a classic scam designed for tourists and should have been dealtd properly ages ago.

i am in the homeland Only 65 hours of travel later, but had a nice 30 hours spent in Lima airport getting drunk with some canadian kids and missing my flight. Got an apartment in Bica for cheap - really surprised how close it is walking to Chiado and all that. I've been offered weed ~50 times in 4 hours and that's just walking around town with my mom. She smokes anyways, its just funny. Will pick some up tonight after checking a couple negros for price/quality. Mom has only ever smoked pristine quality medical california herb, so gonna be tough to find something she'll approve of.

Language feels impossible, I'm trying really hard though. If someone is educated, they speak english...and if they don't know english then spanish seems to be close enough to get the point across. Really thought the language would be easier for some reason.

I've got the sunday grind tomorrow and will start exploring after that. Overall really stoked on everything here, although it seems like a muuuch better city to live in than to be a tourist in - so many bars, cafes, cool spots that are tucked into little corners of the old town parts of the city. Seems tough to get around places without knowing tram and bus routes, easy place to get lost, etc. So far so good though, great food, nice people, good internet, and I would for sure consider spending 6+ months here sometime. Thanks so much to d33p and anyone else who helped me get here, tried to do a little more planning since I'm not just wandering around solo this time. Anyone up for beers/food tonight...well damn a bit late to plan that...sometime early next week maybe?

how does the portugal poker community feel about this? im considering portugal but future regulation concerns me

I wouldn't advise Portugal anymore, just a matter of time imo until it's regulated and you have to pay quite a high % of tax. Having said that, there aren't that many countries left where it's 'free' to play in Europe and doesn't cost a fortune to live at (UK, Ireland, Denmark, etc)

Wait and see before being sure. What it looks so far is that the operators like stars pay 30% gross tax, no player tax and .com pool. Nothing of that is necessarily all true, and in the best of cases it is but the gross tax being 20%, after portugal is on top of the list in europe with its down to 700 dollars monthly base living cost in porto, and the only problem then is what kind of pension one will have but at least the eu people rate to get permanent residence in 5 years.

There are still lower cost countries in europe, 500 dollars, but the pension will sure be extra poor and player tax, limitations in law where to play, changing regulations or and laws, all not being sure and portugal has a better winter than eastern europe countries, and albania is unclear likely to regulate too some year, but not in the eu at this time. Many eastern eu countries regulate and its illegal to play but at the country sites. Will need to wait and see.

The only place i am sure about today is bulgaria with stars, and its supposed to be with no player tax, though someone didnt agree with that. Romania has some complications to overcome and its ilegal and taxed at this time but could change enough and the eu people can be there indefinitely, like in the uk and poland, the factor that makes it possible to have another flat there and not needing to get out every 3 months, that also is often limited or could change to such. Though after 6 months there in theory are tax and residency issues in that country and in ones country of origin, but at least it isnt 3 months, though even that isnt necessaily a major problem and flying is often cheap inside europe.

But all in all all countries possible on the whole planet suck at this time, it being an impressive achievement. Only the regulations, poolings, changing laws could make a difference to that at this time though living in south italy and playing nlh during evenings still offers a possibility if one insists, but games are not easy as thats all they have, .com being illegal.

And the laws, limitation are not only improving globally but getting worse also, the rope getting tighter daily, just some better possibilities happening also, but need to wait and see. People in portugal should not forget brazil, thats cheap and mediterranean at south sea, needing to just see how they regulate or if its legal, tax free if wants, pension considerations. Some places in brazil are costly, but maybe one gets better salary there also.

Have really enjoyed spending time in Cascais for a week or two on several occasions over the past few years. Would love to take the plung and go and live there but I fear it could be just a little bit too expensive. I prefer it to Lisbon but would be interested in experimenting anywhere in this general area. Is there anywhere else that would compare to/be similar to Cascais that I might not be aware of? Wouldn't want to spend more than sort of €800 a month on accom

There is 0 indications in the project bill that we will be segregated.

Everything untill now points to global market pool...

Thats just mad speculation.

As far as taxes go, it is most likely that players will pay 0 taxes over online gambling revenues as it is for landbased gambling.

How long are you staying? and please dont buy **** selled by strangers on the streets..

there are a lot of places similar to Cascais in most ways - even tough Cascais its unique in its own way; but they all fall in the same price range...

Are there any good shopping centers?

There are some great ones in the bigger cities...

Have the new regulations been formalised and confirmed yet? If I visit Portugal on 1 January will I be able to play online?

Thanks.

European Comission just issued their opinion over the Portuguese project to regulate.

They suggest some changes and now Portugal has until the 5th of January to respond accordingly.

Government estimates that we will have a regulated market by the second semester of 2015.

^^^ wowww crazy...so stars.pt is likely to be starting soon? the future keeps getting scarier - good thing this is a big world with infi options!

Thanks to d33p as well for all the input itt, we appreciate it!

And no - didn't purchase any random substances from the streets. Met up with this skater kid from mexico (espanol thank god!) who gave me ~3-4 grams for 25 euro, normal quality. Stayed with a friend in a tiny town in spain weeks later who got me 10 grams of great quality for the same price, but he's connected so seems like I got a decent deal regardless.

Like....?

as far as one can speculate with all the info that has leaked untill now, we have hopes of a good regulatory model for online gambling (not that good for sporting bets but great for poker), so lets keep our fingers crossed...

The coast line between Lisbon and Estoril.

When I travel to Portugal, can I play on Stars with my .eu account or is it blocked like it is in Spain, Italy, France?

Best neighbourhood in Lisbon to stay for a month or two if money does not matter?

Recommended sites to find nice apartement for a month besides airBNB?