Lisbon

Is Lisbon safe?

Yes. Lisbon has little violent crime, the city recorded nine road deaths in 2024, and serious assaults on visitors are rare. Justice ministry figures reported by Diário de Notícias show 11 homicides in the city in 2025, about 2 per 100,000 residents. That is about twice the national rate of 0.9 but still low for a European capital, and violent and serious crime in the Lisbon district fell 3.4% that year.

The problem is theft. According to the government's annual security report, the city of Lisbon alone accounts for about a third of all pickpocketing in Portugal. We score Lisbon 80, just below Amsterdam and above Barcelona, whose theft problem is on a larger scale. Our Portugal page covers the rest of the country.

Pickpockets and the trams

The annual internal security report (RASI) counted 7,443 pickpocketings in Portugal in 2025, up 7.7%. Lisbon district had 46% of them, and 74% of those were in the city, roughly 2,500 reported thefts. Pickpocketing in Lisbon rose another 9.5% in the first half of 2026, to about ten reports a day, mostly from tourists. July and December are the peak months.

The report describes organised teams: one creates a distraction, another blocks your way, a third takes the wallet and passes it on. The places they work:

• Tram 28, through Graça, Alfama, Baixa and Chiado, and tram 15 to Belém. Crowded, slow and full of people looking out of the window.
• Rua Augusta, Rossio and Praça do Comércio in the Baixa.
• The viewpoints at Santa Luzia, Portas do Sol and Senhora do Monte.
• Queues at the Santa Justa lift, the Jerónimos Monastery and Belém Tower.
• Metro stations at Baixa-Chiado, Rossio and the airport, and at Santa Apolónia and Cais do Sodré stations.

The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary advises care at crowded tram and bus stops. Board tram 28 at a terminus (Martim Moniz or Campo de Ourique) so you get a seat, or take the modern trams and buses that cover much of the same route with fewer tourists.

Lisbon's own nuisance is the street "dealer". Men on Rua Augusta and in Bairro Alto mutter offers of hashish and cocaine to passing tourists, and what they sell is usually pressed bay leaves. They rarely bother anyone who says no, but the groups do fight each other. At about 6.15pm on 10 August 2026, a 40-year-old tourist was hit in the chest by a stray bullet in the Baixa when two of these groups clashed; she survived, and three suspects are in pre-trial detention. Since June, police riot units have reinforced patrols in the Baixa and other tourist areas.

Lisbon at night

Most of central Lisbon is fine to walk at night, though not exceptionally so. In the European Commission's 2023 survey of city residents, 68% in Lisbon said they feel safe walking alone at night in the city and 79% in their own neighbourhood. That is mid-table among 83 European cities and level with Madrid and Barcelona; Amsterdam and Vienna score about 78%, Rome 38%. Gallup puts Portugal as a whole at 78% (2025 report); big-city residents usually feel less safe than the national average.

The survey predates the latest complaints. In May 2026 the prime minister said drug dealing and use were coming back in parts of Lisbon and Porto, and promised about 200 extra PSP officers for Lisbon this year.

Where the risk sits:

• Bairro Alto, where drinkers fill the narrow streets until about 2am, and Cais do Sodré, where the crowd then moves to the clubs on Rua Nova do Carvalho. Phone snatches, fights and robberies by groups happen late here. The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary says attacks, including sexual assaults, are rare but most likely late at night around nightlife areas, and warns about drink spiking with GHB.
• Mouraria, Martim Moniz, Rua do Benformoso and Intendente, at the bottom of Avenida Almirante Reis. The local parish says drug dealing in the Mouraria is "growing noticeably", bringing street drug use and robberies with it. Police ran large stop-and-search operations here in December 2024 and December 2025, and the city is adding CCTV. Pass through on the metro or tram, but do not wander the back lanes late.
• Avenida de Ceuta and Quinta do Loureiro, in the Alcântara valley below Campo de Ourique. Open dealing and crack use grew here in 2023 and 2024, and the head of the national addiction institute (ICAD) said the area was deteriorating; Lisbon's supervised drug consumption room is here. Take a bus or taxi between Campo de Ourique and Alcântara at night.
• Empty side streets anywhere. The RASI describes street robbers who pick people walking alone, then force them to withdraw cash or send MB Way payment codes.

Rough sleeping is part of the street scene too: the city counted 3,122 homeless people at the end of 2024, of whom 439 slept on the street, down from 548 a year earlier. Ignore anyone offering drugs, step around people using them rather than confronting them, and leave if a dispute starts.

Keep your drink in sight and your phone in a front pocket in crowds, and stay with friends rather than taking the quiet shortcut. Taxis are cheap, and Uber and Bolt work well. Chiado, Príncipe Real, Avenida da Liberdade and Campo de Ourique are calm late at night.

Hills, trams and the Glória accident

Lisbon's real injury risk is the ground. The traditional limestone pavement (calçada) is polished smooth and turns slippery in rain, on steep streets in Alfama, Graça and Bica. Wear shoes with grip.

City figures show nine road deaths in 2024, down from 15 in 2019, about 1.6 per 100,000 residents. But drivers do not always stop at zebra crossings, tuk-tuks weave through the old quarters, and trams share narrow streets with pedestrians.

On 3 September 2025 the Glória funicular derailed and crashed, killing 16 people and injuring about 20. The rail accident investigator GPIAAF expects its final report by the end of March 2027. Check which historic lifts are running before planning a route around them.

Earthquakes, heat and floods

Lisbon has a real, if rare, seismic risk: the 1755 earthquake and tsunami destroyed most of the city. Summer heatwaves can push temperatures past 40°C, and heavy autumn and winter rain floods low streets in the Baixa and Alcântara. Beaches near the city, at Carcavelos and Costa da Caparica, have strong rip currents; swim where lifeguards are on duty.

Air quality is good for a capital thanks to the Atlantic winds. Tap water is safe. Public hospitals are good but emergency departments can have long waits in summer.

How we scored it

Health (87), violent crime (86) and traffic (86) are Lisbon's strengths; the city's homicide rateHomicide rateThe number of people killed on purpose each year for every 100,000 residents. It is the most comparable crime figure between countries.More in the glossary is higher than Portugal's but low for a capital. Walking at night (77) sits with Barcelona and Dublin, whose residents answered the EU's 2023 night-safety question much as Lisbon's did; we keep it there because open drug dealing and late fights concentrate in a few central areas rather than across the city. Theft and scams (66) is the weakest factor because of organised pickpocketing on the trams and in the Baixa.