Things to See in Lisbon

This modern Italian restaurant packs in local businesspeople for lunch, and those in the know for dinner. There is lovely organic (Portuguese) olive oil on every table, pastas are made fresh, the seafood risotto is a (very generous) highlight. Desserts are irresistible and they serve Lavazza coffee for a great post-meal pick-me-up.

In business since 1782, this tiled, yellow-and-white-tableclothed place was once a haunt of Pessoa, Portugal's greatest 20th-century poet. Although the literary lions have moved on, Martinho's outdoor tables beneath a colonnade make a fine spot for a traditional meal.

Upstairs from the Lanidor boutique is this modish restaurant, cafe and bar that makes a great spot to drop in to even if you're not looking for a meal. However it's worth timing your visit for a light lunch or more substantial dinner as the food is good, fresh Italian-based fare. The attractive bar-lounge has access to fashion mags and free internet.

One of Belém's highlights and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this whimsical white Manueline masterpiece was built in 1515 as an offshore watchtower to protect the city's harbour. Designed by Diogo and Francisco Arruda for King Manuel I, it is wonderfully detailed with the flamboyant flourishes and maritime motifs of the Manueline style.

This whimsical 16th-century mansion was one of the few to survive the 1755 earthquake. Built by Afonso de Albuquerque, former viceroy to India, it's known as the House of 'Points' or 'Spikes' because of its diamond-shaped stone facade. As it houses the Comemorações dos Descobrimentos organisation, the interior is not open to the public, except for special events.

You won't need to know anything about Portuguese drama to find the National Theatre Museum fascinating. It houses a beguiling collection of 300,000 pieces - wonderful theatrical costumes, props, models of sets, drawings, posters, programmes, postcards, scripts, scores and photos. It's located in the lush Parque de Monteiro Mór.

The 16th-century Jesuit Igreja de São Roque has a plain façade, designed by the architect of São Vicente, hiding a dazzling interior of gold, marble and Florentine azulejos - an elaborate canvas bankrolled by Brazilian riches.

This brilliant museum and school of decorative arts, operated by the Fundação Ricardo do Espírito Santo Silva, displays 15th- to 19th-century furniture, textiles, jewellery, silverware and porcelain in an aristocratic 18th-century palace. Call ahead about the workshops where artisans practise traditional wood carving, metalwork, decorative painting and more.

Near Largo de São Domingos there are several tiny bars serving up medicinal sized shots of Ginginha, a potent, punch-packing cherry brandy. The most popular such joint is A Ginginha, which has been inebriating locals and visitors since around 1840. You can take your medicine com (with) or sem (without) cherries... most folk prefer cough syrup! Try it once.

After being greeted by a waistcoated waiter apparently hired from a different era, you soon realise that this is no ordinary bar. There are fabulous, kitsch knick-knacks in cabinets, on the walls and anywhere else there's a spare piece of real estate. Locals head straight to the back bar, as visitors get sideways on the lethal cocktails.

Lisbon's home of house doesn't really heat up until a madrugada (the pre-dawn early hours), and these days it's generally only packed on weekends with upwardly mobile Lisboetas keen to dance at this legendary club. While it's a far cry from its heady days during 1988's Summer of Love, Kremlin can still transcend.