Lisbon - tips on where to stay?

[Myneaux]

We have booked flights to Lisbon for May half term....there will be me, DH and DD (3) and DS (8). We are planning to stay in the city for 3 days and then head to Cascais on the coast for the rest of the trip.

Does anyone have any recommendations on which area of Lisbon is best to stay? We will get an AirBnB apartment and like to be fairly central but not in a very 'touristy' place which is surrounded by hotels. If possible it would be good to be in a family area with small parks, nice local shops and restaurants but also fairly near to everything.....when we go to Barcelona we always stay in Gracia if anyone is familiar with that?

Any other tips for Lisbon would be very much appreciated - thanks!

Lisbon is great, it is quite compact but I'd stay in the Baixa near the Rossio. Public transport is easy, safe and cheap and it's worth doing the hop on hop off bus tours to get a feel for the city

Take a trip out to Belem for the Descobrimentos monument and the monastery - and the famous pasteis de Belem (custard tarts)

To the north is the aquarium and you can get the train to Sintra and Cascais

We've stayed at the Mundial hotel in Lisbon, also at an apartment just off the Rossio, and in Cascais at the Albatroz hotel right on the beach

Thanks for the advice....Sintra and Belem are on the list.

Had considered Baixa as it is so central but I wondered if it might be a bit commercial/touristy? Was also considering Alfama as there is s good choice of AirBnB apartments there but I'm slightly concerned the hills might be hard going with a 3 year old!

The hills are pretty hard going

I don't think the Baixa is very touristy, I don't think anywhere in Lisbon is really, it's all pretty authentic

We went a couple of years back - me, dh and Dd (was 13)

In Lisbon we stayed at Eurostars Das Letras Hotel.

We liked the hotel and it was easy walking distance to everywhere though you could use taxis occasionally - they were pretty cheap.

Have you considered just staying in Cascais and taking the train into Lisbon for a couple of days? Cascais really is very close- feels like a suburb of Lisbon. You would be on the right side of things for Sintra too. And your DC could go paddling in the sea in the evening after a day of sightseeing! (They will need it, mine hated being dragged up and down the Lisbon hills).
Recommend Dolce Cascais guesthouse; they have family rooms with bunk beds and a double bed. Short taxi from the train station and beach.

Thank you for all your replies and advice...I hadn't thought of just staying in cascais actually and it's not a bad idea.

We've been on quite a few city breaks with them ( Barcelona, Venice, dubrovnik, Nantes) and we live in a city so they are fairly used to it...I find as long as I don't have an agenda of things I want to see and take it at their pace we usually all manage to have a good time. It's more the thought of me having to push the pushchair up the hills tbh.!

" I don't think anywhere in Lisbon is really, it's all pretty authentic"

Ditto. Lisbon is pretty hilly though and I think a 3 year old would soon complain.