Colombo Shopping Centre, Lisbon

The Colombo Shopping Centre is located on the Avenida General Norton de Matos, Benfica, Lisbon. It is accessible by both metro and bus, and just a short taxi ride from Lisbon’s city centre.

Opened in 1997, the Colombo Centre is Lisbon's newest mall, being the largest in the Iberian Peninsula. As well as a shopping centre, it also houses a leisure complex, with a multiplex cinema, health club, driving range, and bowling alley to name a few.

The shopping centre itself comprises 420 shops, including a large Marks & Spencer and a Fnac superstore selling almost everything from food to large electrical appliances – I found this store to be extremely inexpensive, especially on alcohol. The large stores are punctuated with speciality shops, selling goods such as local porcelain, jewellery, shoes, (leather items are very competitively priced), and designer clothing stores etc.

The main shopping centre is built on two levels, with gallery walkways, which are tiled in marble. The galleries lead to a centre hall which has a glass domed ceiling. Here you can rest for a while on one of the many wooden benches outlining the centre. I went during the middle of November and at this time, a Christmas tree, which reached up two storeys, adorned the centre hall. It was worth going just to see this, it was stunning.

The restaurants are located on the second level, and the choice is very extensive, as well as the usual McDonalds and Burger King fast food outlets, you can also obtain oriental and European cuisine. Those just looking for a cup of coffee and a pastry or sandwich, are also well catered for.

For anyone visiting Lisbon, I would highly recommend taking the short taxi drive out to the Colombo Shopping Centre, even just for a browse.