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I am soon going to Lisbon. Being a big enthusiast of dictionaries, I would like to acquire some when I get there. What I am mostly interested in are big technical (but not only) dictionaries at a discount or used ones, even slightly outdated.

Where in the broadly understood city center could I find them? In my country we have plenty of shops dedicated to second hand books everywhere, but I don't know if they function as a separate thing in Portugal. What would be the name of such establishments to google?

Also, I do not speak Portuguese (might be a factor).

I would be grateful for any specific or generic hints you could provide me with regarding this issue :)

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There are many old book shops in Lisbon here are a few tips:

Google

If you're looking for shops with second hand books you will want to look for "alfarrabista". That't a specific word that designates old book shops or old book sellers in portuguese. Since you are looking in Lisbon, try: "Alfarrabista lisboa".

List of bookshops

In a quick search I found this list of old book shops in Lisbon (it's in portuguese, but it's easy to spot the address.). A map of bookstores an libraries can be found at LibraryThing local.

Markets

There are a few second hand markets and flea markets where you find stand with old books. Try "feira da ladra". That's a good place to find many second hand stuff including books. There used to be a few second hand stands in "praca do comercio" also. I don't know the situation now.

Shops

There is a very well known street with a some second hand book shops it's called "rua do alecrim". It's around the city center and it's a nice walk (down) from Camoes to Cais do Sodre.

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    I have acquired more than my fair share of dictionaries on my travels too! I found Lisbon to be one of the easiest cities in Europe to find used book shops when I was there a good fourteen years ago just by randomly wandering around the central area pretty much. But the surprising thing for me was that even used books there were much more expensive than in most other countries.
    – hippietrail
    Jun 24, 2015 at 14:41
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    Wow, thanks nsn for giving me this rather exhaustive answer. I'll be sure to check out the Thieves Fair for sure at least of the name :) @hippietrail thanks as well, always nice to meet a fellow dictionary-hoarder ;) I hope people in Lisbon have started to hate paper books enough to reduces the prices since then. I regret not having learned any Portuguese yet, looks like a good opportunity to talk the price down, but still :)
    – MrVocabulary
    Jun 24, 2015 at 15:28
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    @iyoossaev you're welcome :) . Some shops might be a bit more expensive since they sell those as "antiques" and not old books. The difference is very subtle sometimes ;) but mainly it's just the angle of selling. But that depends a lot of the shops. In any case you might get better prices in the markets.
    – nsn
    Jun 24, 2015 at 15:33
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    Just speak Spanish but with a bad Russian accent. (-;
    – hippietrail
    Jun 24, 2015 at 15:34
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    I'll keep that in mind, guys. And since I kind of speak both Spanish and Russian, I was planning on that ;)
    – MrVocabulary
    Jun 24, 2015 at 15:46

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