The answer: learn Alfama's four street words and start from a landmark, not from a taxi. Escadinhas means little stairs, beco means dead-end alley, travessa means a crossing lane, and largo means a small square - so 'Escadinhas de Sao Miguel' is a staircase, not a road, and taxis cannot take you there. Walk up from Baixa or the tram 28 stop, then follow a photo route for the last 300 metres: Alfama's lanes are too narrow and too stepped for a blue dot to keep up.
Alfama survived the 1755 earthquake, which is why it still has a medieval street pattern: lanes that twist around the hill, flights of steps instead of streets, and addresses that use four different words for 'alley'. Finding a door here is a reading exercise as much as a walking one.
Portuguese street names tell you what kind of way it is. Rua is a normal street. Travessa is a short crossing lane. Beco is a blind alley - it will not lead anywhere else. Escadinhas literally means little stairs, and there are dozens in Alfama. Largo and praceta are small open squares, usually where two lanes meet. If your hotel address starts with Escadinhas or Beco, plan a walking arrival with no luggage-heavy detour, because no vehicle will reach the door.
Tram 28 is the classic arrival, but it stops on Rua da Graça or near the Sé, and from there you are on foot through lanes that rarely run straight. Taxis can reach the edge of Alfama - around the Sé cathedral, Rua do Limoeiro or the Santa Apolonia side - and no further. Estimate a 5-10 minute walk with steps from any drop-off, and pick your drop-off by which side of the hill your hotel is on, not by which is closest on the map.
Alfama is a hill between the castle and the river. The same street name can be reached from above (Castelo/Sé) or below (Rua dos Bacalhoeiros/riverfront), and the difference is a staircase of 80 to 150 steps. If you arrive from the riverfront with a suitcase, you will climb. If you arrive from the castle side, you descend. Check the elevation profile of your walk before choosing your route - it saves the most energy on arrival day.
Many Alfama doors are unmarked at street level: the hotel sign is a small plate beside an intercom, and the entrance is often a tiled facade with a number painted on the tile itself. Old buildings may show two numbers - an old parish number and the current one. When a door's number and the hotel's number disagree, trust the modern number and the photograph in your booking.
Alfama is beautiful and badly lit after dark, and lane names are not visible in the dark. Before you arrive, save a Lisbon photo route from a lit landmark - the Sé cathedral, the Miradouro de Santa Luzia or your tram stop - and keep the screenshots. Each step shows a picture of the corner you are about to turn, so darkness stops mattering. If you are still deciding where to stay, our Portugal rent comparison shows what a city-centre apartment costs relative to the rest of the country.