Lisbon is the city of arrival for most international visitors and serves as a good home base for a visit to Portugal. In fact, it’s well located and could easily serve as a starting point for exploring many parts of Spain as well.
The City of Seven Hills has a lot to offer. We would encourage the use of a city tour bus like the hop on hop off. There are at least three flavors of these buses including the Gray Line, City Sightseeing, and the Yellow Bus. Be sure to check their maps as some offer two routes, others four, and they generally congregate in the same spots and will try and sell you before you see the other options.
We took Gray Line and did the Belém tour along with the small bus castle tour. But the streets around Castelo de São Jorge are simply too narrow for big busses, and in retrospect walking is probably the best alternative in this area.
The huge fort overlooking the city gives spectacular views and can be seen from just about everywhere. (Big brother was watching well before 1984 here!)
The massive St. Georges Castle is a great place to start your visit as you get to see much of the city and get a good vantage point for some great pictures. I’m not sure if they are permanent residents but there were at least 8 peacocks on the grounds when we visited. Be sure to climb and enter the towers of the castle, the views are spectacular. Do be careful on the narrow and uneven rocky paths.
Once up the hill be sure to visit the Sé Cathedral, a must-see also in the same vicinity. Just down the hill from the castle where you can catch the tour busses again by the Santa Luiza church you will find a viewing terrace with vistas over the Alfama and the river below.
One of our favorite places was Belém; the famous 16 century Belém Tower (Torre de Belém) is a must or any visitor. Excellent views over the Tagus River can be had from the tower and the castle with the water backdrop makes for spectacular pictures. Return at low and high tide if you can and be sure to sample the famous Pasteis pastries at the famous shop next door.
A short walk away is the 16th century historic Jerónimos Monastery (Mosteiro dos Jerónimos). Tip: Buy a combined ticket for the tower and the monastery and save €4 each; pays for the pastries, and also saves you having to queue up again or tickets.
There is a beautiful park and fountain outside the monastery as well as a wonderful opportunity for a walk along the coast, which shouldn’t be missed. You can easily fill the day around Belém with the museums, lunch venues, and the famous chariot museum or just handing out at the park and the waterfront.
The old town around Rossio Square is where a lot of the action is. You can walk down the pedestrian walkway to the famous Arch and the statue to explore the picturesque coastline beyond. Be sure to get some shots of the arch from both sides and do make the climb up to the top for pictures.
With a good zoom you can get excellent shots of the castle from here and even the Cristo Rei Statue on the other side of the river. We had fun making a time-lapse video of the folks in the huge square below; they look like ants running around when played back.
The Rossio Train Station and city hall are also just off the square and worth a photo op. Portuguese architect Jose Luis Monteiro designed this beautiful station with its horseshoe like doors between 1886 and 1887 and it connects Rossio Square with the beautiful town of Sintra. The fast train to Porto was available from a further station (Lisboa Orient) but you can still take the subway from Rossio Station to meet it there instead of a taxi.
Around Orient station is Parque das Nações (Park of Nations), built on the site of the Expo 98 world exhibition. The park was built to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Vasco da Gama’s voyage to India. A fancy mall and some of the most modern (and priciest) condos and properties are nice to see, but if no specific event is taking place, I would not make a detour to go there unless you have to catch the train.
One of our favorite churches to visit was the roofless hollowed out church and archeological museum: Igreja do Carmo. During the earthquake of 1755 much of Lisbon was destroyed including this area where we heard the cathedral’s ceiling caved in on the congregation. It leaves a haunting sensation as you walk through looking at the remaining ceiling and the missing roof. The effect of the sun coming in from above and lighting up the arches gives the cathedral a unique and interesting feel.
The Santa Justa Lift is an iron elevator that takes you to up and down to a platform offering greats vistas of Lisbon. It also takes you to the ruined Church of Carmo level from the Rossio Square area below for a few euros. Be prepared to wait and to pay extra to climb up to the top platform.
There are numerous streetcars including the famous one on Avenida da Libertade, which is built at a 45-degree angle to navigate the sharp slope and keep the passengers flat in their seats.
Art aficionados should visit the National Museum of Ancient Art as well as the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum and those interested in seeing Portuguese ceramic tiles mosaics should visit the National Tile Museum (Museu National do Azulejo). The amazing tile work is visible across the city on many of the old buildings.
Related Posts:
- Exploring Portugal for a Week
- What to See and Do in a Few Days in Porto, Portugal
- Sintra: A Must-Do Day Trip from Lisbon, Portugal
- Some Local Delicacies to Eat in Portugal