Lisbon, our country's capital and most populous city, is the seventh most visited city in southern Europe. It is considered the 4th most beautiful city in Europe by Urban City Guides. It is also the second oldest city in Europe, and its seven hills are full of history and interesting places to visit. In this post we'll show you what you can see when you take a tour of Lisbon in our van.
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On this tour we'll show you the best of this beautiful city of Lisbon, and it's not just about Pastéis de Belém.
Our meeting point is usually near Praça dos Restauradores, but we can also go to your hotel if you can't make it to the meeting point.
We'll start the day by exploring the old quarter of Alfama, the oldest and one of the most typical quarters in the city of Lisbon. Its name derives from the Arabic al-hamma, meaning baths or fountains, this was the place where the Romans and later the Moors settled.
Visiting tip One of the first places of interest we pass by is Lisbon Cathedral, you can enter and visit the church without paying, the rest of the museum will cost around 5€.
We stop here as often as possible so that you can stroll through the narrow streets and admire its viewpoints, Lisbon Cathedral, the oldest traffic sign on record in Portugal and a house that survived the great earthquake.
If you like Street Art, just let us know and we'll take you through the neighbourhoods of Graça and Mouraria where you'll see some incredible murals.
At the top of one of Lisbon's seven hills, one of the city's most beautiful viewpoints is the Senhora do Monte viewpoint in the Graça neighbourhood.
Visiting Tip The Monastery of S. Vicente de fora is one of the passing places on our tour and also one of the places we recommend you visit. The place where it stands was one of the camps of King Afonso Henriques during the siege of Lisbon in 1147. The Monastery that exists today contains tile paintings from before the 1755 earthquake, and is the Pantheon of Bishops and also of all the kings and queens of the Bragança dynasty.
Behind the Monastery of S. Vicente is Campo de Santa Clara, where the Feira da Ladra is held every Saturday and Tuesday, a popular fair for second-hand objects that takes place in the city of Lisbon, Portugal.
With roots dating back to the 13th century, the Feira da Ladra moved from place to place until it settled in Campo de Santa Clara. It is mainly dedicated to the sale of old, second-hand objects and various handicrafts, from jewellery to traditional tiles.
Restaurant tip A Mourisca A Muralha
Crossing the centre of Lisbon, you can now see Rua Augusta, Praça do Comercio, also known as Terreiro do Paço - if possible you can walk around a bit - and we're heading for the Chiado district. Chiado is one of Lisbon's most emblematic and traditional neighbourhoods. It is located between Bairro Alto and Baixa Pombalina. In 1846, with the creation of the Grémio Literário de Lisboa, a club for intellectuals of the time, Chiado became the centre of Portuguese romanticism and a must-see for anyone who wanted to make a name for themselves in the city. In his novel "Os Maias", the writer Eça de Queiroz made great reference to Chiado and the Grémio Literário.
In the 1980s, part of Chiado was destroyed by a major fire and its reconstruction took the whole of the 1990s.A neighbourhood traditionally known for its intellectual connections, it is home to several statues of literary figures. Fernando Pessoa, one of the greatest poets in the Portuguese language, is sitting at a table outside Café A Brasileira, immortalised in a bronze statue. In Largo de S. Carlos, in front of the theatre S. Carlos, we find the building where the poet was born.
In addition to this statue, there is also a statue of António Ribeiro Chiado, in the same square. On the other side of the street stands the statue of LuÃs de Camões, in the square bearing his name.
Passing the ruins of the Convento do Carmo, which was once the capital's main Gothic church, it has remained in ruins since the 1755 earthquake and has not been rebuilt. It is one of the main testimonies of the catastrophe still visible in the city.
One part of the convent is occupied by the barracks of the National Republican Guard (G.N.R.). It was here that one of the most significant episodes of the Carnation Revolution took place in 1974. On 25 April, the prime minister of the government that had been in power for 48 years, Marcello Caetano, took refuge here. In the square was a company of the Armed Forces who led the movement and thousands of citizens who were encouraging the events to unfold. They ended up successfully taking the barracks, led by Captain Salgueiro Maia, determining the end of the dictatorial regime.
Restaurant Tip PrÃncipe do Calhariz Tascardoso
About 15 minutes from the centre of Lisbon is the Belém neighbourhood, which is strongly linked to the Discoveries when King Manuel I ascended the throne in 1495. It is based in the old parish of Santa Maria de Belém and has had Our Lady as its patron saint since its inception.
It was a rural village in the Middle Ages, and from the 15th century onwards it was a seaport for the Discoveries. The place where the Padrão dos Descobrimentos (Monument to the Discoveries) stands today marks the spot where the caravels set sail. In the 18th century Belém was the site of aristocratic estates and the seat of the Royal Family after the earthquake of 1755, an industrial area in the 19th century, a bathing beach with the fashion for summer holidays, the stage for the Portuguese World Exhibition in 1940, the setting for Portugal's accession to the EEC and, finally, one of Lisbon's most important tourist centres, where, along with its proximity to the river, visitors can find museums, monuments and historic gardens.
In addition to all this, it's also the place where you'll find the traditional Pasteis de Belem pastry shop, and very close to it the Jerónimos Monastery, the culmination of Manueline architecture, which in 1983 was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with the Belém Tower. In 2007 it was chosen as one of the seven wonders of Portugal.
Visiting Tips The Royal Palace of Ajuda Jerónimos Monastery Navy Museum
The Belém Tower is an architectural icon from the reign of King Manuel I, in a synthesis between the tower of medieval traditions and the modern bastion where artillery pieces were displayed.
A few metres ahead we find another monument built in 1940 on the occasion of the Portuguese World Exhibition, the Padrão dos Descobrimentos, also on the banks of the Tagus, to honour the historical figures involved in the Portuguese Discoveries, which took place between 1415 and 1543.
This concludes our tour of the city of Lisbon. If you're curious to find out more, book One Day in Lisbon and come and spend a day with us.