Lisbon.
Lisboa.
My hometown, yet sometimes i feel i don’t know it anymore… so i get to experience it all over again as a tourist!
Since its been too long since i lived in Portugal, i always end up doing some kind of tourism when i’m back. Either to walk around Baixa and Chiado, or to visit Mosteiro dos Jerónimos. These things have been there for centuries, so its safe to say i can still give you a proper tourism guide.
The best way to split a tour through Lisbon is by areas, since you actually have more than “one center” of town.
Avenida da Liberdade and Baixa:
Luxury shopping district, and one of the main centers of the city.
– Avenida da Liberdade (full of expensive and gorgeous shops, many of them located in old palaces)
– Praça do Rossio & Rossio Station (gorgeous!)
(From Terreiro do Paço you can walk towards Cais do Sodré through the new pathways)
– Praça da Figueira
– Rua Augusta
– Museu do Design
– Terreiro do Paço (with gorgeous views of the river, and full of fantastic restaurants in a huge piazza).
Gorgeous houses, old churches, palaces, shops and still one of the most hip areas in Lisbon.
– Praça Camões, and above that there Bairro Alto (a lot of very cool small streets with some really cool small shops)
– Largo do Carmo & Convento do Carmo
– Elevator de Santa Justa
– Palácio Chiado (+- in front there’s an amazing view of the city!! In a Miradouro)
– Then just continue up to Principe Real, and make sure to stop in the Embaixada, a new retail area, inside one of the most beautiful buildings in the area.
One of the oldest areas in Lisbon, and with some of the most typical tiny streets, narrow alleys, and very high stairs.
– Casa dos Bicos
– then walk up to Sé de Lisboa
– all the way up to Castelo de São Jorge (Saint Jorge’s Castle)
– you will pass through a few “Miradouros” with awesome views
– Panteão Nacional
– if you are there in a weekend you could go to Feira da Ladra, nearby, an interesting cool flee market
– on the way to the Castle, theres a lot of very cool streets, so you must get lost here and just walk around!
Belém:
One of the oldest areas in Lisbon, that houses some of the most iconic buildings in town.
– Mosteiro dos Jerónimos
– Pastéis de Belém (the most well know portuguese egg tarts shop in the world!)
– Torre de Belém
– CCB (museum/exhibition centre, check whats on in september!)
– MAAT (the new super cool museum of art, architecture and technology)
– Museum da Electricidade (even if its jut for the building itself, next to MAAT)
This is a relatively new area of the city, built for the Expo’98, and then revamped as a business and residential area.
– Oceanario de Lisboa, Aquarium
– Pavilhão do Conhecimento and Ciência Viva, both Science Museums
– Just walk around the river, with gorgeous sceneries of Ponte Vasco da Gama (the longest bridge in Europe)
And there are several other areas in Lisbon, some more residential, others less, just rent a car and drive around town, its better a Smart so you can have more luck for parking.
A bit further drive South to Tróia and Comporta for fantastic beaches.
Or Northwest to Cascais and Sintra, that is absolutely gorgeous, and will eventually have its own Post.. but you can check a preview below to see what you are missing!
chronicles lah 