Lisbon is a city in turn elegant, characterful, positively rundown, brand-spanking new. As a maritime city its people are natural traders and constitute a vast ethnic mix.
The city offers a world-class mix of galleries, museums, mainstream and speciality leisure shopping opportunities. This makes Lisbon an ideal European weekend break destination.
The Baixa and Alfama for Shopping and Strolling
Baixa is a planned grid of streets established after the Great Earthquake of 1755. This is Lisbon’s epicentre, with fine shopping and dining. There is much important neo-classical architecture; and the area is being considered for World Heritage Site Listing.
Alfama is quite the opposite of Baix’s openness. This area survived the Earthquake; and is the original medieval Moorish city of winding alleys with whitewashed houses.
Castelo Sao Jorge dominates Alfama, looking out over the rest of Lisbon and the Tagus. Its tranquility now belies the castle’s bloody past.
Nowadays, it is very much a place for a quiet stroll. That could be along the castle ramparts, large parts of which survived the 1755 Earthquake. Equally there are the castle gardens, where the stroll will be accompanied by peacocks, ducks and geese. The Tower of Ulysses houses the Camara Escura which projects images from around the city.
Of particular interest in Alfama is Feira da Ladra, The Thieves Market. This is an interesting walk up from Apolonia Station, or get there on the No 28 tram. The market is open Tuesday and Saturday mornings. Any and everything can be found, nothing appearing beyond sale.
Belem for Monuments and Museums
Most tourists would now visit Belem. This is the area of town, by the Tagus estuary, known for its museums and monuments.
There are fantastic views out over the estuary that really give the feel the discoverers had as they set sail. The Monument to the Discoveries particularly gives the sense of looking outward hopefully to the Atlantic.
The Monument was inaugurated in 1960 as part of the celebrations for the 500th Anniversary of the death of Henry the Navigator. Henry is at the prow of the ship that constitutes the lower part of the Monument. He was sponsor of many explorers whose role in the Age of Discovery, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the Monument celebrates.
Also on the estuary is Belem Tower, built in 1515 as part of a three fortress defence system to protect the Tagus estuary. Ultimately, it lost its defence role and was used variously as a telegraph station, customs control and a lighthouse. In 1983, it was classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Nearby are Jeronimos Monastery, Ajuda Palace and the Coaches Museum.This is Lisbon’s touristic heartland.
Jeronimos Monastery, also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is built on the site of Santa Maria de Belem, a small chapel built under the patronage of Henry the Navigator. The monastery, commissioned by D. ManueI I , has motifs of the sea and navigation throughout its stonework in a style that became known as Manueline. The monks of the Order of St Jerome posted to the monastery dedicated their prayers to the spiritual guidance of the sailors and discoverers of the Age of Discovery.
Ajuda Palace is, perhaps, most interesting for its history. It was built on the site of the Royal Tent, a wooden structure that had been the residence of King Jose I after the 1755 Earthquake destroyed the Ribeira Palace. In its turn, the Royal Tent was destroyed by fire in 1794, occasioning the commission of the new palace.
The Coaches Museum is Lisbon’s most visited Museum and contains the world’s most valuable collection of coaches, quite a string of superlatives. The museum is housed in the Riding School of Belem Palace, official residence of Portuguese Presidents since 1910. The ornately decorated Riding School is worth visiting in its own right.
Martim Moniz and Intendente for Ethnic Shopping.
Off the tourist trail is Martim Moniz. This is a seething multi-ethnic area. Take the metro to Martim Moniz (tram 28 is an alternative) and you actually come up within a shopping centre filled with mostly Indian and Chinese shops. The surrounding narrow alleys and streets are mostly Chinese.
It is a short walk from here to Intendente. Again this is a multi-national enclave, this time very rundown, but subject to a massive redevelopment plan.
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Parque das Nacoes for Leisure Facilities
A final area not normally reached by tourists is Parque das Nacoes, though this is a matter of distance. It is a little further out. Remember, though, that all public transport in Lisbon, metro, trams and buses, offer excellent, frequent, services. Lisbon is also a very walkable city, despite being built on seven hills.
Parque Nacoes was mostly built for Expo 98. Here can be found the amazing Oriente Station, a shopping mall, casino, restaurants and a fantastic view out over Vasco da Gama Bridge.
The bridge is eleven miles long. It is redolent of the Florida Keys drive. Driving that bridge becomes an obsession.
Author Sunil S.
The city offers a world-class mix of galleries, museums, mainstream and speciality leisure shopping opportunities. This makes Lisbon an ideal European weekend break destination.
The Baixa and Alfama for Shopping and Strolling
Baixa is a planned grid of streets established after the Great Earthquake of 1755. This is Lisbon’s epicentre, with fine shopping and dining. There is much important neo-classical architecture; and the area is being considered for World Heritage Site Listing.
Alfama is quite the opposite of Baix’s openness. This area survived the Earthquake; and is the original medieval Moorish city of winding alleys with whitewashed houses.
Castelo Sao Jorge dominates Alfama, looking out over the rest of Lisbon and the Tagus. Its tranquility now belies the castle’s bloody past.
Nowadays, it is very much a place for a quiet stroll. That could be along the castle ramparts, large parts of which survived the 1755 Earthquake. Equally there are the castle gardens, where the stroll will be accompanied by peacocks, ducks and geese. The Tower of Ulysses houses the Camara Escura which projects images from around the city.
Of particular interest in Alfama is Feira da Ladra, The Thieves Market. This is an interesting walk up from Apolonia Station, or get there on the No 28 tram. The market is open Tuesday and Saturday mornings. Any and everything can be found, nothing appearing beyond sale.
Belem for Monuments and Museums
Most tourists would now visit Belem. This is the area of town, by the Tagus estuary, known for its museums and monuments.
There are fantastic views out over the estuary that really give the feel the discoverers had as they set sail. The Monument to the Discoveries particularly gives the sense of looking outward hopefully to the Atlantic.
The Monument was inaugurated in 1960 as part of the celebrations for the 500th Anniversary of the death of Henry the Navigator. Henry is at the prow of the ship that constitutes the lower part of the Monument. He was sponsor of many explorers whose role in the Age of Discovery, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the Monument celebrates.
Also on the estuary is Belem Tower, built in 1515 as part of a three fortress defence system to protect the Tagus estuary. Ultimately, it lost its defence role and was used variously as a telegraph station, customs control and a lighthouse. In 1983, it was classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Nearby are Jeronimos Monastery, Ajuda Palace and the Coaches Museum.This is Lisbon’s touristic heartland.
Jeronimos Monastery, also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is built on the site of Santa Maria de Belem, a small chapel built under the patronage of Henry the Navigator. The monastery, commissioned by D. ManueI I , has motifs of the sea and navigation throughout its stonework in a style that became known as Manueline. The monks of the Order of St Jerome posted to the monastery dedicated their prayers to the spiritual guidance of the sailors and discoverers of the Age of Discovery.
Ajuda Palace is, perhaps, most interesting for its history. It was built on the site of the Royal Tent, a wooden structure that had been the residence of King Jose I after the 1755 Earthquake destroyed the Ribeira Palace. In its turn, the Royal Tent was destroyed by fire in 1794, occasioning the commission of the new palace.
The Coaches Museum is Lisbon’s most visited Museum and contains the world’s most valuable collection of coaches, quite a string of superlatives. The museum is housed in the Riding School of Belem Palace, official residence of Portuguese Presidents since 1910. The ornately decorated Riding School is worth visiting in its own right.
Martim Moniz and Intendente for Ethnic Shopping.
Off the tourist trail is Martim Moniz. This is a seething multi-ethnic area. Take the metro to Martim Moniz (tram 28 is an alternative) and you actually come up within a shopping centre filled with mostly Indian and Chinese shops. The surrounding narrow alleys and streets are mostly Chinese.
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It is a short walk from here to Intendente. Again this is a multi-national enclave, this time very rundown, but subject to a massive redevelopment plan.
Booking.com
Parque das Nacoes for Leisure Facilities
A final area not normally reached by tourists is Parque das Nacoes, though this is a matter of distance. It is a little further out. Remember, though, that all public transport in Lisbon, metro, trams and buses, offer excellent, frequent, services. Lisbon is also a very walkable city, despite being built on seven hills.
Parque Nacoes was mostly built for Expo 98. Here can be found the amazing Oriente Station, a shopping mall, casino, restaurants and a fantastic view out over Vasco da Gama Bridge.
The bridge is eleven miles long. It is redolent of the Florida Keys drive. Driving that bridge becomes an obsession.
Author Sunil S.
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