Lisbon's waterfront is an arc stretching nearly 32km (20 miles) along the River Tagus. At the western end is Belém and at the eastern extreme is the Parque das Nações, the site of Expo 98. A map shows that many of the top attractions in Lisbon are within walking distance of the river, but because of the hills and the way in which the sights are spread out, it isn't always very easy to go directly from one to the other.
Padrão dos Descobrimentos
Lydia Evans
The Tagus
The River Tagus (Tejo) is 940km (585 miles) long, rising in Spain (where it is known as the Rio Tajo), and passing through Toledo. Its delta, to the south of Lisbon, is an important wildlife area.
As in many cities, it's best to organise your time and interests according to neighbourhood. The Belém district on the west side of the city holds several of the star visitor attractions, but the central areas, such as Alfama and the Bairro Alto either side of the Baixa, are better for dining, shopping and lingering.
You can travel cheaply and efficiently from place to place by public transport. Buses are quick and straightforward. Antique trams ply routes around the old town, and funiculars climb steep hills. Lisbon's Metro system is modern and fast, but serves a limited area, though expansion is underway. Taxis are plentiful and fairly inexpensive. Parking is usually difficult or even impossible on weekdays, so a car is best saved for out-of-town excursions.
On arrival, a guided city tour, whether by bus or ferry along the river, can be a good way to grasp the general layout.
Alfama
Alfama is Lisbon's oldest, most picturesque and fascinating area. Here, in a labyrinth of steep, crooked streets, alleys and stairways – a layout left by Moorish occupants of the city – little seems to have changed since the Middle Ages. The whole area between the castle and the waterfront is a jumble of tilting houses with peeling paint, pastel laundry hanging from windows, bars and fish stalls. The streets are so narrow that it's not uncommon to overhear elderly women sharing gossip across balconies.
Trams to Alfama
Taking a tram is the best way to get up into Alfama: No. 12 goes from Praça da Figueira, No. 28 from Bairro Alto.They share the same tracks in Alfama and you won't get lost if you follow their iron rails.
You are almost certain to get lost, but in this area – safe and easygoing by day – that's part of the attraction. Stick to the narrow streets; if you find yourself in a street wide enough for two cars to pass, then you have strayed from the Alfama area.
A good start to your explorations is at the bottom of the hill at the Museu do Fado 1 [map] (Fado Museum; Tue–Sun 10am– 6pm; charge; www.museudofado.pt) in Largo do Chafariz de Dentro. This sets the tone for the soul of the district, with a history of the city's famous music in song sheets, film clips and recordings, and a complete mocked-up fado tavern where you can sit and listen to Amália Rodrigues and other bygone stars, then select a souvenir from the CDs on sale.
Nearby is the Museu do Teatro Romano (Roman Theatre Museum; Pátio do Aljube 5; Tue–Sun 10am–1pm and 2–6pm; www.museuteatroromano.pt), the contemporary home of a ruined Roman theatre that was buried in the 1755 earthquake and excavated in 1964.
Miradouro de Santa Luzia
Lydia Evans
Miradouros
Alternatively, take the easier path into Alfama, with a tram to one of its vantage points, and let gravity lead you back down towards the river. The Miradouro de Santa Luzia 2 [map] is one such bluff on the edge of Alfama. From a pretty balcony covered with painted tiles and bougainvillea there are stunning views over a jumble of tiled roofs that cascade down to the river. Tourists mix with old men in black berets playing cards and chatting. Two detailed and dramatic azulejos (tile panels) on the wall facing the belvedere show Lisbon's waterfront as it was before the Great Earthquake and, in bloodthirsty detail, the rout of the Moors from the castle.
Just up the street is another terrific miradouro (lookout point), with even more expansive views. A small café on Largo das Portas do Sol serves snacks and beverages; visitors have been known to remain here for hours on end.
Rooftop view of Alfama from Largo das Portas do Sol
Lydia Evans
Between the two, and just above the Miradouro de Santa Luzia, the fine 17th-century Azurara Palace has been filled with magnificent pieces of furniture, Chinese porcelain, a priceless silver collection, and several tapestries from 16th- to 19th-century Portugal and its colonies, forming the Museu de Artes Decorativas (Decorative Arts Museum; Tue–Sun 10am–5pm; charge). The museum belongs to the Ricardo do Espírito Santo Silva Foundation, which was established in the 1950s by the banker of the same name and displays his valuable collection. The Foundation has 18 workshops where artisans practice traditional crafts such as woodwork, metalwork, gilding and bookbinding.
Alfama Gems
Some of Alfama's lesser-known attractions are best stumbled across by accident, through an arch or around a blind corner. Here is a selection of them.
Rua de São João da Praça is where the first king of Portugal, Dom Afonso Henriques, entered Lisbon through the Moorish defensive wall on 25 October 1147. The remains of a tower that was part of the Moorish defences can be found on Largo de São Rafael.
Rua de São Pedro is Alfama's boisterous main shopping street and site of a fish market. On weekday mornings, it's a cacophony of shouting fishmongers, gossiping punters, chickens, dogs and children playing football.
St Vincent of Lisbon
The remains of St Vincent are kept in a beautiful silver reliquary at São Vicente de Fora.Vincent was martyred atValencia in 336, but when the Moors took that city in the 8th century the inhabitants fled by sea, taking the relics of StVincent with them.They were driven ashore on the coast of Algarve at the cape now known as Cape St Vincent, and there the relics remained until Dom Afonso Henriques had them brought to the capital and deposited in the church he had just built.Two ravens faithfully escorted the saintly relics, which explains why many a Lisbon lamp-post bears the symbol of a sailing ship with a bird fore and aft.
Igreja de São Miguel (St Michael's Church) was built in the 12th century and restored after the earthquake; it has a glorious ceiling of Brazilian jacaranda wood and a rococo gilt altar screen. To the east, Igreja de Santo Estêvão (St Stephen's Church) has a 13th-century octagonal floor plan, but has been rebuilt several times over the years; the overhanging back of the church nearly collides with the front gate of an old palace.
The alley called Beco da Cardosa, with its blind-alley offshoots, is the very essence of Alfama's appeal. On Beco do Carneiro (Sheep Alley), ancient houses sag towards each other across a stepped-street barely wide enough for two people; above, the eaves of the buildings actually touch.
São Vicente de Fora and the Panteão Nacional
Just beyond the dense quarters of the Alfama, but linked to the neighbourhood, are two of its top sights. Though you might have trouble navigating the crooked streets up to it, the twin towers of Igreja e Mosteiro de São Vicente de Fora 3 [map] (Church and Monastery of St Vincent Beyond the Walls), rising above a hillside east of the São Jorge castle, are impossible to miss. Founded by Dom Afonso Henríques immediately after retaking the city from the Moors (tombs of the Teutonic knights who helped him lie beneath the Sacristy), it was reconstructed in the 16th century around the time of the Inquisition. This huge Italianate building succeeds in combining mass with grace. The entrance to the monastery (Tue–Sun 10am; charge) is on the right, where there is a pleasant café.
Thieves’ Market
Behind São Vicente, around the Mercado Santa Clara, Alfama's colourful Feira da Ladra (Thieves’ Market) is held every Tuesday and Saturday from dawn to dusk.
Built over an enormous cistern, many of the monastery's walls and courtyards are lined with azulejos, though the Fables of La Fontaine, depicted in 38 azulejo tableaux, have been removed and repositioned for display on the first floor. An exhibition explains the history of the Patriarchate of Lisbon, granted by the Pope in 1720, and pantheons contain tombs of the patriarchs and of Bragança royalty, including Catherine of Bragança, queen of Charles II of England, and Carlos I and his heir Prince Luís Felipe, assassinated together in 1908.
A further pantheon, the Panteão Nacional 4 [map] (Igreja de Santa Engrácia; Tue–Sun 10am–5pm; charge) is the other dominant building in the area, located just downhill from the monastery. This grandiosely domed marble church was begun in the 17th century, but the final touch, the cupola, wasn't completed until 1966. To describe something as the ‘works of Santa Engrácia’ is to call it an endless task.
Santa Engrácia remained a church until a few years ago, when it was deconsecrated and became the national pantheon, honouring great figures in Portuguese history with symbolic tombs in the sumptuous rotunda. To one side are the real tombs of presidents of the republic and contributors to Portuguese culture, including the famous fado singer Amália Rodrigues (1920–99), which always has fresh flowers. You can climb to the gallery for a view onto the marble floor of the rotunda, and to the terrace and dome, though there is often a queue for the lift.
The Castle
Almost every hill in this elevated part of town has a mira-douro, but the best panorama of all belongs to the Castelo de São Jorge 5 [map] (St George's Castle; daily summer 9am–9pm, winter 9am–6pm; charge), which is reached by the steep alley and steps that continue up from the tram stop on Rua de Santa Justa. From the ramparts, you can look out across the centre of Lisbon, over the Baixa to the Bairro Alto, down to the river and the Ponte 25 de Abril, as far as Belém.
The Castelo de São Jorge
Lydia Evans
The Moors, who ruled Portugal between the 8th and 12th centuries, clung hard to their castle but were finally dislodged in 1147. The new proprietor, Dom Afonso Henriques, expanded the fortifications, but earthquakes as well as general wear and tear over the following centuries left little intact. Restoration has since given new life to the old ruins, even if that means that much of the castle is not original.
Apart from the sensational vistas and the chance to roam the battlements, the castle is worth a visit for the park gardens inside its walls. Peacocks and other birds strut around as if they own the place. There is a café and restaurant in the castle, and souvenir shops are to hand. Also inside is Olisipónia, an exhibition with a 30-minute multimedia history of Lisbon.
The facade of Sé Patriarcal
Lydia Evans
The Cathedral
Many cities tend to be built around their grand cathedral squares, but Lisbon's cathedral, Sé Patriarcal 6 [map], (daily 9am–7pm; charge), appears out of nowhere at a bend in the road. It is most easily reached from the centre by continuing east on the extension of Rua da Conceição. Despite the lack of pomp and circumstance, this handsome building has significant historic and artistic importance. Begun as a fortress-church in the 12th century, its towers and walls suggest a citadel. The church suffered earthquake damage during the 14th, 16th and 18th centuries, but it retains its Romanesque facade. The 13th-century cloister gardens have been excavated to reveal signs of Iron Age, Roman and Moorish occupation all on this same site. A Roman amphitheatre has been uncovered just above the site.
Casa dos Bicos
Lydia Evans
A few steps down the hill from the cathedral, the little Igreja de Santo António da Sé, built in 1812, honours Lisbon's revered native son. Known throughout the world as St Anthony of Padua, to Lisboetas he is Santo António de Lisboa. The crypt – all that survived the 1755 earthquake – was built on the spot where, according to local lore, St Anthony's house stood. He is the patron saint of women looking for husbands; sometimes bridal bouquets are left at his altar in the cathedral, along with thanks for all of his good work. Pope John Paul II prayed in the crypt during his 1982 visit to Lisbon.
Towards the waterfront, at Campo das Cebolas, the Casa dos Bicos is worth noting. The building, faced with sharp pyramid-shaped stones, was built during the early 16th century, and belonged to the illegitimate son of Afonso de Albuquerque, the viceroy of Portuguese India.
Musee Nacional do Azulejo
Lydia Evans
The Rua dos Bacalhoeiros (Street of Cod-Sellers), on which the house stands, has various small tascas (restaurants) and the Loja dos Descobrimentos handicraft shop, specialising in hand-painted tiles. The west end of the street leads to the busy waterfront square, Praça do Comércio.
A Detour East: Two Museums
Along the riverfront just to the east of Alfama are two important museums. The Museu Militar (Military Museum; Tue–Sun 10am–5pm; charge), located in a large building across the square from the Santa Apolónia railway station, is on the site of a foundry where cannons were cast during the 16th century. Among the exhibits is Henry the Navigator's two-handed sword, almost as tall as a man, relics of the Napoleonic Wars and mementoes of Portugal's last skirmishes in its colonies.
A short way beyond is the marvellous, light-filled Museu Nacional do Azulejo 7 [map] (National Tile Museum; Tue–Sun 10am–6pm; charge), devoted entirely to the art of the painted ceramic tiles that are on view everywhere in Portugal. The museum occupies much of the former Manueline Convento da Madre de Deus (1509), and includes a small double-decker cloister surrounded by tiles in Moorish-style geometric patterns. It is filled with around 12,000 beautiful azulejos, ranging from 15th-century polychrome designs to contemporary examples.
One treasure is the Lisbon Panorama, a 36m- (118ft-) long composition of blue-and-white painted tiles, recording Lisbon's riverside as it looked 25 years before the 1755 earthquake. Another is the fabulous interior of the small church of Igreja da Madre de Deus, a heady mix of rococo gilt and gorgeous azulejos. Side walls are adorned with blue-and-white tiles from Holland; two rows of enormous paintings hang above them, and the ceiling also serves as a giant canvas.
Baixa (Lower City)
Praça do Comércio 8 [map] (Commerce Square) is a rare extravagant touch in understated Lisbon. Stately arcades and bold yellow government buildings line all three sides of the vast square; the fourth is open to the river, with Venetian-style marble stairs leading down to the water. On the east side of the stairs is the Terreiro do Paço terminal for ferries to the opposite shore. Ferries also leave from Cais do Sodré to the west.
Praça do Comércio
Lydia Evans
Terreiro do Paço (Palace Square) was the name of this square during the four centuries when the Royal Ribeira Palace stood on it, and many Lisboetas still use this name today, but the 1755 earthquake wiped out the entire complex of palatial buildings. The post-quake layout is harmonious and stately, but it remains part of many citizens’ daily lives. They catch buses and trams here, while children play around temporary exhibitions and installations.
No Metro
Though central to the city, Praça do Comércio has no Metro station. Recent plans to build one have been thwarted by a combination of impregnable granite bedrock and invading river water.
The Praça do Comércio has been the backdrop for some of history's dramas: King Carlos I and his son were killed by an assassin here in 1908, and this is where the first uprising of the Carnation Revolution of 1974 was staged.
On the west side, at Rua do Arsenal 15, is the Lisboa Welcome Centre, the city's main tourist office. In the middle of the square is the bronze equestrian statue of José I, patron of the Marquês de Pombal, who designed the square as the centrepiece of his post-earthquake resconstruction. Another sculptural flourish is the triumphal arch, depicting the Marquês de Pombal and the explorer Vasco da Gama, and connecting government buildings on the north of the square.
The arch leads to the pedestrianised Rua Augusta, the main thoroughfare of Pombal's 18th-century grid and an attractive shopping street. Tiled façades and Art Nouveau touches are a feature of these 15 earthquake-proof side streets, which are full of intriguing shops, banks and small restaurants. The parallel Rua de Prata and Rua do Ouro (Silver and Gold Streets) are named after the original specialist shops in the area.
At No. 24 lies Lisbon's newest attraction, the exceptional MUDE-Museu do Design e da Moda 9 [map] (Design and Fashion Museum; Tue–Thur and Sun 10am–8pm, Fri and Sat 10pm; charge; www.mude.pt), Europe's leading museum of 20th-century design. A starkly converted bank contains an incredible collection of furniture, industrial design and couture, including items by Charles Eames, Frank Gehry, Phillipe Starck, Givenchy, Balenciaga and Yves Saint Laurent.
On the west side of the Baixa is the Bairro Alto, the ‘Upper Quarter’, which is easily scaled by the Elevador de Santa Justa ) [map] (daily 7am–9pm, July and Aug 11pm; charge), a 30m- (100ft-) high iron neo-Gothic lift built by Raúl Mesnier in 1902. Originally powered by steam, it was rebuilt in 1993. An upper gangway gives access to the Bairro Alto. Today the still-functioning lift takes people to the level just below the top, from where a spiral staircase leads up to the main observation deck with its pleasant café and sensational views of Lisbon's tiled rooftops and the São Jorge castle.
The steps behind the lift lead up to emerge at the gently sloping Rua do Carmo, with its blend of modern and traditional shops. The latter include the Luvaria Ulisses, a glove shop whose ArtDeco street frontage is barely a metre wide.
Take the Elevador de Santa Justa for stunning views of Lisbon
Lydia Evans
Rossio
Turn left up Rua do Carmo to enter the Chiado district, or follow it down to the right to emerge on the Rossio ! [map] (formally named Praça Dom Pedro IV), Lisbon's main square, once the scene of public hangings, bullfights and the burning of the Inquisition's victims. Today, the square is still one of the main centres of activity in Lisbon – it's a great place to window-shop, meet friends, watch the busy crowds go by from pavement cafés, such as the Art Nouveau Nicola, and listen to the fountains and the cries of the newsboys and flower sellers. It is also a popular place to catch a taxi or bus.
Estação do Rossio
Lydia Evans
The statue on the column in the square honours the first emperor of Brazil, Pedro IV (1826–34). On the northern end of the square is the handsome Teatro Nacional Dona Maria II. Just beyond the theatre on the right are a couple of ginjinha (cherry brandy) kiosks, which make the area an evening gathering place. Nearby is the southern end of Rua das Portas de Santo Antão, a street bustling with lively restaurant tables appreciated by patrons of the popular Teatro Politeama up on the left. At No. 58 is the Casa do Alentejo. Once the property of the counts of Alverca, this is now the regional house of the residents of the Alentejo region, to the east of Lisbon. It looks quite unassuming from the outside, but as you go through the entrance and up the steps you're confronted by a riot of interior styling: an attractive Moorish courtyard with Art Deco flourishes, and on the first floor, a traditional restaurant with massed panels of vivid azulejos, serving excellent Alentejo dishes at reasonable prices.
Praça dos Restauradores
Lydia Evans
On the west side of the square, one street removed, is the Estação do Rossio, the railway station where local trains run to Sintra and Mafra. Its horseshoe arches make it look like a Moorish palace, but it is a romantic effort of the late 19th century.
To the east of Rossio is another major square, Praça da Figueira, which is another hub for buses – and the No. 12 tram. At its centre is a statue of João I, founder of the Avis dynasty. Just to the northeast is Praça Martim Moniz, decked with fountains that function as a water park for children. The views of Alfama and the castle district from here are lovely.
The road past Rossio station opens out into Praça dos Restauradores (Square of the Restoration), where an obelisk celebrates the overthrow of Spanish rule in 1640. Palácio Foz, the once splendid pink palace on the west side of the square beside the former Art Deco Teatro Eden, now houses a tourist information office for both the city and the country. Just beyond it, the Elevador da Glória funicular takes you up to the Bairro Alto.
A quiet moment in Jardim Botânico
Lydia Evans
From this point, Avenida da Liberdade makes its way uphill for a little over 1km (½ mile). The stately boulevard of upmarket shops is graced with statues, fountains, ponds, flower gardens, promenade cafés and benches. The boulevard ends at the Praça Marquês de Pombal (or Rotunda) traffic hub from which an elevated statue of Pombal, accompanied by a lion, looks out over his rebuilt Lisbon.
Like the steep Alfama district, the Bairro Alto is a hilly and dense area full of picturesque old houses, their wrought-iron balconies hung with birdcages and flowerpots. Half-asleep during the day, Bairro Alto is the nightlife epicentre of Lisbon. At night the sad songs of fado nightclubs spill out into the cobbled streets, as do bohemian revellers who bar-hop from one club or bar to another.
The easiest way to reach the Bairro Alto is to board the Elevador da Glória, the yellow funicular trolley at Praça dos Restauradores. Locals, however, are as apt to walk up the hill as wait for the funicular. At the top end of the brief journey is a lookout park, Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara, with an excellent view of the Castelo de São Jorge across the Baixa.
Opposite the top of the funicular, on the ground floor of the 18th-century Palace of São Pedro de Alcântara, is the Solar do Vinho do Porto @ [map] (Port Wine Institute; Mon–Fri 11am–midnight, Sat 2pm–midnight), where you can sample the famous port wines in the comfort of an armchair, served by waiters.
North of the miradouro, along Rua de São Pedro de Alcântara, lies the Jardim Botânico (Botanical Garden), reached through the university gate alongside the Academy of Sciences. It concentrates on the scientific cultivation of unusual plants from distant climes, but this serious activity doesn't disturb the lush, slightly unkempt beauty and tranquillity. The tree-shaded gardens slope steeply downhill to a lower gate near the Avenida Metro station.
Chapel of São João Baptista in the Igreja de São Roque
Lydia Evans
Igreja de São Roque
Two churches in the upper town are unusual enough to merit a visit. Just down Rua de São Pedro do Alcântara, turning left from the top of the funicular, is Largo Trindade Coelho and the Igreja de São Roque £ [map]. The church's dull exterior (the original 16th-century façade perished in the 1755 earthquake) conceals the most lavishly decorated chapel in Lisbon: the baroque altar of the chapel of São João Baptista (St John the Baptist) is a wealth of gold, silver, bronze, agate, amethyst, lapis lazuli, ivory and Carrara marble. In 1742, João V of Portugal sent orders for this altar to Rome, where teams of artists and artisans worked on it for five years. After the Pope had given his blessing, the prefabricated masterpiece was dismantled and shipped to the customer. The church ceiling, from 1589, is the only surviving example in Lisbon of a Mannerist painted ceiling. Adjoining the church, the impressive Museu de Arte Sacra (Museum of Sacred Art; Tue, Wed, Fri–Sun 10am–6pm, Thur 2–9pm; charge) contains a collection of beautifully presented precious reliquaries, paintings, delicately worked jewellery and vestments.
Igreja do Carmo
Lydia Evans
The Bairro Alto's restaurants and bars are located in the side streets to the west of Rua de São Pedro de Alcân-tara. For a daylight impression of the narrow streets with their overhanging balconies, take a walk from Largo Trindade Coelho up the Travessa da Queimada. The streets are in a grid pattern, so it's easy to explore and navigate your way back.
From Largo Trindade Coelho, you can also walk downhill towards the Chiado district, via Rua Nova da Trindade. Halfway down on the left is the Cervejeria da Trindade, an old beer hall decorated with azulejos, where you can enjoy hearty food (the seafood is excellent) at reasonable prices.
Window shopping in Chiado
Lydia Evans
Igreja do Carmo
If you continue to the bottom and turn left, you'll arrive at Largo do Carmo, where the Igreja do Carmo $ [map] (Carmelite Church) is rich only in memories. Today it stands in ruins, a mere shell, but an evocative reminder of the 1755 earthquake's tremendous destruction – the roof fell in on a full congregation on All Saints’ Day. The foundations date to the 14th century. Housed inside the only part of the church that has a roof over it is the Museu Archeológico do Carmo (Oct–Apr Mon–Sat 10am–5pm May–Sept 6pm; charge). This small archaeological museum has a collection that includes prehistoric pottery, some Roman sculptures, early Portuguese tombs and even a few ancient mummies under glass.
Chiado
The streets of chic Chiado have long been renowned for dispensing Lisbon's most elegant goods – silverware, leather, fashions and books – along with fine pastry and tea shops. The main commerical street, with some high-end fashion shops, is Rua Garrett, where a statue of the poet Fernando Pessoa sits outside Café A Brasileira, which has attracted artists for a century.
In 1988 part of Chiado was devastated by fires that wiped out two of Europe's oldest department stores, including the legendary Armazéns do Chiado. Portugal's most famous architect, the modernist Álvaro Siza, over-saw the tastefully preserved reconstruction of the neigh-bourhood, especially along Rua do Carmo. The local fire brigade is based in the Largo Barão Quintela, just off Rua do Alecrim, and here there is another statue, this one of the 19th-century novelist Eça de Queiroz, gazing upon a naked muse.
‘Nastiest city’
Henry Fielding's Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon, published just after his death, ends with his arrival at seven in the evening:‘I got into a chaise on shore, and was driven through the nastiest city in the world…’
The Museu do Chiado (Tue–Sun 10am–6pm; charge), in the former San Francisco Convent on Rua Serpa Pinto, houses an impressive collection of Portuguese art from the late 19th century to the present.
São Bento
West of the Bairro Alto lies the Palácio São Bento, a former Benedictine monastery that houses Portugal's parliament. Beyond it is the delightful park Jardim Guerra Jumqueiro, better known as Jardim da Estrela after the distinguished 18th-century church across the street. This richly decorated basilica was completed in 1789. The 19th-century park contains abundant tropical foliage, plus the customary ducks, geese, peacocks and pheasants. Just beyond the park is the Cemitério dos Ingleses (English Cemetery), where Henry Fielding (1707–54), author of Tom Jones, is buried.
Lapa
Moving west and down towards the river from Chiado is the elegant residential neighbourhood of Lapa. It is home to embassies, town-houses and several intimate hotels, but to most visitors it is known as the address of the Museu Nacional deArte Antiga % [map] (National Museum of Ancient Art; Wed–Sun 10am–6pm, Tue 2–6pm; charge; www.mnarteantiga-ipmuseus.pt), Portugal's largest museum. It is housed on the site of a Carmelite convent in a large and handsomely designed palace on Rua das Janelas Verdes. On three floors, the museum is an absorbing place with at least several masterpieces of international renown.
The ground floor (Piso 1) has textiles and furniture with a whole glittering salon, plus paintings by foreign artists, including Tiepolo, Fragonard and, most strikingly, the Spaniard Francisco de Zurbarán, whose six larger-than-life saints once belonged to the monastery of São Vicente de Fora.
The same floor also has a triptych by Hieronymus Bosch – the Flemish artist who painted surreal allegorical scenes with alien-like creatures – that is both entertaining and horrific. The Temptation of St Anthony, painted around 1500, is a fantastic hallucination, tempered with humour and executed with mad genius. A crane rigged up like a helicopter, flying fish taxis and horse-size rats fill this ghoulish nightmare.
Custard tarts
The Belém district is famous for its special pastries (pastéis de Belém) – custard tarts coated with icing sugar and cinnamon.The best are those, made to a secret recipe, sold at the Pastéis de Belém, at Rua de Belém, No. 84–92.
The second floor contains oriental art, much of it dating from the discoveries of the 15th and 16th centuries. Two Japanese lacquer screens depict the moment that the Portuguese – the first Europeans – landed in Japan. The new arrivals are depicted as villains up to no good, while the locals watch, amused, from their balconies. Also on this floor is silverware, mostly ecclesiastical.
The top floor is devoted to Portuguese art and sculpture. Here a highlight is The Adoration of St Vincent, a multi-panel work also taken from São Vicente de Fora monastery and attributed to the 15th-century Portuguese master, Nuno Gonçalves. It is a spectacular portrait of contemporary dignitaries, including Henry the Navigator. Dozens of others are shown in every range of distracção – ire, boredom and amusement – while several of the assembled clergymen appear as ugly, evil or both.
There is a pleasant garden and café, Café d'Arte, and the museum looks out over the Doca do Alcântara, where the Fragata D. Fernando II e Glória is berthed (Tue–Sun 10am–5pm; charge). This beautiful vessel, the Portuguese navy's last sailing ship, was built in the Indian colony of Damão in 1843. The dock's brightly painted Estação Maritima de Alcântara, with murals by José Almada Negreiros, is where cruise-ship passengers come ashore. There are a number of bars and clubs in the terminal and around the dock, where there are also a couple of floating restaurants.
The quay of the smaller Doca de Santo Amaro yachting marina, just beneath Ponte 25 de April, is lined with restaurants.
Belém
Belém (Portuguese for Bethlehem), Lisbon's primary monumental district, is a suburb about 6km (4 miles) west of Praça do Comércio. Land reclaimed from the river has been fashioned into parkland and marinas. Though the shore is unrecognisable today, the great Portuguese voyages of discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries set out from here.
Mosteiro dos Jerónimos
Lydia Evans
Tram 15 makes the waterfront trip to Belém from Praça do Comércio; bus 201 from Cais do Sodré (just west of Praça do Comércio) covers virtually the same route but ends up at Linda-a-Velha.
Start a visit to Belém at the edge closest to central Lisbon. The Museu Nacional dos Coches (National Coach Museum; Tue–Sun 10am–6pm; charge; www.museudoscoches-ipmuseus.pt) is housed in the former riding school of the Belém Royal Palace. Two grand halls display dozens of impressive carriages, drawn by royal horses for ceremonial occasions both in the city and across the country over four centuries. The most extravagant are three sculpted, gilt carriages used by the Portuguese embassy in Rome in the early 18th century.
Carved stonework outside the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos
Lydia Evans
Mosteiro dos Jerónimos
Only a short stroll westwards along the Rua de Belém is Lisbon's largest and most impressive religious monument, the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos ^ [map] (Monastery of the Hierony mites; May–Sept Tue–Sun 10am–6.30pm Oct–Apr 5.30pm; charge), a Unesco World Heritage Site. Commissioned by Manuel I with the windfall of riches brought back by Portuguese ships from the East, the monastery is an obvious testament to a confident and faithful nation. The convent wing was destroyed in the 1755 earthquake, but the church and cloister survive, classic examples of 16th-century style.
The vast south façade of the church, parallel to the river, is mostly unadorned limestone, making the few embellishments all the more remarkable. The main portal is a brilliant example of intricately carved stonework, as are the church's tall Manueline columns (this style bridged the gap between the Gothic and Renaissance styles in Portugal). The effect is one of immense height and space. The first architect in charge was a Frenchman, Diogo Boitac, who was succeeded by the Spaniard Juan de Castillo, responsible for the cloister and main portal.
Manueline Architecture
The Portuguese may be principally known for azulejo designs and port wine, but equally important is the ornate style of architecture and stone carving that suddenly appeared in Portugal in the late 15th century. It flourished for only a few decades, mostly during the reign of Manuel I (1495–1521), for which it was christened Manueline.
Probably triggered by the great ocean voyages of discovery, it took late Gothic as a base and added fanciful decoration, dramatic touches that were frequently references to the sea. Stone was carved like knotted rope and sculpted into imitation coral, seahorses, nets and waves, as well as non-nautical designs.The style first appeared in the small Igreja de Jesus in Setúbal, Lisbon's Torre de Belém and the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos.The style reached a peak of complexity in the unfinished chapels of the monastery at Batalha, between Lisbon and Coimbra. In the early 16th century, the style fell out of favour, and by 1540 Portugal had joined the rest of Europe in building in the more sober Renaissance style.
Inside the church are the royal tombs of Manuel I, his wife Dona Maria, and others, set on pompous sculptured elephants, a tribute to the newly discovered marvels of the East. Near the west door are the modern tombs of two giants of Portugal's Golden Age, Vasco da Gama and the poet Luís de Camões.
Once you leave the church (don't miss the fine sculptural work surrounding the exterior of the main door), turn right and visit the cloister, an airy two-level structure of strikingly original proportions and perspectives. Note the clever intersection of both sharp angles and arches. No two columns are the same.
Centro Cultural
Across the road from the Jerónimos Monastery is the Centro Cultural de Belém, built in 1992. It houses the fantastic Museu Colecção Berardo, with a superb collection of modern art, temporary exhibitions, and holds concerts in its auditoriums.With shops and cafés, it is well worth visiting to find out what events are taking place.
The south section of the monastery has been restored and forms a beautiful setting for the Museu Nacional de Arqueologia & [map] (National Museum of Archaeology; Tue–Sun 10am– 6pm; charge), an important collection of ancient relics, including Stone Age tools, Bronze Age jewels Roman sculptures and mosaics, and some exquisite medieval carving, most breathtaking of which is a tomb depicting Jesus and St Francis. It is also a stunning venue for occasional concerts. The educational attractions continue just to the west of the monastery with a Planetário (Planetarium).
Portugal's fascinating maritime heritage is documented at the Museu da Marinha (Maritime Museum; Apr–Sept Tue– Sun 10am–6pm Oct–Mar 5pm; charge; museu.marinha.pt/museu/site/pt), which is housed in the west and northern wings of the monastery and in new buildings around the square opposite the entrance. Among the museum's collection are hundreds of models of various ship types down the ages, and numerous artefacts such as naval uniforms, maps and navigation equipment.
Also on display is a delightful sculpture of the archangel Raphael that accompanied Vasco da Gama on his first voyage of exploration in 1497. Of more recent date are the handsome royal suites from Amália, the 1901 royal yacht that belonged to King Carlos I, who was an amateur marine biologist. Pride of place goes to the huge galliot, or brigantine, built in 1785 to celebrate a royal marriage, with seats for 80 oarsmen. The last time it was on the River Tagus was in 1957, carrying Queen Elizabeth II of Britain on a state visit. Next to it is the seaplane piloted by Portuguese aviators that in 1922 made the first flight across the South Atlantic.
In the arts hub that is the Centro Cultural de Belém, the * [map]Museu Colecção Berardo (Berardo Collection Museum; Praça do Império; Sun–Fri 10am–7pm, Sat 10am–10pm; www.museuberardo.pt) displays the incredible modern art collection of billionaire José Berardo against gleaming white walls, with a roll call of contemporary greats, including Andy Warhol, Paula Rego, Roy Lichenstein and more.
Padrão dos Descobrimentos
Lydia Evans
Padrão dos Descobrimentos
The arresting Padrão dos Descobrimentos ( [map] (Monument to the Discoveries; May–Sept daily 10am–7pm, Oct–Apr Tue–Sun 10am– 6pm; charge; www.padraodosdescobrimetos.egeac.pt), built in 1960 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Henry the Navigator's death, juts from the riverbank like a caravel cresting a wave.
On the prow stands Prince Henry, looking out across the river and wearing, as always, his distinctive round hat. The figures behind him represent noted explorers, crusaders, astronomers, cartographers, chroniclers and others instrumental in Portugal's Age of Discovery. A lift followed by stairs leads to the top and a superb view; the Lisbon Experience inside offers an audio-visual show.
Torre de Belém
Lydia Evans
Torre de Belém
Finally, there is the Unesco World Heritage Site, Torre de Belém ‚ [map] (Tower of Belém; Tue–Sun 10am– 6.30pm; charge), erected in 1515 to defend the entry to Lisbon. This fortress is one of the finest examples of Manueline architecture, with its battlements, corner turrets and repeated theme of the Cross in the stonework. After crossing the wooden bridge, climb several floors to a top-level terrace that looks out over the Tagus. Though the much-photographed monument may be smaller than you imagined, it must have been a wonderful sight to weary explorers returning from their journeys.
While you're at this end of town, don't miss the former royal residence, Palácio da Ajuda ⁄ [map] (Thur–Tue 10am–5.30pm; charge; www.pnajuda.imc-ip.pt), the biggest palace inside the city limits, which brims with all kinds of artworks and curiosities. Work began in 1802 to replace the temporary wooden palace erected here after the earthquake, but the royal family soon afterwards left for Brazil, and work was not continued again until the reign of Luís I (1861–89) and his Italian bride, Princess Maria Pia of Savoy, who became the first royals to live here. They furnished the palace with lavish trappings, including Gobelin tapestries, oriental ceramics, crystal chandeliers and rare Portuguese furniture. The palace, which still has a rather unfinished air, is north of Belém up Calçada da Ajuda.
North Lisbon
At the north end of Avenida da Liberdade, beyond the Marquês de Pombal rotunda, is a formal park, Parque Eduardo VII. The well-manicured lawns and shrubs are surrounded on either side by wooded areas and gardens. So thrilled were the Portuguese by a royal visit at the turn of the last century that they named the park after Britain's king, Edward VII.
Parque Eduardo VII
Lydia Evans
Estufa Fria
Lisbon's most original botanical triumph occupies the northwest corner of the park. Known as Estufa Fria ¤ [map] (the Cold House; Oct–Mar daily 9am–5pm, Apr–Sept 6pm), this garden was created in the early 20th century on the site of a quarry, and it owes its name to the fact that its simple wooden lath roof gives shade but no heat, allowing plants from a variety of backgrounds to grow as naturally as possible, protected from the Lisboan extremes of climate. Paths weave their way through the enormous space among species from Africa, Asia and South America. At the far side, a doorway leads through to the cavernous Estufa Quente (the Hot House), which was built at the end of the 1950s on the highest point of the quarry. Its roof and walls are made of glass, in order to capture the maximum amount of light and heat, and hence more tropical species thrive here.
Calouste Gulbenkian
At the dawn of the Oil Age, a far-sightedTurkish-born Armenian put up money to help finance drilling in Mesopotamia (now Iraq), then part of the Turkish empire. For his part, he received 5 percent of the Iraq Petroleum Company.Two world wars and the fuelling of millions of cars, planes and ships made Calouste Gulbenkian rich beyond imagination. He became a knowledgeable and dedicated collector of antiquities and great art, beginning withTurkish and Persian carpets,Armenian and Arabic manuscripts, and Greek and Roman coins. His passions spread to include ancient Egyptian art, Chinese porcelain and Western painting. His mission was acquiring perfect examples in each of his chosen fields.
Gulbenkian (who had British nationality for much of his life) was preparing to travel to the United States when he fell ill in Lisbon. He was so impressed with his treatment here that he decided to stay, establishing a philanthropic foundation to which he left most of his money and his collections when he died in 1955.The Gulbenkian Museum is his centrepiece, complemented by several other cultural facilities in Portugal, including the Modern Art Centre, regional museums, a planetarium and educational institutes.
Museu Gulbenkian
To the north of Parque Eduardo VII, off Avenida António Au-gusto Aguiar, at Avenida da Berna 45, is one of the world's great museums, Museu Gulbenkian ‹ [map] (Gulbenkian Museum; Tue–Sun 10am–5.45pm; charge; www.museu.gulbenkian.pt). It was created to house one of the finest private art collections in Europe, acquired by an Armenian billionaire, Calouste Gulbenkian, and later bequeathed to the Portuguese state. A great phil-anthropist who died in Lisbon in 1955, Gulbenkian meticulously acquired acclaimed masterpieces and built up an excellent and wide-ranging collection.
Exhibit at Museu Gulbenkian
Lydia Evans
Surrounded by its own perfectly planned and maintained 17-acre park, the museum houses a huge collection, which begins chronologically, with Egyptian ceramics and sculptures dating back to around 2700BC, delicate and perfectly preserved. The handsome statue of the judge Bes is inscribed with hieroglyphs that date it from the reign of Pharaoh Psamtik I (7th century BC).
A large section of the museum is devoted to art of the Islamic East, and includes ancient fabrics, costumes and carpets, plus ceramics, glassware and illuminated pages from the Koran. The survey of Western art begins in the 11th century with illuminated parchment manuscripts. Tiny ivory sculptures of religious scenes come from 14th-century France, and there are a number of well-preserved tapestries from the Flemish and Italian workshops of the 16th century.
Paintings by Dutch and Flemish masters include works by Hals, Van Dyck and Ruysdael. Pride of place is given to two Rembrandts: Figure of an Old Man and a painting of a helmeted warrior believed to be Pallas Athene or Alexander the Great, probably modelled by Rembrandt's son Titus.
Figure of an Old Man, painted by Rembrandt
Lydia Evans
The impressive hall of Chinese porcelain begins with the Yuan dynasty (13th–14th century; around the time of Marco Polo) and goes on to some exquisite items from the 17th and 18th centuries. Miraculously unmarred by the forces of time, each object is representative of the pinnacle of a particular school of art.
The last room of the museum contains 169 items by Gulbenkian's friend René Lalique (1860–1945), the talented and versatile French jeweller. On display are exquisite Art Nouveau combs, pendants, bracelets, necklaces, including a dazzling, bejewelled brooch of nine entwined serpents.
The Centro de Arte Moderna › [map] (Modern Art Centre; Tue–Fri 10am–6pm; a combined ticket with the main museum can be bought; www.cam.gulbenkian.pt) is also a part of the Gulbenkian Foundation. This is the best place to see 20th-century Portuguese and Britsh art, and there are some excellent works by Amadeo de Souza Cardoso, Vieira da Silva and Almada Negreiros, particularly of society types and Lisbon café life. There are also a couple of early Paula Rego abstracts, from 1935 and works by Britsh artists such as David Hockney and Henry Moore.
The Foundation has exhibition spaces and concert halls where musical performances and ballets take place. There is also a library, with occasional free lunchtime Sunday concerts, a bookshop and a restaurant.
Aqueduto das Águas Livres
A landmark that is most often seen by those heading out of town is the soaring arches of Aqueduto das Águas Livres fi [map] (a freshwater aqueduct), which spans an impressive 18km (11 miles) across the Alcântara valley north of downtown Lisbon. Fresh water was first carried across the aqueduct in 1748; it managed to survive the earthquake, and water is carried across it still. A visit to the aqueduct can be arranged through the Museu de Água (Water Museum; Mon–Sat 10am–6pm; charge) in the city's first steam-pumping station, in Rua do Alviela near Santa Apolónia station. However, for the most impressive views from underneath, it's best to avoid the museum and walk down the road.
Aqueduto das Águas Livres
Lydia Evans
Along with the motorway to Cascais, the aqueduct slices through the city's biggest park, Monsanto. Eucalyptus, cypress, cedar, umbrella pines and oak trees all thrive on the rolling hillsides. Apart from calm and fresh air, the park contains leisure and sports grounds, bars and restaurants. Its municipal camping ground ranks as one of Europe's prettiest and best-organised, and the park also has some impressive miradouros, giving outstanding views over Lisbon and the estuary. Be warned, though, that its roads invariably turn into a traffic jam at rush hours.
Parque Das Nações
Lisbon, and the whole of Portugal, pinned much hope on the city's hosting of the World Expo in 1998. Celebrating the ‘Heritage of the Oceans’, it was an opportunity for the nation to pay tribute to its former maritime greatness and reintroduce itself to the world.
Park panorama
A high point of the Parque das Nações is the 145m (475ft) Torre Vasco da Gama with a panoramic terrace and restaurant in the ‘crow's nest’ 104m (341ft) above ground.
Lisbon used the occasion to reinvigorate a run-down industrial area east of the city, creating a high-tech entertainment park, along with new shopping and nightlife areas. A futuristic railway station, Estação do Oriente (designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava as a major terminal for destinations around the country), a pristine shopping mall and the stark white Vasco da Gama bridge extending across the Tagus into the horizon – Europe's longest bridge at 17.2km (10¾ miles) – frame the park.
Oceanário de Lisboa
The Parque das Nações (Nations’ Park) complex extends 5km (3 miles) along the riverfront, principally drawing visitors to its world-class aquarium, which served as the Oceans Pavilion during the Expo, and has since become one of the city's primary attractions.
The complex won the award for best urban development in Iberia in 1999. Designed by the American Peter Chermayeff, the Oceanário de Lisboa fl [map] (summer daily 10am–8pm, winter 7pm; charge; www.oceanario.pt), which looks something like a marooned oil derrick or space station from the set of a sci-fi thriller, is one of the largest and finest aquariums in the world and is reached by a footbridge. It houses large tanks of water consisting of four distinct ecosystems that represent different oceans (Antarctic, Indian, Pacific and Atlantic), with more than 10,000 examples of marine life and 200 species taken from across the world. You'll see penguins in the Antarctic section and otters in the Pacific. As visitors make their way around the massive circular aquarium – the size of four Olympic-size swimming pools – tiger sharks, manta rays and schools of brightly coloured fish glide silently by, overhead and underneath observation decks.
Futuristic architecture at Parque das Nações
Lydia Evans
Nations’ Park is a good place for families, even though it can be devoid of life during the week. There are whimsical fountains, paddle boats, garden playgrounds, bowling lanes, aerial cable cars running the length of the waterfront, and the Torre Vasco da Gama, a tower with an observation deck – the tallest structure in Portugal – that looks out to the Atlantic and back down the river at Lisbon.
Cycling by Ponte 25 de Abril
Lydia Evans
The Pavilhão do Conhecimento (the Pavilion of Knowledge; Tue–Fri 10am–6pm, Sat–Sun 11am–7pm; charge; www.pavconhecimento.pt), is a thrilling, highly-educational hands-on museum of science and technology. There is an internet café with free but limited 30-minute access.
Sporting events, such as basketball and tennis, and concerts by big-name international and local performers, are held at the mushroom-like Atlântico Hall arena, which functioned as the Utopia Pavilion during the Expo. The Teatro Camões is home to the excellent national ballet company.
Many restaurants and bars have moved into the marina area, transforming it into an animated nightspot; hotels and residential housing are being built, creating a desirable suburb, and the mall around the Metro station attracts late-night and Sunday shoppers.
Among the former pavilions notable for their architectural interest is the Portugal Pavilion beside the marina, by the Pritzker prize-winning Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira. The pavilion has an astonishing curved and suspended roof 67m (221ft) long and weighing 1,400 tonnes.
Statue visit
To visit the statue of Cristo Rei you can drive across the bridge or take one of the orange ferries from Cais do Sodré to Cacilhas and then a taxi or a bus marked ‘Cristo Rei’.
Across the Tagus
With a span of 2.3km (1½ miles), the Ponte 25 de Abril ‡ [map] across the River Tagus became the longest suspension bridge in Europe when it was opened in 1966. Originally named in honour of the nation's dictator, after the revolution of 1974 the name ‘Salazar’ was removed, and for quite a time it was known simply as ‘the bridge’.
In an about-face, it was renamed after the date of the Carnation Revolution, 25 April. In 1999 a sixth lane was added to it, and a railway line was suspended beneath it. Though its bold red colour is quite striking, the bridge lacks the grace of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco with which it is often compared.
Just across the river, above Cacilhas and looming up over the bridge's tollbooths, is Lisbon's take on Rio de Janeiro's landmark, the enormous statue of Cristo Rei (Christ the King), built in 1959. Almost 30m (100ft) tall, it stands on a pedestal that is another 82m (269ft) high.
A chapel, the Santuário de Cristo Rei, is housed in the base of the towering monument, where there is also a cafeteria. Take the lift up to the viewing terrace at the top of the pedestal for a glorious 360-degree panoramic view of the estuary, the bridge, all of Lisbon and a vast expanse of Portugal to the south, including the Serra da Arrábida.
Excursions From Lisbon
One of the great attractions of Lisbon is the number of desirable excursions only a very short distance from the capital – there are highlights west, south and north of the city. Whether you're looking for grand palaces, beach resorts, awe-inspiring abbeys or a charming romantic town lodged in the mountains, there's plenty to explore in the environs.
Closed on Tuesdays
Most museums in Portugal are closed on Monday, but Queluz takes Tuesday off – and any other day when visiting heads of state are in residence.
Queluz
An easy half-day outing is to Palácio Nacional de Queluz ° [map] (Wed–Mon 9am–5pm; gardens May–Sept 9am–6pm; charge), 14km (9 miles) west of Lisbon. To reach it, take a bus tour or a commuter train from Rossio station to QueluzBelas. By car it's 20 minutes on the motorway through the forest of Monsanto; the turn-off on the way to Sintra is clearly signposted. You're hardly out of Lisbon's mushrooming suburbs before you're alongside the elegant palace.
Pedro III commissioned this sumptuous, pretty pink summer palace, which was built in the second half of the 18th century by the Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Robillon and the Portuguese Mateus Vicente de Oliveira. As a working official residence for the royal family, Queluz thrived mostly during the reign of Maria I (1777–99), Pedro III's wife. The queen suffered from bouts of depression, which deepened into madness, and visitors to the palace told of her shrieking fits.
From the road, the palace seems relatively unprepossessing, but inside, Portuguese modesty is totally abandoned, and Queluz is a model of only slightly tattered splendour. Though the palace lost much to French invasions (it was used by General Andoche Junot as his headquarters during the Peninsular War) and a 1934 fire, it manages to preserve an air of 18th-century royal privilege. The throne room is one of the most lavish, with overpowering chandeliers and walls and ceilings layered with gilt. The Sala dos Embaixadores (Hall of Ambassadors) has a floor like a huge chessboard in addition to a wealth of mirrors and a trompe l'oeil ceiling. Queluz is rather curiously laid out – public rooms almost incoherently border living quarters.
Palácio Nacional de Queluz
Lydia Evans
The Palace Gardens are the pride of Queluz and seem never-ending, with clipped hedges in perfect geometric array, bushes barbered into inventive shapes, imaginative fountains and armies of statues. The huge old magnolia trees and orange trees close by relieve some of the formality. Royal guests once entered the garden via the pompous but original Escadaria dos Leões (Lions’ Staircase).
By train to Sintra
The easiest way to reach Sintra is by train. It's also accessible by car, but the single entry road can get jammed with cars, and parking is sometimes difficult. However, a car is useful if you want to access the fish restaurants closer to the coast.
In the early 19th century dozens of live animals – not just dogs, but lions and wolves – were boarded at Queluz, which was then the site of the royal zoo.
Queluz has one rather original attraction, a man-made river. Enclosed between retaining walls covered in precious azulejos, a real stream was diverted to pass through the huge palace grounds, and was dammed so that the level of the water could be raised whenever the royal residents wanted to go for a boat ride.
The former royal kitchen has been converted into a prestigious restaurant run by the pousada hotel chain. With giant old utensils, a fireplace big enough for a crowd to walk into, and lots of atmosphere, the place is called – understandably – Cozinha Velha, or ‘Old Kitchen’.
Sintra
Sintra · [map] is a magical, palace-dotted landscape, which feels like it has sprung from a storybook and is easily reached by train from Rossio. Nestled into the Serra de Sintra, 25km (16 miles) northwest of Lisbon, it was once a coveted summer retreat for royals; today it's a romantic getaway for people from all over the world. Clustered throughout the forested hillsides are old palaces and estates with spectacular vistas. Two peaks in the range are crowned by reminders of Sintra's illustrious past: Castelo dos Mouros, the ruins of a castle built by occupying Moors in the 8th century, and Palácio de Pena, the multicoloured fantasy palace built by a German nobleman for his Portuguese wife. The views from either of these points extends as far as the sea, and the entire area, thick with vegetation and paths through the hills, is spectacular for trekkers.
Right in the centre of town is the Palácio Nacional de Sintra (also called the Paço Real, or Royal Palace; daily 9.30am–7pm; charge; www.pnsintra.imc-ip.pt). Except for its two huge, white conical chimneys, from the outside it looks like a fairly ordinary hulk of a palace. Its real treasures lie inside.
A summer home for Portuguese kings since the early 14th century, the palace's design became more and more unpredictable and haphazard as wings were added over the centuries, with back-to-back medieval and Manueline styles. The resulting interiors and furnishings are remarkable, including some of the oldest and most valuable azulejos in Portugal which line many of the rooms.
The Palácio Nacional de Sintra, with its distinctive chimneys
Lydia Evans
Sala dos Cisnes
PackShot Fotolia.com
Every room in the Palácio Nacional has a story to tell. During the 17th century, the dull-witted Afonso VI was pressured into abdicating for the benefit of the country, therefore allowing his more effective brother, Pedro II, to become king.
When a plot to restore Afonso to the throne was discovered, the former monarch was exiled to Sintra. For nine years, until he died in 1683, he was imprisoned in a simple room of the Palácio Nacional. It's said that the worn floor is a result of Afonso's constant pacing up and down.
A large ground-floor hall, Sala das Pegas (Magpie Salon), tells a very different story. João I (1385–1433) was caught by Queen Philippa kissing one of her ladies-in-waiting. The palace gossips had a field day until the king ordered the entire ceiling of the hall closed and painted with magpies, as many as there were ladies-in-waiting, 136 in fact. Each held in its beak a ribbon with the king's motto, por bem (in honour). The royal rebuke, the king's way of saying ‘so what’ and ‘shut up’, had the desired effect.
The so-called Sala dos Cisnes (Swan Room) is decorated with ceiling panels painted with swans, each in a different position. There are also ceilings with intricate designs in the mudéjar style influenced by Moorish art.
The palace's landmark twin chimneys, shaped like inverted cones, were used to let the smoke out of the massive kitchen when oxen were being roasted for large banquets given for visiting dignitaries.
Sintra's Country Market
On the second and last Sunday of each month, a country fair is held in São Pedro do Sintra, a village adjacent to Sintra – be prepared to encounter traffic jams.The origins of the fair go back to the 12th century. In the open market you can buy home-made bread, cheese and sausages, or even a bottle of patent medicine sold to you by an old-fashioned, slick-talking hawker. Antiques collectors will find many possibilities here, including religious statues and rustic furniture, as well as ordinary 19th-century household appliances.The major annual fair is held here on 29 June.
Castelo dos Mouros
A special bus climbs a steep road with hairpin turns into the serra from Sintra to visit some spectacular monuments. The oldest, Castelo dos Mouros (Moors’ Castle; mid-Sept–Apr 10am–6pm; charge), hugs a rocky ridge overlooking the town. It was erected during the 8th century, soon after the Moors occupied Portugal. The dauntless Afonso Henriques conquered it for the Christians in 1147, a major victory in the reconquest of Portugal.
Today the castle is a ruin, but a fascinating one, its crenellated walls still severe. Those with the energy to do so should climb the ramparts to the top for incredible views of the entire forested area all the way out to sea and across the treetops to Sintra's most famous monument, the Palácio da Pena. It's easy to pick out individual quintas (estates) in their privileged seclusion.
The fantastical Palácio da Pena
Lydia Evans
Palácio da Pena
Farther up the same winding road on the hilltop, the Palácio da Pena (daily 9.45am–7pm; park 9.30am–7.30pm; charge), more than 450m (1,500ft) above sea-level, is an outrageous Victorian folly reached by way of a park so lush with flowering trees and vines it resembles a tropical rain-forest. In 1511, Manuel I had a monastery built on this site. It was mostly destroyed in the earthquake of 1755, though a notable chapel and cloister survive. The present building is a bizarre and extravagant cocktail of Gothic, Renaissance, Manueline and Moorish architecture, fashioned as a love nest for Maria II (1834–53) and her smitten husband, Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Few have had the wealth to indulge their free-running fantasies so grandly. Like a child's dream castle, the exterior is a wild, layered construction painted pink, yellow, grey and red, with crenellated turrets, a studded archway and monsters guarding doorways. Inside, rooms are full of imaginative, ornate and, in some cases, suffocatingly sumptuous details. The views from the Disney-esque terraces of the platforms sweep all the way from the Atlantic to Lisbon.
Also located in and around Sintra are: the Quinta da Regaleira, a fantastic late 19th-century turreted mansion, with magical gardens speckled with follies such as the ‘initiation well', which you can walk into down a spiralling staircase; the Montserrate Palace Gardens, wild, lush, and ideal for hiking; the Palácio de Seteais, an 18th-century palace, today Sintra's fanciest hotel; the Museu do Brinquedo, a 20,000-piece toy museum; and Sintra's excellent Museum of Modern Art. A short hop from Sintra are the attractive village of Colares and the beach at Praia das Maçãs. Sintra's helpful tourist information office, on Praça da República in the old quarter, can direct you to any of these.
Mafra
The Palácio Nacional de Mafra º [map] (Tue–Sun 10am– 4.30pm; charge) at Mafra, is 40km (25 miles) to the northwest of Lisbon, and can be reached by bus from the terminal outside Campo Grande Metro station. In modest Portugal, the dimensions of this convent and palace are quite staggering. The frontage of the building, often likened to Spain's Escorial, measures over 220m (726ft). Mafra is so enormous that it is clearly visible from Sintra, approximately 16km (10 miles) away.
Inside Mafra's church
Lydia Evans
This monumental extravagance is attributable to João V, who in 1711 conceived this project to celebrate the long-awaited birth of his first child, Princess Dona Maria, after three years of marriage. A few statistics show the colossal scale of the project: 5,200 doorways, 2,500 windows and a 50,000-strong army of artists, artisans and labourers. A single carillon of 50 bells cost a shipload of gold. ‘So cheap?’ the king is said to have exclaimed. ‘I'll take two.’
Your visit to the monastery-palace will take you from the apartments of João V at one end of the structure to the queen's apartments at the other end. The convent library is the undisputed highlight; it has a vaulted ceiling, a precious wood floor and tall shelves housing 30,000 books, making it the largest one-room library in Portugal. The hospital is a church with 16 private sickrooms lining the nave, so that patients could hear mass from their beds.
Whitewashed Ericeira
Tony Halliday
At Mafra is the church of Santo André, where Pedro Hispano was a priest before becoming Pope John XI in 1276, He remains Portugal's only pope.
Ericeira
Another 10km (6 miles) towards the coast is the fishing village and growing resort of Ericeira ¡ [map]. The old section is a winsome town of cobbled streets winding between whitewashed cottages, with everything clean, neat and treasured by inhabitants and visitors alike. Ericeira received its town charter around 750 years ago, but scarcely attracted any attention until 1910, when Portugal's last king, Manuel II, hastily arrived from Mafra, and in its little port, boarded the royal yacht with his family to sail off into exile.
Praia Tamariz, Estoril
Lydia Evans
Estoril Coast
The Costa do Estoril (formerly called Costa do Sol) begins just west of Lisbon and goes all the way around the tip of the peninsula to Guincho on the open Atlantic. Those seeking pollution-free swimming usually head for Guincho, but the famous old resort of Estoril ™ [map] itself, some 24km (15 miles) from Lisbon, is still worth a visit.
The half-hour train journey from Cais do Sodré station in Lisbon to Estoril goes through former fishing villages now turned into soulless commuter suburbs. If you go by the motorway (toll road) you will see nothing of them at all, but the coastal road still provides a scenic drive.
The railway station at Estoril is right alongside the beach. On the other side of the tracks (and across the coast road) is a formal park, the front lawn of the town's glitzy casino. With its nightclub, restaurants, bars, cinema, exhibition halls, shops and gaming rooms, this is Estoril's one-stop, after-dark amusement centre. In spite of the modern decor, the casino maintains an old-fashioned pace. Gambling is suspended only two nights a year: Good Friday and Christmas Eve. Legend has it that somebody broke the bank one Good Friday, prompting a superstitious management to declare it a holiday thenceforth. (Officials dismiss the story as wishful thinking.)
The rest of Estoril is about as discreet as a Las Vegas high roller. Victorian villas and sleek modern mansions are tucked away behind green curtains of palms, eucalyptus, pines and vines. In the first half of the 20th century, dignitaries and monarchs, either unexpectedly unemployed or exiled, gravitated to Estoril or Cascais and luxurious hideaways.
As early as the mid-18th century, Estoril was attracting visitors because of its balmy climate and thermal spa baths, which were considered good for liver complaints. It was a hangout for exiles and spies taking advantage of Portugal's neutrality during WWII, and Ian Fleming was inspired to write Casino Royale after his stay here. Long before that, however, prehistoric settlers had built cave-cemeteries, discovered in 1944 near the beach, dug out of the limestone.
Cascais
Nearby Cascais # [map], which sits on a pretty curved bay, lives a double life. It is a town of both fishermen and kings, where the humble and the retiring rich coexist with camera-toting visitors. The workaday fishing scene attracts tourists, who inspect the catch as it is unloaded from boats into wooden trays and then rushed to the modern auction building. There the fish are sold by a reverse (Dutch) auction, in which the price starts high and decreases until somebody shouts a bid. You may not understand the auctioneer's chant, but you'll see what he's selling: lobster, shrimp, hake, squid and sardines. Retail sales are in the hands of local fishwives, who set up stalls outside the market. For the finished product, try any of the dozen restaurants within walking distance of the beach.
On the seafront at Cascais
Lydia Evans
Cascais’ main square is charming, with swirling-patterned monochrome paving underfoot. The Paços do Concelho (Town Hall) has stately windows with iron railings, separated by panels of azulejos depicting saints. The fire station occupies a place of honour between the town hall and an attractive church, while in the square itself, stands a statue of Pedro I.
Boca do Inferno
Lydia Evans
The sturdy-looking 17th-century fort, the Cidadela (Citadel), now occupied by the military, is one of the few buildings to have survived the earthquake and tidal wave of 1755. A chapel within the walls contains an image of St Anthony, traditionally carried on the back of a white mule in the parade on the feast day of Santo António (13 June).
After an overdose of sun and salt, the municipal park down the road is a cool relief. The palace in this park is a lovely villa housing the Museu dos Condes de Castro Guimarães (Museum of the Counts of Castro Guimarães; Tue–Sat 10am–5pm, Sun 10am–1pm and 2–5pm; charge), a museum with archeological remains, artworks, old furniture, gold and silver. For a more complete picture of the resort's fishing heritage and royal connections, visit the intriguing Museu do Mar – Rei Dom Carlos (King Carlos Museum of the Seas; Tue–Sun 10am–5pm), which has historic photographs of the king, who was an enthusiastic marine biologist, at leisure, as well as the costumes and customs of the fisherfolk.
The road out of Cascais to the west passes Boca do Inferno (Mouth of Hell), a geological curiosity where, in rough weather, the waves send up astonishingly high spouts of spray accompanied by ferocious sound effects. On a day when the sea is calm, you'll wonder what all the fuss is about.
Cabo da Roca
At Guincho, you have the choice of either a sandy beach or the rocks to fish from, but be careful – they face the open sea and it's often rough, and hence a windsurfer's heaven. Just up the coast you can see the windswept cape of Cabo da Roca, the most westerly point of mainland Europe. You can reach the cape by continuing on from Guincho, through Malveira, and then turning left. A right turn at the same points leads you along a winding road through the glorious, pine-scented Serra de Sintra, finishing up back in Sintra.
Surfer in Guincho
Lydia Evans
South of Lisbon
Sesimbra
It's around 32km (20 miles) south from Lisbon over the bridge to the calm, clean seashore at Sesimbra ¢ [map]. The beach, the main draw for the mostly Portuguese crowd that gathers here at weekends and holidays, not least for its splendid seafood restaurants, is narrow but long, and is sheltered from the brunt of Atlantic tides and harsh winds. Sesimbra is an important fishing centre, and most of the local adult male population seems to be involved in the industry. Fishing boats set out from the harbour at the far, western end of the town, to bring home their catches of sardine and horse mackerel, hake and swordfish.
Busy beach at Sesimbra
Lydia Evans
Largo 5 de Outubro is a small square in the centre of town, where locals sit and gossip under a giant floral canopy of bougainvillea. Adjacent is the MisericórdiaChurch, with its upturned keel roof. Founded during the 15th century, it contains the much venerated image of Senhor Jesus das Chagas, the patron of the Sesimbra fishing community, and a painting of Nossa Senhora da Misericórdia.
The castle walls silhouetted on the hilltop above Sesimbra are the genuine article, though recently restored. During the Middle Ages the whole town was situated up there, protected against sea raiders by the walls and the altitude. The Moors built the enclave, lost it to Dom Afonso Henriques in 1165, and won it back again for a few years before having to move out permanently in 1200. Inside the outer fortifications is the Church of Our Lady of the Consolation of the Castle, destroyed during the 12th century and rebuilt during the 18th. Take a peek inside: the walls are covered in azulejos from floor to ceiling. The castle is open daily and free to visitors. The view down to the curve of the coast and back to the Arrábida mountains is magnificent.
Fresh catch on the coast
Lydia Evans
Serra da Arrábida
The topographical highlight of the Arrábida peninsula is the Serra da Arrábida, a mountain chain approximately 35km (22 miles) long that protects the coast from the strong north winds and accounts for the Mediterranean vegetation. In the west the peninsula ends with the dramatic cliffs of Cabo Espichel.
The 12km (7½-mile) route across the Serra is winding and narrow, but it provides an attractive introduction to the wonderfully rugged Parque Natural da Arrábida ∞ [map], which covers more than 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres). From the depths of the sea the Serra rises a sheer 500m (1,650ft). Science describes this rolling heathland as a glacial relict, its primitive forests preserved when glaciers melted.
Parque Natural da Arrábida
Lydia Evans
Wild slopes contrast with the intense blue of the sea below; come in spring and the park is bright with wild flowers. The old monastery nestled in the hills has been resurrected as part of Lisbon University. Down below, on the coast, the little beach spot of Portinho da Arrábida is popular with Portuguese weekenders.
Setúbal
Setúbal § [map], the district capital, is a 20-minute drive from Lisbon by motorway, longer if you take the picturesque route via Sesimbra and Arrábida. (The bus does it in an hour; or you can take the 30-minute ferry across the Tagus and then a 45-minute train.) This is olive and citrus country, with cows grazing among the trees. The farther south you go, the more significant the vineyards; the Setúbal region produces a highly regarded Muscatel.
Setúbal is a conglomeration of market town, industrial centre and resort, and is Portugal's third-largest fishing port. Narrow, inviting shopping streets twist through the centre of the city. Its greatest historical and artistic treasure, the Gothic Igreja de Jesus (Tue–Sun 9am–1pm, 2–5.30pm), was built around 1490 by the great French architect Boitac, who later built Lisbon's glorious Jerónimos Monastery.
A dramatic main portal leads into the church, which boasts two inspired elements of decoration: 17th-century blue and white azulejos on the walls, and stone pillars like twisted strands of clay, fragile-looking in spite of their obviously solid dimensions.
The adjoining monastery has been converted into the Museu de Cidade (Town Museum; Tue–Sun 9am– 12pm, 2.30–5.30pm; charge), with a mixture of early Portuguese paintings, including a series of the life of Jesus, archaeological odds and ends, antique furniture and tiles. Part of the collection is dedicated to the Portuguese Romantic poet, Manuel Maria Barbosa du Bocage. The cloister was reconstructed after the 1755 earthquake, but since then excavation has revealed parts of the original patio.
The 16th-century star-shaped fort, high above the town to the west, is now a government-sponsored pousada with great views. There's usually some action taking place down in the fishermen's quarter when brightly painted boats of all sizes return with freshly caught fish.
Barrels stored at a winery in Setúbal
Lydia Evans