Lisbon and beyond: a full guide
Glittering palaces, marvellous museums, fabulous food: Lisbon has them all, but it’s the city’s beautiful surrounds that will make you gasp – the scented forests, the deep-blue Tagus, the golden beaches. There’s so much to see. Here’s where to start.
The city: start by ticking off the highlights
1. Belém
This pretty riverside district, at the heart of Portuguese history, is home to the striking medieval Belém Tower, which sits over the shimmering Tagus, a scenic tram ride from the city centre.
2. Jerónimos Monastery
Wander the intricately-carved cloisters and fountain-tinkling gardens of this towering 16th Century monastery and church – crowning glory of Portuguese golden-age Gothic architecture and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983.
3. Gulbenkian Museum
You’ll need half a day to explore this vast museum, which houses one of the world’s greatest collections of Chinese, ancient Egyptian, Persian, Ottoman and European art – assembled by the entrepreneur Calouste Gulbenkian.
4. St. George’s Castle
There are wonderful views over Lisbon and the Tagus from the ancient ramparts of this hilltop castle, originally built in the 11th century it has been used as both a military fortification and a royal palace.
5. The Baixa
Wander the streets of the 18th Century Baixa, browsing smart shops and arty boutiques and stopping for vinho verde and river views under triumphal arch of Praça do Comércio square on the waterfront.
6. The Bairro Alto
Dine in one of Lisbon’s myriad award-winning restaurants, or bar-hop the higgledy-piggledy hilly streets of this neighbourhood, ringing with church bells, where the poet Fernando Pessoa once found his inspiration.
7. Alfama
Climb the steep cobbled streets of Alfama in the late afternoon, stopping for coffees with a view, before pulling up a chair in a hole-in-the-wall club and losing yourself in the sweetly-sad sounds of sung fado.
8. The National Azulejo Museum
Few things are more Portuguese than the beautiful painted blue and white tiles that adorn church interiors, public buildings and railway stations the country over. Sample some of the best in this city centre gallery-museum.
9. Lisbon Oceanarium
Europe’s biggest and best aquarium sits at the heart of Lisbon’s glittering Parque das Nações district on the rehabilitated riverside, with huge walk-through tanks showcasing temperate and tropical marine life.
10. Alcântara
This bohemian bar-filled waterside neighbourhood lies in the freshly renovated old warehouse district. Come on a weekend night - to dance to Afro-Lusitanian, Brazilian and electronic beats in cool, cutting-edge clubs.
Nature on your doorstep
You’re never far from nature in Lisbon: beaches, forests, rivers and wetlands are all a short drive or train ride away. Here are a few unmissables:
1. The Sintra-Cascais Natural Park
The World Heritage landscape of Sintra is famous for its castles, mansions and monuments, but it’s also an area of great natural beauty. Eagles and kestrels hover over mountains swathed with pine forests and wildflower meadows, which drop to sheltered coves, rocky capes and long beaches of soft, golden sand. Little villages like Azenhas do Mar clamber up steep slopes in whitewash and terracotta. And the rolling hills are cut by rushing mountain rivers and pocked with clear, still lakes that sit in forest glades. There’s great hiking around Cabo da Roca – Europe’s westernmost point – where an 18th Century lighthouse watches over the ocean from the top of precipitous, rose-coloured granite cliffs. And there’s great surfing, wind-surfing and body boarding for beginners along the sheltered Estoril coast near the fashionable resort village of Cascais, and for world-class surfers at Praia do Magoito, Maçãs and Adraga on the open Atlantic.
2. Arrábida Nature Park
Craggy cliffs nearly half a kilometre high set over bottle-green ocean; the coconut scent of Mediterranean gorse and meadow flowers wafting from wild heathland; deer and wild boar wandering forests of Portuguese oak and laurel… Arrábida Nature Park is a mere 30 minutes’ drive from the centre of Lisbon, but it feels heart-of-the-wild. There’s wonderful day-walking – especially in spring when the woodlands bloom with bluebells and the meadows flutter with butterflies. In summer Bonelli’s Eagles and kestrels hover overhead. Wild boar scrub for acorns in autumn; and in the winter when the long, empty beaches are pounded by heavy Atlantic surf, thousands of migrating birds flock-in from northern Europe. Fishing villages and beach towns dot the park, sardines sizzle in seafood restaurants in Sesimbra, bars buzz with life in the sultry streets of Setúbal and at tiny Santiago do Outão, an imposing 15th Century fort watches over the mouth of the Sado Estuary.
3. Mafra Forest
In the early 18th Century, King João 'the Magnanimous', ordered the construction of the magnificent Palace-Convent at Mafra just outside Lisbon – fulfilling a vow he had pledged to Queen Maria Ana, who had just delivered their first-born child. The king loved to hunt and he walled-off the hills above the palace, declaring them a Tapada – or protected hunting ground. Preserved for more than 200 years, the forests are rich with plant and wildlife. At dusk, leopard-spotted genet cats emerge from hollow trunks to hunt and huge, yellow-eyed horned owls watch out from the trees. In spring wild boar piglets forage in forest glades and hoopoes swoop-in from Africa. In summer you’ll hear the rat-a-tat rattle of green woodpeckers and the call of cuckoos. And in autumn when the oaks are golden, antler-heavy red deer stags bellow and battle for females in the savanna grasslands.
4. Tagus Estuary Nature Reserve
The Tagus is broad and blue next to Lisbon. Climb one of Lisbon’s seven hills or drive across one of the stately suspension bridges for wonderful views. Or better still, take a trip to Almada on the south bank where a statue of Christ embraces the city and the Tagus Estuary Nature Reserve, the largest wetland in Portugal and also one of the most important in Europe. The conservation site is protected under the Ramsar convention and its salt marshes, mudflats and semi-wild meadows provide a home to numerous species of fish and crustaceans, and also welcome a vast number of migratory birds every year including spectacular flocks of flamingos. In the early morning and late afternoon purple herons and stilts step gingerly through the shallows, searching for burrowing molluscs and crabs, ospreys pull wriggling fish from the river, and in the woodlands at dusk you can hear the plaintive call of nightjars and little owls.
Did you know?
Lisbon was designated European Green Capital 2020.
Hit the coast
A day on the beach? It’s easy from Lisbon. The Atlantic coast is a short hop away by road or rail, with trains leaving every 15 minutes or so from Cais do Sodré station on the banks of the Tagus. Here’s where to spread your towel...
1. Cascais
This fashionable former fishing town on the Portuguese Riviera has been a celebrity waterhole since the 1870s, when the royal family made it their summer residence. The town’s casino inspired Ian Fleming to write the first James Bond novel, and Cascais’s leafy residential streets are lined with magnificent mansions owned by the rich and famous. Yet for all its celebrity, the town retains a low key, laid-back feel. The scent of thick bica coffee and freshly-baked custard tarts waft from little street corner cafés, seafood is served al fresco on the quays and tasteful boutiques sit over the monochrome mosaic Portuguese pavements in the pretty praça-squares that make up Cascais’s town centre. There are plenty of gorgeous beaches, including tiny Praia da Rainha and Ribeira de Cascais right in the town centre and the long, broad, dune-backed Praia do Guincho which is a 15-minute drive west.
2. Ericeira
Surfers from the world over visit Ericeira’s wave-pounded coast where long beaches and coves are flanked by imposing rocky cliffs. Championship riders come in the autumn or winter when a strong Atlantic swell produces curling waves at beaches such as Praia do Sul, Pedra Branca, Coxos and Ribeira d’Ilhas. During the summer months, the town is filled with young couples and families who split their time between the main beach, Praia dos Pescadores – which is sheltered from strong waves by a long groyne – and the myriad of chic cafés, restaurants and bars that lie in the higgledy-piggledy streets behind.
While Ericeira is an easy day trip from Lisbon (the town is less than an hour’s drive) it also makes for a good beachside base. The Mafra Palace and forest are on the doorstep, Sintra is a hop away and there are Roman ruins at São Miguel de Odrinhas and Catribana.
3. The beaches of the Costa da Caparica
If you’re looking for empty beaches within stone-skimming distance of Lisbon, this is the place. The Caparica coast sits on the other side of the Tagus from Lisbon, less than half an hour’s drive from the city, yet it feels as wild and remote as anywhere in Portugal. In the 40 kilometres between Cova do Vapor beach in the Tagus estuary mouth in the far north and Praia das Bicas in the south there are just a handful of resorts, set behind long strands that stretch broad and golden as far as the eye can see. In between them, the coastal hinterland is made up of fringing butterfly meadows and shrubland, and brilliant-blue, shallow lagoons busy with birds. In the far south the coast rises to a rocky cape at Espichel, where dinosaur footprints are fossilised into crumbling limestone cliffs that perch over a fierce Atlantic, and a lonely lighthouse looks across the water to the distant Americas.
Have an adventure
With nature all around, it’s easy to get active in Lisbon – on land, sea or river. Here are a few ideas for what to do and where.
1. Hiking
With myriad natural parks, beaches and wild areas around the city, a hike in nature is only a short drive or train ride away. Wander the open parkland of the Parque Florestal de Monsanto for wonderful views over Lisbon and the Tagus. Walk the long beaches of the Caparica coast, pausing to swim in the open Atlantic, head for the hills around Sintra for trails that cut through pine-scented woodland, or hike the coastal paths in Arrábida Nature Park above Setúbal town for views of the Sado river and the shimmering Atlantic.
2. Kayaking
Kayakers visiting Lisbon have myriad options of places to explore: the pristine Tagus is right on the doorstep, while the sheltered coves of the Portuguese Riviera are less than half an hour’s drive. There are saltwater lagoons on the Caparica coast and the Sado and Tagus estuary conservation areas teem with wild birds and dolphins. Some of the most adventurous paddling is off the coast of Arrábida Nature Park, where fossil-filled limestone cliffs are cut with sea caves and hidden coves are accessible only by boat. Companies and clubs in Lisbon, Setúbal and Sesimbra run trips and offer boat rental.
3. Diving
The cave-pocked, rugged coastline around the Arrábida Nature Park south of Lisbon is one of the best areas in Western Europe for diving with a huge variety of dives, from anemone-encrusted shipwrecks to rocky overhangs teeming with crustaceans and fish. At the Pedra do Leão there are huge shoals of sargos and whitings and an underwater passage where morays and octopuses hide in gaps in the rocky walls. At the Wreck of Garis, azulejo tiles and stone canons lie strewn across the seabed next to a ship wafting with seaweed and sea fans. Dive shops in Sesimbra, meanwhile, offer trips and Scuba certification.
4. Surfing
The Atlantic coast west of Lisbon is one of the best surf locations on the planet with great waves all year round and legendary swells in the autumn and winter which are a draw for championship surfers from the world over. Ericeira has Europe’s first World Surfing Reserve and beaches and breaks suitable for wave riders of all levels. Beginners, meanwhile choose Foz do Lizandro. Praia do Sul and Guincho have stronger swells and winds and are suited to experienced surfers. Peniche and Nazaré further to the north are for connoisseurs who enjoy some of the largest and longest tubing waves on the planet in the mid-winter months.
5. Cycling
There’s great cycling in the natural parks around Lisbon all year round. But the best time for a tour is in the spring and autumn when the wildflower meadows of the Arrábida Nature Park and the Sintra hills come into glorious bloom and butterflies fill the air, and when the landscape turns red and gold as leaves begin to fall. There are numerous off-road trails where you’ll see only a few cars, and in Arrábida, steep tracks offer exciting climbs and rapid, whirligig adrenaline-rushing descents. Both seasons are warm enough for short sleeves but never so hot that daytime rides feel uncomfortable.
Seek out culture
World-class museums, royal palaces, glittering rococo churches, Afro-Lusitanian live music, fado… Lisbon brims-over with culture, as do the towns and villages nearby. Here are three spots not to miss...
1. Sintra
Princely palaces, royal retreats, magnificent mansions – all with fountain-tinkling gardens set in rolling, forested hills. Sintra has been seducing visitors for centuries. With a monument and stately home on every corner, you could spend days exploring. Start with a wander through the steep, winding streets of the historic centre. Then explore the ruined castle, the Roman bridges, the gorgeous neo-gothic Quinta da Regaleira and the National Palace – the best-preserved royal residence in Portugal. And allow half a day to marvel at the Palácio da Pena – a brightly-painted, romantic architectural wonder designed by King Ferdinand II, whose Moorish turrets, domes and towers look like a Hollywood fantasy.
2. National Palace at Mafra
This enormous baroque palace is lavish even by European standards: with 1,200 rooms and 29 internal courtyards, a convent and a towering basilica. King João V, who built Mafra lived in one of the huge turrets. His Queen, for whom he commissioned the building, lived in the other, with a corridor a quarter of a kilometre long linking the two. Allow at least two hours for a visit: there’s a lot to see beside the state rooms, including an enormous library, six organs, two sets of carillon bells and the beautiful, wildlife-filled former royal hunting grounds.
3. The National Palace of Queluz
This stately palace in Sintra is Portugal’s counterpart to Versailles. Built in the 18th Century, it’s one of Europe’s last, and largest rococo buildings – covered with elaborate statuary and swirling floral finials, painted ballrooms, halls and corridors decorated with a glittering gold and marble and formal gardens with myriad fountains. The palace was an important royal residence for much of the 18th Century, until it was finally abandoned in favour of the nearby Palacio de Pena. It is still used occasionally on important state visits.
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