A Unique Opportunity to Discover Lisbon and Portugal!
Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, is situated on the north bank of the Tagus River, on Europe’s Atlantic coast. It is the westernmost city in continental Europe but its location in the centre of Portugal makes exploring the country, and beyond, simple – it is only around 300 km to the resorts of the Algarve in the south and around 400 km to the northern border with Spain.
Lisbon offers the visitors a wide variety of sights and activities, including scenic countryside, breath-taking mountains, areas of historical interest and some of the best beaches in Europe, all just a few kilometres from the city centre. The city is extremely safe and tourist friendly - in 2019 Lisbon was awarded Europe's Leading City Break Destination at the World Travel Awards, Europe’s 2019 Ceremony.
The Baixa was almost completely destroyed by the Great Earthquake and tsunami of 1755. It was later reconstructed by Marquês de Pombal, the king's minister.
Marquês de Pombal conceived a unique architecture project for the city centre, with straight and perpendicular streets and houses prevented against earthquakes, making no distinction between the various social strata that lived there. The Praça do Comércio square was where the king lived throughout the age of discoveries.
Lisbon is famous for all the little yellow trams climbing through the sloping streets.
Tram 28 is the perfect way to discover some of the most interesting aspects of Lisbon's historical and architectural heritage. It takes you to some of the most picturesque sites in Medieval Lisbon, such as Portas do Sol terrace, with its fine views over the city and the river. Going down, it goes through Lisbon's Baixa (or downtown), going up again toward Chiado where you can find the very popular A Brasileira café.
The Castle of São Jorge is located in the highest hill of the historical centre of the city.
It is one of the main historical and tourist attractions of Lisbon. Archaeological research has shown that human occupation exists there at least since the 6th century BC, originally from autochthonous Celtic and Iberian tribes, followed by Roman, Visigothic and Moorish.
Belém is an ancient civil parish that, due to its proximity to the river, has a strong relation with the Portuguese Discoveries in the XV and XVI centuries.
In honour of this Era, the Portuguese kings decided to build several monuments in the area of Belém, which became a historic architectural heritage. You can also lose yourself walking around and exploring nearby monuments, such as Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, Torre de Belém or Padrão dos Descobrimentos, as well as charming gardens like the Jardim de Belém. Furthermore, you may also taste the city's egg tart specialty called Pastéis de Belém.
Sintra is a very romantic town, due to its architecture and landscape.
Visitors can join a mysterious journey filled with many historical buildings completed between the XV and XIX centuries, such as the Castelo dos Mouros, the Pena National Palace and the Sintra National Palace, in addition to the Sintra Mountains and Nature Park.
Cabo da Roca is a cliff rising about 140m above the Atlantic Ocean, famous for being Europe's most western point. Besides this, you can also visit a pleasent beachfront promenade which links the beach of Tamariz to the attractive town of Cascais, passing by beaches, bars and restaurants.
A 20-minute walk along the coast leads to an outstanding sight called Boca do Inferno ("Mouth of Hell"). High waves crash into gigantic caves carved out of the rock by the sea, causing an awe-inspiring noise that may explain the name given to the site.