48 hours in Lisbon

Flea markets, fine food and fado: how to spend a weekend in Europe's westernmost capita

Looking for things to do in this wonderful city, Lisbon? Not much time to do them in? Here's a quick-stop guide to the city's best restaurants, bars, museums and more.

Day one: the old town

9am

Head up to St. George's Castle (Rue de Santa Cruz do Castelo) to get your bearings, taking the antique no.28 tram or a bus if you want to ride all the way. The battlements afford breathtaking views of the river and the city draped over a series of hills.

10am

Wander down towards Alfama, stopping off at the Museu-Escola de Artes Decorativas (Largo das Portas do Sol 2) if you have a taste for applied arts, or detouring to the remains of the Roman theatre (Pátio do Aljube 5, Rua Augusto Rosa).

Noon

If it’s a Tuesday or Saturday, take in the Feira da Ladra (ampo de Santa Clara, São Vicente), a sprawling flea market. The nearby monastery of São Vicente has magnificent azulejo tile panels – and more views. Lunch on grilled sardines or bacalhau at a local tasca, or go for a more exotic alternative, such as Michelin-Starred Tavares (Rua da Misericórdia 35).

2pm

After lunch, catch the tram across to Chiado for some shopping or people-watching. Of the many local churches, the highlight is the Igreja de São Roque (Largo de Trindade Coelho), with its lavish baroque decoration.

4pm

Art lovers may want to schedule a visit to the very Portuguese Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (Rua das Janelas Verdes) or the wider-ranging Museu Calouste Gulbenkian (Avenida de Berna 45). Although the latter has a lovely garden, keen botanists will find more to marvel over closer to hand in the Jardim Botânico (Rua da Escola Politécnica) in Príncipe Real.

6pm

Time for an aperitif, with the Solar do Vinho do Porto (Rua de São Pedro de Alcântara 45) an excellent place to have one. It’s on the edge of the Bairro Alto, with its myriad restaurants and late-opening bars. When these finally close, those with sufficient stamina should head downhill to Lux (Avenida Infante Dom Henrique) or another all-night club.

Day two: discoveries and rediscoveries

10am

Set aside half a day to explore Belém, a district that will be forever linked with ‘the Discoveries’, the golden age of Portuguese maritime exploration. As well as key examples of the late-Gothic Manueline style of architecture, the area has museums galore and a fine modern art collection. Take a break from culture to indulge in some of the famous custard tarts of the Antiga Confeitaria de Belém (Rua de Belém 84-92): it’s almost considered a sin by lisboetas to walk past here without stepping inside to munch a few of its specialist pastéis de Belém.

1pm

Have lunch at Alcântara Cafe (Rua Maria Luísa Holstein 15) – a Lisbon landmark since the 1980s that remains the centre of 'new Portuguese' cuisine, but with proper old-fashioned generous portions. Or, for a kitscher flight of fancy by the same designer (Antonio Pinto), nip round the corner to Espaço Lisboa (Rua da Cozinha Económica 16). Tables are laid out in a mock-up of a Lisbon square with tipico shops, but the food is less stylish than at its nearby cousin.

3pm

Cross town to the Parque das Nações, the former site of Expo 98, whose theme was the oceans and the Discoveries. It has attractions for visitors of all ages, with the Oceanário (Esplanada Dom Carlos I) the big crowd-puller. To cover more ground, let the mini-train or cable car take the strain. Otherwise, hire a bike or a pair of inline skates.

6pm

Head back into town for a late-afternoon drink at one of the numerous miradouros, Lisbon’s wonderful look-out points.

8pm

Dine at a casa de fado, where singers will pour their hearts out for you, accompanied by a lute-shaped Portuguese guitar. The best bets are Tasca do Jaime up in Graça (Rua da Graça 91), for songs punctuated by the rumble of passing trams, and Tasca do Chico in the Bairro Alto (Rua Diário de Notícias 39). The origins of the saudade they are expressing lie in part in seafarers’ homesickness and the longing of the women they left behind.

Stay

The Barrio Alto Hotel (Praça Luís de Camões 2) sits at the pricier end of the city's hotel spectrum, but the understated opulence of its boutique suites justifies the pricetag. Head to the rooftop bar for a pre-dinner drink with a view.

For shoestring travellers, Lisbon Lounge Hostel (Rua de São Paulo 111) provides just about everything you'd expect from budget accommodation, as well as a few things you wouldn't. Rooms are comfortable and clean, while the lounge boasts modern decor and internet access. Offbeat bars are just around the corner.

Happy travelling! 

by timeout.travel

Azulejo. Art of Portugues tiles making.

In Portugal, tiles (azulejos) reminiscent of the influence of the Moors during the Middle Ages were - and still are - used here to a far greater extent than in most other European countries. Throughout Portugal, in streets, on façades and inside buildings, there are tiles that represent the different styles and languages of times past and present and fill any visit to the country with colour.

Originating from the Arabic term al-zuleique meaning “small, smooth and polished stone”, the production of tiles in Portugal on a national scale began at the end of the 15th century.

However, it was not until the 18^th century that tiles began to “invade” churches, palaces, houses, gardens, fountains and staircases. Based on geometric patterns and telling the life story of saints or using secular themes such as the fables of La Fontaine, sometimes using captions like an early type of cartoon, tiles became the main feature of Portuguese decoration.

Following a notable resurgence in popularity in the second half of the 20th century, tiles are now prominent again in public art, and it is a must to visit the Lisboa underground stations where works by great Portuguese artists such as Vieira da Silva or Júlio Pomar are on permanent display.

Situated in the convent of the Madre de Deus Church in Lisboa, the National Tile Museum houses a magnificent collection of tiles, of which the outstanding feature is a priceless blue and white mural depicting a panoramic view of the city of Lisboa before the earthquake in 1755. Here, it is possible to see the historical, technical and artistic development of the tile in Portugal, from the 15th century until the present time.

by visitportugal

Fascinating Azulejos. Portugal. Lisbon.

For centuries This Art of Portuguese tiles making inspired artists and architects, poets and all travellers around the World. Its complexity, variety and sophisticated technology made this Art one of the trade marks of the country, copied many times and in many variations by others during centuries and centuries.  

These tiles are located in the church "Madre de Deus" of Lisbon. The church was built in the 15th century and later rebuilt after the great earthquake and tsunami. The blue and gold tiles are replicas of 17th century Azulejos covering the walls.

As a whole, Igreja Madre de Deus is one of the most interesting churches of Lisbon. The decorations inside the church reflect the life of Queen Leonor and her husband Joao II. Igreja Madre de Deus' architectural design shows a bit of the country history through the 
combination of Baroque, and later Portuguese architecture.

by atrio 

Pay a visit and let yourself dive into this rich, colourful history and art of Old Lisbon places... 

Evora, Portugal. Cultural city guide

by  Stephanie Plentl @ DT Travel

Essential cultural guide to a city whose walls conceal unique culinary and architectural treats.

Rising from the plains of Portugal's Alto Alentejo region, the tiny walled city of Évora has tremendous enduring appeal, having been consecutively settled by the Celts, Romans, Visigoths and Moors, before the Portuguese eventually wrested control. Its Roman ruins – temple, baths, walls – sit among glorious churches, convents and the former palaces of Portuguese kings.

Strolling under aqueduct archways, through immaculate, labyrinthine cobbled streets flanked by ornately tiled homes with Lilliputian doors, is to be assailed by reminders of a succession of once-great cultures. I first visited the city as a university student with a clutch of friends 12 years ago. We rollicked through Évora's cultural hit list – the imposing portal of the medieval cathedral; the vividly Roman, Corinthian-columned temple; and the macabre, yet strangely unmoving, Chapel of Bones.

Subsequent trips revealed so much more: you can clamber – rather precariously – over the roof of the cathedral for the best view of the landscape beyond the fortified walls; venture inside the Town Hall and you'll find excavated Roman baths; or follow the splendid 16th-century aqueduct that marches into the city along Rua do Cano and you'll see houses and shops cleverly built into its archways.

Ironically, it's Évora's own university that now thrills me most. Opened in 1559 and run by the Jesuits before they were evicted by the Marquês de Pombal in 1759, its elaborate classrooms look onto a serene courtyard with a central fountain (all graduating students symbolically bathe here to pass their knowledge onto freshers).

Feel free to walk through its marble cloisters, look in on classrooms with teaching pulpits and 18th-century blue-and-white azulejos (tiles, painted here to reflect the academic subjects) and don't miss the chapel's tapestry and the stunning painted ceiling of the library. The students are unfazed by visitors.

With little shopping on offer in Évora, the focus is on the many small restaurants serving Alentejan cuisine. As a former vegetarian, I once suffered opposite a university friend who devoured a gelatinous pig's foot with gusto.

Now a confirmed carnivore, I find Évora's rich and rural food a terrific adventure, particularly when faced with an untranslated or set menu (maybe not so much the "pig's privates" I saw advertised this year, but certainly the black pork, porco preto, and oxtail stew, rabo de boi estufado).

Évora is the birthplace of several sweet delicacies (to add to the hefty collection of Portuguese desserts) that were invented in convents here during the 16th century. Each convent has its signature sweet dish: the almond-infused pão de rala from the nuns of Santa Helena do Calvário is the local favourite; the encharcada do Santa Clara is sticky and yolky, with a stupendous cake to egg ratio. Across town, you're likely to see three generations of women propping up a pastelaria bar, enjoying coffee, cake and conversation.

Flat-capped, wizened-faced old gentlemen gather on corners outside, to smoke and stare as students and visitors pass by.

DID YOU KNOW?

Evora's Chapel of Bones contains 5,000 skeletons from the city's medieval cemeteries