Discover Lisbon - A Place to Remember
Join Lisbon's today cultural diversity together with a laid-back ambience and an architectural time-warp, and you have one of Europe's most enjoyable cities.
The physical setting alone makes Lisbon an appealing destination. The city is built on hills overlooking the Tagus River (Tejo in Portuguese) where the river meets the Atlantic Ocean.
The climate is benign and the older parts of the city are rich with murals of tiles (azulejos), art nouveau buildings, sidewalks paved with decorative patterns of tiny black and white stones, public staircases leading steeply upward through ancient neighborhoods, double-decker buses, and funicular tramways where you may see a cat hop aboard and get off at the next stop.
Museums and monuments are other popular attractions. No visit is complete without a tour of the Jerónimos monastery, where ropes and other maritime themes are carved into stone. Explore the Moorish Castelo de São Jorge, which looks like a fortress on the outside but is a delightful place of gardens, towers with scenic views, ponds with swans and peacocks, and other attractions within its walls.
Don't miss the Torre de Belém, and spend an hour or two at nearby museums like the Museu Nacional dos Coches (coaches worthy of Cinderella), the Museu da Marinha (boats and naval exhibits), and the Museu de Arte Popular (folk arts, exhibited by region, and a "must see" warm-up for shoppers interested in handicrafts).
Lisbon sounds are as distinctive as its sights and scenery.
Tour Lisbon and you'll hear the rumble of cable-drawn ascensores rounding tight corners on steep hills, the trilling of canaries in cages hanging outside the windows of apartments, the flapping of sheets on overhead clotheslines, the screech of seagulls along the waterfront, and the haunting songs of fado singers in smoky nightclubs.
Best of all, Lisbon is affordable - your dollars, pounds, or euros will stretch farther in Portugal than in other major cities of Western Europe. During the warmer months, you can hop aboard a train to suburban coastal resorts like Estoril and Cascais for a day of swimming and sunbathing. For another change of pace, take the train to Sintra and its two national palaces - A place where time stopped.
Lisbon is a city where you can dine well at low prices if your tastes run to simple meals based on fresh ingredients. Seafood is the entrée of choice, at affordable prices. As an alternative, order whatever fresh fish is being served. Look also for excelent cheeses and delicious deserts, most of them created by monks, a long time ago.
Desserts are a high point of Portuguese cooking. Flan, or crème caramel, is served just about everywhere, and chocolate mousse is often on the menu. Usually you'll see one or more variations on pão de Ló, a rich yellow sponge cake made with egg yolks that may be flavored with orange juice, lemon, cinnamon, vanilla, Port wine, or Madeira. Try the Belém tarts or any pastry that contains fios d'ovos ("thread eggs"). Ovos moles, or "soft eggs," use the same basic ingredients as fios d'ovos - egg yolk and sugar syrup - but may be eaten with a spoon, like a pudding.
- Don' be misled by appearances. Inexpensive, rustic-looking restaurants with plastic tablecloths often serve excellent meals.
- Don't expect anything more than coffee and rolls for breakfast. (And don't complain if that's all you get, because the coffee is uniformly excellent and the rolls may be the best you've ever eaten.)
Portuguese wines are excellent, even when you order the house wine in simpler establishments or enjoy a bottle of chilled vinho verde ("green wine") when you're in the mood for a refreshingly light wine with a low alcohol content. Port, a fortified wine, is another Portuguese specialty that you should try. Chilled white port makes a delightful apéritif, and a glass of vintage or tawny port is a nice way to finish a meal.
At Lisbon's heart are wide, tree-lined avenues graced by Art Nouveau buildings, mosaic pavements and street cafes. Seen from the river - one of the city's many great viewpoints - Lisbon is an impressionist picture of low-rise ochre and pastel, punctuated by church towers and domes.
Being Lisbon one of the most rich cities in Europe, in terms of museums, monuments, history and pleasant ways of enjoying your time, using the services of an Official Lisbon Tour Guide will help you to maximize your travelling experience and will contribute to a long lasting memory. If you are planning to Tour Lisbon, this is your information source.
