Portuguese capital

Following in the footsteps of the great English Romantic poets, few tourists can resist the lush, green setting of Sintra just a few kilometres west of Lisbon.

The history of Portugal’s ground-breaking association with the seas spanned a hundred years from 1415-1515. Widely labelled as the Age of Discovery, this epoch-making period saw Portuguese navigators sail across uncharted seas to break out of the confines of Europe and … Read more

A maze of narrow, winding streets, Lisbon‘s Alfama quarter is the oldest and most historical part of the Portuguese capital, having survived the great earthquake and subsequent fires and tidal waves of 1755 almost intact.

Synonymous with the city’s long and chequered history, Lisbon’s imposing Castle of São Jorge stands proud on the highest hill of the Tagus estuary and was once the nucleus of the Portuguese capital. Evidence suggests that an Iron Age castro, or … Read more

With thousands of years of history and one of the richest patrimonies in the whole of Europe, Lisbon is a city full of unique and fascinating snippets of information, so here are a few things that you might be interested … Read more

Nestling among vineyards and olive and cork trees, Azeitão is a pretty little town situated on the old road between Lisbon and the port city of Setúbal at the foot of the Arrábida mountains just 40 km south of the Portuguese capital.

One of the most inspired drinking establishments in the heart of the Portuguese capital is undoubtedly Pavilhão Chinês, whose previous incarnations include a theatre and grocery store.

With its steep cobbled streets lined with elegant whitewashed houses, Palmela is a charming hilltop town huddled around a magnificent castle just 40km south of Lisbon.

To get close to Lisbon and its residents there’s nothing better than a nostalgic roller-coaster ride in an elétrico, one of the capital’s old streetcars, which are constantly rumbling through the city’s narrow streets passing old, weather-beaten façades in one of Europe’s most dignified … Read more

Comprising a palace, monastery and church, the vast royal edifice of Mafra is one of the largest historical buildings in Europe and a must-see monument for people visiting the Greater Lisbon area.

Charles Lindbergh might have received global recognition for his solo air crossing of the Atlantic in 1927, but it was two Portuguese pilots – Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral (pictured left and right, respectively) – who had previously set the … Read more

The Glória Funicular (known locally as the Ascensor da Glória) was the second of its kind to operate in the heart of the Portuguese capital.

With their striking plumage, there’s no better creature to grace the saline wetlands of the Algarve than the flamingo, one of the most iconic birds spotted in Portugal.

Laid out flat between the Atlantic and the Alentejo like a vast patched picnic blanket, the Estremadura region is one of the most varied in the whole of Portugal.

One of Lisbon’s lesser-known but extremely pleasant tourist attractions is Estufa Fria, formerly known as the Winter Garden, a horticultural wonderland of tropical plants and flowers hidden away in the north-west corner of the city’s centrally-located Edward the Seventh Park … Read more

One of Portugal’s most prized cultural assets is the Gulbenkian Museum, a large, handsome complex set in 17 acres of its own lush gardens on the northern edge of Lisbon city centre.

Along with its glorious stretch of golden coastline, Lisbon was a hive of spying activity during World War II, with many secret agents from both sides operating under the cover of their diplomatic status.

Loosely translated as ‘lookout points’, the miradouros of Lisbon offer visitors the chance to absorb the city’s urban kaleidoscope from a series of privileged positions.

History has shaped the Portuguese capital with a succession of architectural influences over the centuries, most notably the Moors who occupied the city for more than four hundred years.

This grey roofless edifice is all that remains of the once magnificent Gothic-style Carmo Church, which ponders silently from its privileged vantage point overlooking Rossio Square and the rest of Lisbon‘s downtown Baixa district.

Napoleon’s attempts to conquer the Iberian Peninsula came to an abrupt halt when his army under Marshall Massena encountered the Lines of Torres Vedras, a defensive stronghold designed to protect the Portuguese capital.