Are you planning to visit Lisbon in one day?
You know the answer: that is impossible.
However, what to do when a day is all the
time we have to get to know Lisbon? Of course we will have to make the most of
the available time.
I will leave here my suggestions on how to divide the time during a one-day
visit to the city and the best way to structure my suggestions is to divide the
visit in: morning, afternoon and after dinner.In this post I will not include meals or lodgings because I will write about hotels and restaurants later.
Morning
- One monument visit: Jeronimos Monastery -
this monastery is classified as UNESCO World Heritage Site, was built by King
Manuel I in 1502 and it took about 100 years to be built. Is the maximum
exponent of Manueline architecture, also known as the Portuguese Baroque.
- One tasting: Pastéis de Belém - as a
result of the Liberal Revolution of 1820, in 1834 the convents and monasteries
were closed. Was in this context that someone went to a sugar refinery close to
the Jerónimos Monastery and put a few cookies on sale, these cookies are today
known as the "Pastéis de Belém" and they must be the better worldwide
known Portuguese sweets.
- The first walk: Baixa and Chiado - are
two typical neighborhoods of the city and good representatives of the society
of 18th and 19th centuries. Start by the view from the Viewpoint of São Pedro
de Alcântara and walk downhill until the Camões Square and after this walk
along the Garrett Street and end at Rossio. It is certainly a beautiful journey
through Portuguese Romanticism and also a good opportunity to visit Baixa (downtown),
the neighborhood that was built after the great earthquake of 1755.
- The second walk: Alfama and São Jorge
Castle - Alfama is a medieval district and has been inhabited since the
foundation of the city so it is here that we can find the oldest buildings in
the city. Walking through the narrow streets of Alfama and observing its
inhabitants is to know the typical Lisbon. Start your walk at the São Jorge castle
and hence find the Miradouro das Portas do Sol from where we can see the roofs
of Alfama, the quarter where we will walk until Terreiro do Paço.
Note: using a city map will help you making
sense of all this names I’m mentioning.
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Afternoon
Having walked in the morning, for the
afternoon I will suggest more cultural moments for the afternoon, so I will
propose a Museum and the Oceanarium visits.
- Museum of the City: it was easy to propose a
visit to the Museum of Ancient Art (Museu de Arte Antiga), which is the most
common suggestion you will find in terms of visits to museums. However, I
believe that this Museum, being an excellent Museum, does not offer something
unique to those visiting Lisbon, here you will find excellent pieces that could
be in any major European Museum but not necessarily Portuguese pieces. So I
will propose a visit to the City Museum, a small museum, whose collection is
not something extraordinary but has the particularity of being a very nice
space and the collection is Portuguese, this is a truly Portuguese space.
- Oceanarium: is the second largest
aquarium in the world which is by itself a sign of being something that you can
hardly see elsewhere and has an extensive collection of marine creatures. It is
located at Parque das Nações, which is an ideal area for a late afternoon beer and
to end the active day.
After dinner
The visit to the city will not be complete
without a stroll through the area of nightlife where you can have a drink and
hear some music.
Of course there are several areas in the
city where this may happen but without complicating too much the explanation I
would say that is in the Bairro Alto where you can find more diversity of bars.
Join the fun in Lisbon.
David Monteiro
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