Section 15 - Lisbon Region

Lisboa / Azenhas do Mar

If you took the boat to Lisbon with Transtejo, you’ll get off at Cais do Sodré. If you arrived by train with Fertagus, you should get off at Entrecampos train station.

Lisbon has a lot to offer. From its hills and viewpoints, you can see the city’s vast landscape, the 25 de Abril Bridge, and the boats crossing the Tagus River.

This city is rich in history, culture, and architecture. Must-visit locations include Terreiro do Paço by the river, the elegant Baixa Pombalina with its squares and monuments, the Santa Justa Elevator, the São Jorge Castel, and religious buildings like Carmo Convent and the Lisbon Cathedral.

To explore the city and its historic neighborhoods like Alfama, Mouraria, Graça, Bairro Alto, and Bica, take the famous streetcar, especially line number 28 . In these areas, you can also listen to Fado music in traditional houses or visit the Fado Museum in Alfama to learn more.

A stroll through the lively streets of Chiado, with its charming shops and Portuguese disctintive pavement, is a delightful experience. Explore nearby churches and visit Parque Eduardo VII, the city’s largest park.

Before you continue, visit Parque das Nações in the eastern part of the city, where you can walk in beautiful gardens and see the Oceanarium.

In Cais do Sodré, check out Mercado da Ribeira, where the traditional market combines with a vast dining space. Move ahead to explore the National Museum of Ancient Art, the Orient Foundation Museum, and the Electricity Museum.

As you venture west, Belém offers many monuments and museums, including the Palácio de Belém, Pasteis de Belém pastry shop, Jeronimos Monastery, Monument to the Discoveries, and Belém Tower. Don’t miss the view from the entro Cultural de Belém terrace. This area also has several museums, like the National Coach Museum, the Navy Museum, the Calouste Gulbenkian Planetarium, and the Combatant Museum.

In Algés, explore the Vasco da Gama Aquarium and enjoy the beaches along the coast, leading to Cascais.

From Caxias, take the train for a scenic journey along the line to Carcavelos station (Cascais).

Cascais starts near the mouth of the Tagus River and stretches to Guincho, with the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park as a backdrop. Explore the town, Citadel-Cascais Fortress, and Hell’s Mouth. Guincho Beach is a highlight for windsurfers.

The route continues along the coastline to Sintra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Explore the town, Serra de Sintra, and attractions like the National Palace of Sintra, Quinta da Regaleira, Moorish Castle, National Palace of Pena, Seteais Palace, Park and Palace of Monserrate, and the Capuchos Convent. Don’t forget to try typical sweets like “queijadas” and “travesseiros.”

Continuing, you’ll reach Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of Europe, offering stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean and the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park.

Further down, you’ll find other beaches like Ursa and Adraga until you reach Praia Grande, where you can see dinosaur footprints in the rocks.

The section ends at Azenhas do Mar, a picturesque village on cliffs.

Photos:
lisboatriathlon.com; cyclinrio.com; travellingclaus.com; Ana Santos; biketoursportugal.com; cycling-rentals.com;
facebook.com/joel.thiago (5); lisboncyclechic.com (6); travellingclaus.com; jornaldaregiao.blogspot.pt; diybiking.com; balancingontwowheels.com; insidelisbon.com; parderodas.blogspot.pt; pedramarela.blogs.sapo.pt
Video:
Turismo de Lisboa Visitors & Convention Bureau

Points of Interest

Heritage: 80
  • The aquarium was inaugurated in 1898 with the support of D. Carlos I (1863-1908), and its main aim was to offer the visitor direct contact with the great riches of the aquatic world. There is a very diversified collection of objects related to the...

  • Photo: www.guiadacidade.pt

  • The House of Guia ( or Casa da Guia) is currently a reference in the Cascais municipality, which has become a true meeting point for friends and family, offering a huge variety of attractions to all who wish to visit. Inside the nineteenth century...

  • Inaugurated in September 2009, the Casa das Histórias Paula Rego is the result of the combined efforts and strong determination shown by both the Cascais Municipal Council and the artist herself, who lived for a long time in Estoril. The museum...

  • Photo: www.guiadacidade.pt

  • The Castelo de São Jorge is one of Lisbon’s most distinctive monuments, being situated on the city’s highest hill.

    The oldest known fortification at this spot dates from the 2nd century BC, although some of the remains found here date...

  • Winding over two ridges of the Serra de Sintra, the Moorish Castle dates back to the early days of the Moorish occupation of the Peninsula - the 8th Century.

    After various attempts it was definitively taken by Dom Afonso Henriques in 1147,...

  • Situated in one of Lisbon’s most important historic quarters, the Centro Cultural de Belém is an emblematic cultural space.

    This contemporary art centre comprises various temporary exhibition spaces and several concert and lecture halls,...

  • Palácio Anjos, one of the most distinctive buildings in Algés, has been exhibiting the Manuel de Brito collection, a representative sample of 20th-century art, since November 2006.

    Galeria 111, one of Lisbon’s most prestigious art...

  • Considered to be one of the finest public fountains in Lisbon. Built in the eighteenth century, as part of the Aguas Livres system, designed by Carlos Mardel.

  • The Puppet Museum is located in the Convent das Bernardas, a building classified as National Heritage. The convent was founded in 1653, in the reign of king João IV.

    The 1755 earthquake almost completely destroyed it resulting in its...

  • Photo: pt.wikipedia.org

  • Capuchos Convent, also known as Santa Cruz or the Cork Convent, was built in 1560 by Dom Álvaro de Castro, in fulfilment of a vow by his father, Dom João de Castro, who was Viceroy of India.

    Its tiny cells, little chapel, refectory and...

  • With 440 berths for boats, this is the second largest marina in Lisbon, surrounded by some of the capital's most famous clubs, restaurants and discotheques and one of its most exciting night spots.

  • With 194 berths for boats up to 12 metres in length and several facilities for the dry-dock repair and maintenance of boats (portal crane, tidal grid, electro-hydraulic boat hoist), the Doca de Belém represents an important symbolic location for all...

  • This dock formerly belonged to the Portuguese Navy and has been opened to pleasure craft (with 163 berths for boats up to 15 metres in length).

    It is situated a short distance to the east of the Torre de Belém, a 16th C monument...

  • Santa Justa Elevator
    The steep hills on which Lisbon lies bestow the city with an urban rhythm that is part of its charming contrast to other European capitals. However, for the people who spend their lives in the city, climbing up by foot is...

  • Fotografia: www.amn.pt

  • Photo: www.amn.pt

  • Photo: www.guiadacidade.pt

  • Inside the walls is the chapel of Nossa Senhora da Vitória, whose chancel is lined with panels of 17C azulejos depicting scenes from the Bible. It is covered by tunnel vaulting decorated with 17C paintings.

  • Originally known as the Guincho battery, the name which was then given to this rocky headland, the fort began to be known as Giribita from the 19C onwards. Later it became known as Nossa Senhora do Porto Salvo.

  • The fort is situated by the edge of the cliff and close to the Museu Conde Castro Guimarães, between the sea and the coast road, and to the east of São João do Estoril. The lighthouse that has been installed here is in line with the lighthouse...

  • De forma geométrica, o Forte de São Bruno é constutuído a norte por um baluarte com duas guaritas e por um revelim do lado de terra. A porta de armas é encimada por um escudo real desartilhado. Depois da guerra civil, foi utilizado como Posto...

  • Photo: www.cm-cascais.pt

  • The Guincho Fort was built about 1642, incorporating all the fortresses that formed a defensive belt on the Cascais coast. The fortress is developed in rectangular planimetry, divided into two distinct areas, the lower side of the earth, which...

  • Photo: www.guiadacidade.pt

  • The parish of Santa Maria de Sintra dates back to the time of Portugal’s foundation as a nation, when Dom Afonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal, conquered Sintra from the Moors. At that time, a small chapel was built here, later...

  • Close to Lisbon Cathedral is the Igreja de Santo António, erected on the very spot where the saint was born. This is a highly important monument in the city, both for visitors from outside the city and for the local inhabitants, who come here to...

  • The original Romanesque construction, probably dating from the second half of the 12th Century, was substituted in the reign of Dom Dinis (13th century) by a Gothic church, as is confirmed by the stone placque of Margarida Fernandes...

  • The Igreja de São Pedro de Penaferrim was rebuilt in the 16th century at the orders of Dom Álvaro de Castro on the site of a mediaeval church.

    Consisting of just one single nave, the church is well worth visiting for the blue and white...

  • The Calouste Gulbenkian gardens form the setting for the arts foundation of the same name which itself has auditoriums and exhibition areas, the Modern Art Centre and a Museum with a library and restaurant/bar.The spacious gardens were built in the...

  • The Largo do Carmo is currently a calm, tranquil square even if it has been the scene of some of the most turbulent moments in Portuguese history.
    The Pombaline buildings and the 18th century fountain in the centre of the square are evidence of...

  • Built in the 16th century, the Monastery of Jerónimos is an impressive example of Manueline architecture and is a World Heritage site.

    A small chapel - Saint Mary of Bethlehem - was built on the orders of the Prince Henry on the site of...

  • This museum is housed in a group of buildings classified as national heritage - the Central Tejo or Lisbon power station. Besides the building itself, the main interest is the machinery used to supply electricity to the city of Lisbon in the first...

  • The idea behind creating the Presidential Museum was to bring the President closer to the citizens he represents by opening up the Belém Palace, his official residence, to the public. The long-lasting aims that the Museum seeks to fullfil are,...

  • Housed in a 19th-century building, the Sintra Natural History Museum is located in Rua do Paço, in the town’s historic centre. It has a unique collection of thousands of fossils of great cultural and scientific value, put together over 50 years by...

  • The Museum inside the Fort of Bom Sucesso (XVIII century) is one of the Combatants League museums, which was open to the public in 2003. The Combatants League exists since 1923, as a Public Institution for Social Solidarity. The main purpose of this...

  • The Fado Museum provides a tribute to the special form of singing and music that came into being in the popular neighbourhoods of Lisbon in the 18th century and to the men and women who have dedicated their voices and feelings to its...

  • The museum has a collection of natural history (particularly interesting are the sections devoted to the study of fish, mammals, birds, molluscs and fossils), nautical and underwater archaeology, ethnography (including collections of traditional...

  • The Oriente Museum is located in a 1940s building in the Alcântara Dock, with a privileged location next to the River Tagus. It aims to chart the historic relationship between Asia and Portugal – the first country to reach distant Oriental...

  • The museum has a valuable collection of religious vestments and gold and silver plate, including a most richly decorated monstrance and other precious pieces.

  • This museum is housed in a 17C palace and in a building that stands on the site of a 16C Carmelite convent, of which all that now remains is a Baroque chapel. It is one of the most important Portuguese museums and has a magnificent garden overlooking...

  • Located in one of Lisbon's most historic neighbourhoods, the Chiado, the National Museum of Modern Art, was founded in 1911. In 1994, the building was overhauled according to a modernist project by Jean-Michel Wilmotte. The museum was expanded into...

  • The Coach Museum was an initiative of Queen D. Amélia de Orléans e Bragança, wife of King D. Carlos I (1889-1908), who inaugurated it in 1905. It contains an exceptional and unique collection of richly adorned royal vehicles, from the 17th to 19th...

  • A visit to the Oceanarium, designed by the American architect, Peter Chermayeff poses a constant challenge to our knowledge, at all levels. Inhabited by 15.000 animals and plants representing over 450 different species, in 30 tanks containing more...

  • Royal Council Building
    The Praça do Município (Municipal Square), with its harmonious proportions and enclosed by Pombaline buildings, was built after the earthquake of 1755 to house the Senate whose palace had been in Rossio. By shifting the...

  • Very close to the historic centre of Sintra is Quinta Regaleira, one of the town’s most enigmatic sights.

    The palace of Quinta da Regaleira was built in the early 20th century by the millionaire António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro...

  • Photo: www.serradesintra.net

  • Park and Palace of Monserrate
    This fantastic Romantic park was created by William Beckford, who fell in love with the Serra de Sintra.

    The park and palace of Monserrate, formerly a farm with fruit orchards and crop fields, were first...

  • Pena National Palace
    The fantastic Palácio da Pena is one of the best examples of 19th-century Romantic revivalism in Portugal.

    Situated at the top of the Monte da Pena, the palace was built on the site of an old monastery belonging...

  • Sintra National Palace
    The Sintra national palace is unique amongst the royal mediaeval palaces in Portugal and the town’s most distinctive building.

    Beginning with the nation’s first dynasties, Sintra was one of the preferred...

  • The Palace of Queluz and its gardens, represents one of the finest examples of late 18th-century Portuguese architecture.

    Built at the orders of Pedro III, the husband of D. Maria I (1734-1816), and used as a royal residence, this palace...

  • Mannerist church from the 17th c., modified in the 18th c. in baroque style.

  • The fruit of King Fernando II´s vivid imagination, Pena Park reflects the intellectual and artistic trends of the 19th century, the era of Romanticism. Together with the architect Baron de Eschwege and the engineer Baron Kessler, King Fernando drew...

  • Imagine a site that offers some of the most daring examples of contemporary architecture, the Oceanarium, one of the largest in Europe, delightful thematic gardens, exhibition centres, shows and events. All located along a breathtaking 5 km stretch...

  • Theme park, whose name comes from the set of 61 sculptures relating to Portuguese poets of the twentieth century. The project was born around the idea of David Mourao Ferreira and Francisco Simões, celebration of Portuguese poetry of the twentieth...

  • Photo: www.guiadacidade.pt

  • Reborn out of the wreckage of the 1755 earthquake, this lovely Lisbon square marks the northern reach of the Pombaline Downtown. It stretches out in a quadrilateral form dominated by the neo-classical harmony of the D. Maria II Theatre, built on the...

  • Founded in 1147, Lisbon Cathedral is one of the city’s great landmarks and also one of the symbols of the Christian Reconquest of the territory.

    The Cathedral was built when the first king of Portugal, Dom Afonso Henriques, conquered the...

  • This museum is dedicated to works by the German-born painter Klaus Ohnsmann. Even though he is German, a large part of his extensive curriculum was made in Spain. Having won almost a hundred national and internacional prizes, Klaus Ohnsmann shows his...

  • This is one of the most beautiful squares in all Europe, opening southwards onto the huge Tagus estuary.
    Until the era of mass aviation, this was Lisbon´s great reception hall for visitors arriving by sea even better able to enjoy its beauty...

  • The harmony and delicate ornamentation of the Tower of Belém suggests a finely cut jewel to all laying eyes on her. However, its contemporaries took a rather different perspective: a formidable and imposing bastion defending the entrance to the...

Nature: 13
  • Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

  • If you go to Sintra, you cannot afford to miss paying a visit to the westernmost point on the European mainland, the headland of Cabo da Roca.

    Situated at a latitude of 38º 47´ North and a longitude of 9º 30´ West, Cabo da Roca is an...

  • With approximately 2 hectares located in Belém, the central feature is a monument to Afonso de Albuquerque, Governor of Portuguese India from 1507 to 1515, by the sculptor Costa Mota, with a neo-Manueline base by the architect Silva Pinto.The layout...

  • The Tropical Garden Museum was founded in 1912 in the outer reaches of the Palace of Belém on the initiative of Henry Navel. The aim was to promote the study of the flora found in the former Portuguese colonies. It is currently managed by the...

  • It was built for the Portuguese World Exhibition (1940), which commemorated the 800th anniversary of the independence of Portugal and the 300th anniversary of the Restoration. The Illuminated Fountain was also built at that time.The garden is...

  • Photo: www.guiadacidade.pt

  • The Eduardo VII Park lies in the Parish of São Sebastião da Pedreira, north from Avenida da Liberdade, and offers panoramic views over the city. Originally known as Parque da Liberdade, the gardens were rechristened with the name of the British...

  • Photo: lisboa.convida.pt

  • The Game Space and Recreation National Jamor Sports Centre, with about 1.500m2 area, is composed of nine recreational equipment in wood and steel - very resistant materials that don't need a special chemical damaging treatment  to people and the...

  • Photo: www.geocaching.com

Heritage: 80 Beach: 35 Information: 13 Bike Shops: 22 Accommodation - Campsite: 2 Accommodation - Youth Hostels: 2 Transport - Train: 14 Transport - Boat: 2

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Comments: Section 15

Section 15

Lisboa / Azenhas do Mar: 57

  • Elevation
  • Heritage
  • Nature
  • Beach
  • Information
  • Bike Shops
  • Accommodation - Campsite
  • Accommodation - Youth Hostels
  • Transport - Train
  • Transport - Boat