Welcome to Lisbon - Portugal
|
Lisbon, Europe’s most southerly capital, seat of explorers and
discoverers, is so packed with monuments and world-class museums you’ll
want to visit it again and again. An intriguing blend of past and
present, with ultra-modern buildings at the Parque das Nações
contrasting with baroque and art nouveau mansions set beneath cloudless
blue skies.
This cultural melting pot with African, Indian, Asian influences is
perched above the Tagus estuary, with its landmark 25th April
suspension bridge and Christ the King Statue dominating the city. In
summer Lisbon’s Largo do Camões and Praça do Comércio squares are full
of flower stalls while in winter the streets are marked with the smell
of roasted chestnuts. The narrow, winding cobbled allies of Bairro Alto
are full of trendy bars, fusion restaurants, concept cafés and
off-the-wall boutiques waiting to be explored.
The Moorish influenced Alfama with brightly painted houses and flower
filled windows, leads up to the city’s impressive São Jorge Castle and
battlements from which you can admire the view of the straight, wide
streets of the city’s downtown Baixa set out by the Marquis de Pombal
following Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 before cooling off by dancing
fountains in Rossio and strolling up the city’s fashionable main
thoroughfare of Avenida da Liberdade with its designer shops, five-star
hotels and majestic buildings echoing Lisbon’s colonial past. Along the
riverfront at Belém are magnificent Manuelian Monastery of Jéronimos ,
charming pink Presidential Palace, the Monument to the Discoveries and
the Renaissance Belém Tower set in a river-side park. Further along the
coast a short train ride will take you to some of the region’s finest
sandy beaches and upmarket resorts at Estoril and Cascais and on to the
lush, castle filled town of Sintra and nearby fishing villages of
Sessimbra and Setúbal.
Welcome to Lisbon, a city packed with so many fine hotels , restaurants,
modern shopping centres and world-class museums that you’ll wonder why
on earth you never visited sooner.
|
