Lisbon

Seven hills above the sea

Architecture

Scenic

About Lisbon

Lisbon tumbles down seven hills to the Tagus in a cascade of tiled facades, rattling trams and washing-strung balconies.

Viewpoints called miradouros open at the top of every climb, and the light off the river turns everything gold in the afternoon. The Alfama still echoes with mournful fado spilling from tiny tavernas, while across the water a great bridge could be San Francisco's twin.

This was the launch pad of an age of exploration, and a faint salt-and-melancholy still hangs over it.

Eat a warm custard pastel de nata and grilled sardines with a glass of green vinho verde.

Get to Lisbon

Round trip from Prague, any dates in November 2026.

Buses from Lisbon

Day trips from Lisbon

Half day
Sintra
~40 min
A wooded micro-climate of romantic follies above the coast: the candy-coloured Pena palace on the ridge, the initiation well of Quinta da Regaleira, and Moorish ramparts in the mist.
Half day
Arrábida
~50 min
A coastal ridge of Mediterranean green falling into water so clear it reads Caribbean. The beaches of Portinho and Galapinhos hide below a 16th-century convent in the hillside scrub.
Day trip
Cabo da Roca
~1 h , ~1 h 45 min
Continental Europe's westernmost point — a lighthouse on 140-metre Atlantic cliffs where, in Camões' words, 'land ends and the sea begins'.