Europe’s second-oldest capital after Athens, Lisbon’s history goes before time over 3000 years of turbulent history not to mention the 1755 earthquake followed by a massive tsunami and followed by days long fires literally bringing the city to rubble.
The Lisbon story centre is a must to visit to understand and appreciate the size of the natural disaster, once seen it you will look at everything around you with a different viewpoint. Built on beautiful seven hills overlooking the Rio Tejo cradle, with beautifully crafted picture-perfect neighbourhoods, cobbled streets, steep hills, most reachable with the tram (try the historic one No 28) provides a perfect backdrop for your history and culture-rich city break.
Lisbon is small and accessible on foot quite easily and trams comes in handy when you need to extend your visit to some of the neighbourhoods to enjoy and appreciate this magnificent city. With the forward-thinking visionary Marquese de Pompal who ruled the city between 1750 – 1777 the city of Lisbon was literally re-built after the devastating earthquake with genius engineering and grand design.
Only the few parts of Lisbon were standing still after the powerful earthquake and the tsunami and Alfama area was the main one, famous for the Moorish style houses and palaces. Alfama is a historic icon in Lisbon and located in downtown with narrow lanes of residential houses and grocery stores and has a distinct village atmosphere.
Andrea
Our Lisbon Estoril & Cascais Expert
With beautiful coast and nice beaches coupled with Lisbon bursting with culture and great places to eat, stay and party – this is a great area to discover all year round, and it is also great value for money too!
