Lisbon

On the right bank of the broad estuary of the Tagus River, the capital of Portugal sits on enchanting hills and enjoys a unique geographical situation, to which it owes its destiny as a cosmopolitan city. Its exceptional light, enchantment of writers, photographers and filmmakers, the clear house that climbs on the hills, where the ocher color of the roofs stands out, the polychromy of the facade tiles and the tortuous alleyways of the old districts give it the peculiar atmosphere of a transition city between Northern Europe and the Mediterranean South.

The place of choice for trade with ancient merchant and navigators, Lisbon's long history begins in the Phoenician Alis-Ubbo, only to become, in the II century, the Roman Felicita Julia Olisipo, in the Arab Aschbouna from the VIII century onwards, in a Portuguese city in 1147, when it was conquered by D. Afonso Henriques, first king of Portugal, and finally in the capital of the country, in 1255.

Walk through the typical neighborhoods, by tram through the old areas, up or down the hills in secular elevators, by boat on a tour of the Tagus, or even underground, true underground museum of contemporary Portuguese art, all means are good to discover diversity cultural interest that Lisbon offers.

To the west, on the way to the mouth of the Tagus, visit the area of ​​Belém, with its gardens and its monuments that are UNESCO World Heritage, the Lisbon of the Discoveries.

From the reconstruction right after the 1755 earthquake, the regular and symmetrical route of an illuminist city was born, open to the river, called the "Baixa de Lisboa", a traditional shopping area. In Chiado, a neighborhood of seduction, one evokes the bourgeois charm of Lisbon from the 16th century, and to the east, the Parque das Nações concentrates a wide range of leisure activities in which the Oceanarium stands out.

At night, in the traditional neighborhoods of Lisbon, the voices of Fado and the younger crowds gather in the lively bars of the Docas, by the river, or in Bairro Alto, next to Chiado.

(source: www.visitportugal.com)