Overlooking the mouth of the Tagus River, the city of Lisbon holds many wonders through its small streets and its many neighbourhoods. A city of history whose every alley, every building, tells a glorious past. But also, a resolutely modern destination with districts in full creative effervescence. If Lisbon was a flavour, she would be the pastel de nata. One smell: the spray. But capturing Lisbon cannot be reduced to these few words.Physically, the city needs breath – lots of breath. You have to travel around the Chiado district and stop at the café A Brasileira, like Fernando Pessoa, to enjoy a cafézinho. Climb to the top of the Alfama where stands the Castelo de São Jorge (Castle Saint-Georges) and admire the city and its monuments from the miradouros (« belvederes »), like the one of Santa Luzia. In the evening, climb once more, to join the festa up in the Bairro Alto.
Touring the neighbourhoods along the Tagus will also require endurance. At the time of the great discoveries, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the neighbourhood of Belém was the starting point of the Caravelles. Although it contains some historical sites, the Tower of Belém in the lead, it is today in complete mutation with the Centro Cultural, a complex that includes several exhibition sites such as the Museu Coleção Berardo.
Between sea and river, the Portuguese capital has been able to modernize. Its facades in azulejos, its slippery pavements in limestone, its churches, its baroque architecture, its oldest bookshop in the world, founded in 1732, today stand alongside the creations of Frank Gehry, Renzo Piano (Gardens of Braço de Prata) or the one of Álvaro Siza Vieira with the bridge Vasco da Gama, the longest of 'Europe.
Hard to resist to all its charms, because Lisbon it’s also fashion shops, underground galleries, arty coffee shops and antiquaries. It’s also other historical neighbourhoods where you can stroll, or take the mythical tram n°28 that passes by the multitude of places of interest.