Cruise Holidays To Lisbon

Overview

The skyline of Lisbon, the ‘City of Seven Hills’ is unmistakable. Two steep hills; home of the Bairro Alto, the Upper Town; and Alfama, the Moorish district; tumble down into the Baixa, the lower town and traditional centre, blessed with imposing buildings, not to mention elegant façades and triumphal arches. In 1994 the city was elected European City of Culture.

Cruise ships dock right alongside the Tagus River from where it is a short shuttle bus ride to Rossio Square, the epicentre of the city. The country’s great explorers sailed from the Tagus River where today the monuments of Belém remind you of centuries of imperial splendour.

The Alfama District, a labyrinth of narrow, twisting streets, is crowned by the 12th century Castelo de São Jorge. Stately pink arcades line three sides of the Praça do Comércio in the 18th century Baixa district where the Rua Augusta is brim-full of excellent shops. Also worth seeing are the Sé (Cathedral); Jeronimos Monastery; and the Gulbenkian, with its collection of paintings, sculpture, and Oriental porcelain. Further afield, see the old mountain town of Sintra and the fashionable beach resorts of Cascais and Estoril.