Plan your perfect PORTUGAL TRIP

Golden beaches, monasteries and castles, fresh seafood, creamy custard tarts and delicious wine... Portugal is brimming with pleasures. Lisbon native Sandra Henriques shares the spots that locals love >>

- 

LISBON

Dive into history, culture and artisanal finds.

With its plum coastal location, pastel-hued buildings and historic bakeries turning out the world's best pastéis de nata (custard tarts), Portugal's easy-to-love capital is the obvious place to start your explorations.

While an influx of city-breakers in the past decade has turned Lisbon into a people-pleaser, it still remains delightfully unique: colourful tile-covered buildings cluster around cobblestoned streets, sprawling squares by the Tagus river and dozens of hilltop viewpoints to take it all in.

History buffs will love that the city bears the marks of the three communities that lived here before Portugal even existed - Phoenicians, Romans and Moors. Most of the remnants are hidden under the city's historic centre, one of the areas rebuilt after the catastrophic 1755 Great Earthquake, but as the capital continues to grow and change, construction work often stumbles upon that heritage. For a case in point, visit the Núcleo Arqueológico da Rua dos Correeiros, where a treasure trove of ruins and relics spanning nearly 2,000 years was unearthed from beneath a bank (free entry; fundacaomillenniumbcp.pt).

Alternative Alfama