Monday 14th May 2018

Central downtown Lisbon was on our agenda for today. We knew we would be unable to take in all there was to see and do in every district or barrio in Lisbon so we had a decision to make. Baixa was our choice as the Number 714 Bus went all the way to the Praça Figueira, a good starting point for some exploration.

Another €1.85 each for the ride took us in a south-westerly direction towards our destination. Our route took us through some affluent areas of Lisbon and we passed many large Embassy buildings with terrific views out towards the Tejo Estuary.

We travelled past the large district of Belém, which was particularly busy even though it was quite early in the day. One particularly part was the enormous queues outside the famous Pastéis de Belem bakery shop, traditional home to the delicious custard tart known as the pastel de Nata.

We continued on our journey east towards the Ponte 25 de Abril and at one point travelled underneath it! Eventually our bus headed inland and arrived at our destination in the Praça Figueira, dominated by the statue of King John 1.

Here in this square it is possible to take one of the tourist buses or the Lisbon Tram 15, which connects the Baixa district to the Belém district, which has many of Lisbon’s iconic buildings and museums.

(The Belém district is not connected to the metro system). Note though these trams are the modern articulado trams.

Baixa like many other areas of Lisbon suffered heavily during the 1755 earthquake and much of the area had to be rebuilt, but not based on the original layout of narrow streets but reconstructed in a neoclassical style with wide avenues and streets following a grid pattern.

We were surrounded by avenues and plazas, with cafes, bars, shops and restaurants, all of which were very crowded. As we wandered down one of the most popular and grandest pedestrianised avenues, Rua da Augusta, we enjoyed the buzz and feel of this vibrant city.

After a pause for brunch in one of the cafes along the avenue, we made our way down towards the river.  We marvelled at the Elevador Santa Justa lift, a wrought iron industrial construction at one of the junctions on the avenue.

Continuing down the avenue in the distance was the magnificent and imposing Arco da Rua Augusta straddled across the avenue.

The local university students were happily bashing out a few tunes under the arch in an attempt to raise some money for charities.

We decided to take the opportunity to enjoy the vista from the viewpoint at the top of the Arco.

A lift takes you part of the way and then a series of tight spiral staircases eventually lead to the roof top where you can enjoy spectacular views all around the city and out towards the estuary.

When exiting we passed under the famous arch and made our way towards the Praça de Comércio .

Here were a few remains of what was a large open air Eurovision 2018 village.

Here the large square was flanked on either side by numerous restaurants and bars and the tram to Belém also departed from here.

From here we enjoyed a walk near the river at Ribeira das Naus towards the metro station at Cais do Sodré.

The area was bustling with people and as we approached the River Station we saw many people on the esplanade taking the opportunity to put their feet up, soak up the rays or having a beverage or two from the nearby kiosk.

At the metro station we purchased two single tickets to take us to Oriente station and our bus home. We chose to take the bus from here as we knew it was the start of the route and we would be more likely to get a seat. Just what you need after a long day walking.

The 4 metro lines are colour coded which helps to plan your route. We boarded the green/verde line and changed at Alameda onto the red/vermelho line and completed our journey at Oriente where we didn’t have to wait long for the 750 bus back to our campsite.