Lisbon travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises spa and resorts

The Rossio Railway Station is a stunning structure set between Rossio Square and Restauradores Square in Lisbon, Portugal. The railway station was designed by the architect José Luís Monteiro. They integrated eight doors match the nine palatial windows and incredibly decorated clock tower located on the top of the facade.

Rossio station is a curiosity in that the platforms are some 30 metres above the main entrance. Services from here are all suburban trains to the tourist sights of Sintra via Queluz. The Rossio station has been recently renovated and was build in 1887. The boarding platform is now fasten to the Metro Station, which is with the nearest Metro station at Restauradores, (not with Rossio Metro).

Estoril is a civil parish of the Portuguese municipality of Cascais. The Estoril coast is close to Lisbon – the capital of Portugal. It starts in Carcavel, 15 kilometres from Lisbon and stretches as far as Guincho. The two main resort towns are Estoril and Cascais. The town has since lost much of its status, but maintains a certain faded grandeur and is still a fashionable cosmopolitan playground with Europe’s largest casino, tennis courts, some of Europe’s finest golf courses, an automobile race track that has held Formula One Grand Prix races, and an attractive sandy beach. Early in the 20th century the resort became the playground of the rich and famous who came here to relax and sunbathe; luxurious hotels accommodated illustrious visitors which included royalty and ex-royalty.

At the bottom of this elegant, tropical style park, Tamariz Beach is accessed by an underground pass. Here the fashionable take in the sun and one can walk westwards to Cascais along a very pleasant promenade which passes various small beaches, taking in a drink on the way. The picturesque beach of Tamariz has a number of bars and restaurants, and a castle overlooking it that is owned by the royal family of Monaco.

The beach and the casino still remain big attractions. Offering a broad stretch of fine sand, Estoril’s Tamariz beach is crowded in summer. The casino has been renovated internally and offers bars, a restaurant, a floor show, gaming machines and comfortable surroundings in which to win or lose a fortune at roulette, baccarat and the like. Behind it is the casino surrounded by attractive gardens with tall palm trees. Estoril also hosts a prestigious crafts fair with artisan works from all over the country, not to mention samples of typical Portuguese fare and folk dancing displays.

Leisure goes hand in hand with relaxing in Estoril. The Tennis Club boasts over 20 courts and is open until the sun sets and not far from the centre, the “Clube de Golfe de Estoril” was established in the 40s offering a 9-hole course as well as the full 18, and has held various championships. A few kilometres towards the town of Sintra, another superb course, Penha Longa, attracts many top golfers who enjoy the terrain as well as the magnificent views. Between the two lies the famous Estoril Autodrome where enthusiasts of motor racing can visit the track where Formula One races have been held.

A city set on seven hills, as the legend tells, Lisbon is the kind of place where you can sit at street cafes and watch the world go by. But for the eager there are also plenty of cultural activities. In addition to architectural masterpieces at Belem, Lisbon has over 50 museums to visit – some of which are Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, National Museum of Contemporary Art, National Coach Museum, and Carmo Archaeological Museum. The city of Lisbon is rich in architecture – Romanesque, Gothic, Manueline, Baroque, Traditional Portuguese, Modern and Post-Modern constructions can be found all over the city. But, Lisbon isn’t all culture and history, Bairro Alto is the center of nightlife with various restaurants and bars where melancholic traditional Portuguese music, Fado, can also be listened.

It’s a shame that tourists have no access to Belem Palace, but even from outside this is still something you shouldn’t miss. This is the official residence of the President and was built in 1559 by the noble D. Manuel de Portugal and is located in an area that you will definitively, surely not want to miss. In the 18th century this palace was called ‘palace of the lions’ and its badge seems to be the lion – solar symbol that combines Wisdom and Power – that can be seen in several locations around the palace.
The entrance to this Palace is watched over by two guards. The guards use a magnificent uniform, a curious helmet with a white tail and a sword that is hung on their belt… It makes you think you’ve gone back in time. Belém Tower was built in the Age of the Discoveries in tribute to the patron saint of the city, Saint Vicente. The Belem Tower is to Lisbon what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris or Big Ben is to London. In 1983 UNESCO classified it as a World Heritage Site.
It is the city’s most photographed landmark, which along with the marvelous Jeronimos Monastery should top your list of must-see monuments. The Jeronimos Monastery is the most impressive symbol of Portugal’s power and wealth during the Age of Discovery. King Manuel I built it in 1502 on the site of a hermitage founded by Prince Henry the Navigator, where Vasco da Gama and his crew spent their last night in Portugal in prayer before leaving for India. It was built to commemorate Vasco Da Gama’s voyage and to give thanks to the Virgin Mary for its success.

The Águas Livres Aqueduct (“Aqueduct of Free Waters”) is an historic aqueduct in the city of Lisbon. It is one of the most remarkable examples of 18th-century Portuguese engineering. The main course of the aqueduct covers 18 km, but the whole network of canals extends through nearly 58 km. Construction started in 1731 under the direction of Italian architect Antonio Canevari, replaced in 1732 by a group of Portuguese architects and engineers, including Manuel da Maia, Azevedo Fortes and José da Silva Pais. In 1748, although the project was still unfinished, the aqueduct finally started to bring water to the city of Lisbon, a fact celebrated in a commemorative arch built in the Amoreiras neighbourhood. From this period on, construction was overseen by other architects, including Carlos Mardel of Hungary and others. During the reigns of José I and Maria I, the network of canals and fountains was greatly enlarged.Bairro Alto is an area of central Lisbon. It functions as a residential, shopping and entertainment district. Today, the Bairro Alto is the heart of Lisbon’s youth and of the Portuguese capital’s nightlife. Lisbon’s Punk, Gay, Metal, Goth, Hip Hop and Reggae scenes, all have the Bairro as their home, due to the number of clubs and bars dedicated to each of them. The fado, Portugal’s national song, still survives in the new Lisbon’s nightlife. The crowd is a mix of local and tourist, straight and gay, and almost anything else imagined.

Rising from the river and reached by a footbridge is one of the world’s largest aquariums, designed by American architect Peter Chermeyeff. It is the closest thing visitors get to deep-sea diving without any of the risks, with about 25,000 fish, seabirds, and mammals in an enormous central tank, the size of four Olympic-sized swimming pools. Visitors can look into it from different levels for close-ups of the various creatures, including different species of sharks. It is the first aquarium ever to incorporate world ocean habitats within a single environment, with impressive recreations of various ocean ecosystems — the Antarctic tank containing penguins, and the Pacific tank with otters playing in rock pools.
To be continued….