The 19 best attractions in Lisbon

There's no better way to start our journey through Lisbon’s best attractions than with some history. This former summer palace and City Museum now serves as the headquarters for the five branches of the new Museum of Lisbon (the other four sites are the Roman Theatre, Santo António, Torreão Poente, and Casa dos Bicos), which was established in 2015. The permanent exhibition at Palácio Pimenta showcases the evolution of Lisbon from prehistoric times to the early twentieth century.

Time Out tip: Don’t miss the temporary exhibitions held in the White and Black Paviliions, which can be found in the gardens.

A list of Lisbon attractions without the Torre de Belém would be like a list of Paris attractions without the Eiffel Tower. Considered one of the city's most iconic monuments, this tower began as a defensive structure on the Tagus River and is now a symbol of the architectural style from the reign of King Manuel I. Classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983, it was also chosen as one of the Seven Wonders of Portugal in 2007.

Time Out tip: A 25-30 minute riverside walk will take you to MAAT, the photogenic Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology.

The azulejo (ceramic tile) is tangible proof of the practicality of the Portuguese, who chose to decorate both their interiors and exteriors with this humble (and crucially easy-to-clean) material. Practicality aside, they’re also very beautiful, as you’ll see on a visit to this museum. Housed in the Convent of Madre de Deus, the Museu Nacional do Azulejo has some of the most significant examples of Portuguese tilework, from the fifteenth century to the present day.

Time Out tip: Keep an eye out for some of the most famous pieces on display, including the Great Panorama of Lisbon and the whimsical The Hen’s Wedding.

Built to supply the capital with fresh water from the hills north of the city, the Aqueduto das Águas Livres is one of the most important engineering constructions from the eighteenth century. And fun fact: construction was actually funded by special levies on meat, olive oil and wine. It spans 14 kilometres from its main source in Caneças to its end at the reservoir of Mãe d’Água das Amoreiras. Fast forward to now, it belongs to the Water Museum which organises visits to the inside of the aqueduct. And the reservoir of Mãe d’Água das Amoreiras organises cultural events and temporary exhibitions.

The ruined Carmo Convent is said to be Lisbon's loveliest church, despite the fact it hasn’t had a roof since the 1755 earthquake. It now stands as a reminder of the earthquake and a memorial. The beautiful gothic arches still stand and are well worth viewing. Much of the architecture dates back to the 1300s, while Manueline (Portuguese Gothic) windows and other details were added later, in the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. You'll even be able to spot eerie South American mummies (a young boy and a young girl from Peru) if you look closely.

The church itself is worth a look, but the old monastery remains the main attraction. Its cloisters are richly decorated with early eighteenth-century tile panels, some of which illustrate the fables of La Fontaine. Inside, you’ll also find the royal pantheon of the Bragança family, Portugal’s last dynasty.

Construction began in 1802, but it was interrupted in 1807 when the royal family high-tailed it to Brazil to escape Napoleon’s armies. The palace was never finished and still looks sawn in half. Nevertheless, it served as a royal residence in the late nineteenth century. Some wings are open as a museum, while others house the Ministry of Culture.

The Church of São Roque is notable for its mannerist and baroque style. It was commissioned in the late sixteenth century in collaboration with Afonso Álvares and Bartolomeu Álvares and was one of the few buildings in Lisbon to escape the 1755 earthquake almost unscathed. After the earthquake, the church and the auxiliary residence were given to the charitable organisation Santa Casa da Misericórdia to replace their destroyed buildings and church, a connection that has lasted until today. The church continues to capture the interest of tourists and locals alike and is considered one of Lisbon’s most beautiful churches.

Construction of the building began in the late eighteenth century, following a vow made by Queen Maria I on her wedding day, who swore that if she were to have a son with King Pedro, she would build a convent for Carmelite nuns dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the first church in the world with this dedication. When she died, the queen was buried here, making her the only monarch of the Portuguese Braganza dynasty to be buried outside Church of São Vicente de Fora.

If you see a group of visitors from the New World standing open-mouthed in front of the Sé Cathedral, don’t be surprised – this Romanesque-style building is indeed very old. Construction began in 1147 and was completed in the early decades of the thirteenth century. The design, featuring three naves with a triforium, a prominent transept, and an apse with three chapels, is very similar to that of the Sé Cathedral in Coimbra. If some of these terms seem too complicated for you to use when showing your pals around, don’t worry: instead, just tell them that each June, young Lisbonite couples come here to exchange vows of eternal love.

The dome of this church was completed in 1966, a mere 285 years after the building started being built – hence the local expression “a job like Santa Engrácia”, which means something that takes forever. The church is on the site of an earlier one, which was torn down after being desecrated by a robbery in 1630. A Jewish suspect was blamed and executed but later exonerated. Before his death, he is said to have prophesied that the new church would never be completed because an innocent man had been convicted. The first attempt at a new Santa Engrácia duly collapsed in 1681 (a construction mistake, compounded by a storm, may have been to blame) and work restarted the following year. The new plan, by master stonemason João Antunes, bears many similarities to Peruzzi’s plans for St Peter’s in Rome, and the interior is dominated by marble in various colours. In 1916, the Republican government decided Santa Engrácia, which was still roofless then, would become the national Pantheon, a temple to honour dead Portuguese heroes. 

Ordered by Manuel I in memory of Infante Dom Henrique of Portugal (Prince Henry the Navigator), this monastery has been a national monument since 1907 and a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1983. Built in the sixteenth century, it was donated at the time to the monks of the Order of Saint Jerome, and in 2016 it became part of the National Pantheon. The monastery’s church (Igreja de Santa Maria de Belém) holds the tombs of Luís de Camões, Vasco da Gama and Sebastião I, whose remains were brought there by Filipe I in an attempt to put an end to the popular belief that Sebastião I would return to save Portugal, although few people actually believe that these remains are those of the Desired King. Bonus: the famous Pastéis de Belém bakey is only a five-minute walk away.

The hilltop was fortified even before the arrival of the Roman legions; in later centuries the castle walls were strengthened by Visigoths and Moors, before Portugal’s first king, Afonso Henriques, seized them in 1147. You’ll see his statue in the square just past the main gate. The castle itself has undergone numerous transformations. Back in the 1930s, several government offices and a firehouse were removed from the grounds, exposing the walls, which were duly topped with supposedly authentic-looking battlements. There have been several makeovers since. The battlements of the Castelejo (keep) have ten towers which you can go up. One of the battlements is home to a camera obscura allowing you to see key city monuments and spy on people downtown. Beyond the keep is an area where labelled displays trace out dwellings from prehistoric times and the late Islamic period, as well as the ruins of the last palatial residence on this hill, destroyed by the 1755 earthquake.

The botanical garden of Lisbon covers 10 whole acres and is located in the Principe Real district, secretly hidden from the surrounding streets. It was laid out between 1858 and 1873 and has one of the largest collections of subtropical vegetation in Europe. There are also a huge 18,000 species of dense vegetation and exotic plants from all over the world. All of them are clearly labelled too, so you'll be gaining some new plant insight and knowledge.

The building was constructed in 1523 by order of D. Brás de Albuquerque, son of the second governor of Portuguese India, and lost its top two floors in the 1755 earthquake. The Albuquerque family sold it in 1973 and it was subsequently used as a warehouse and a codfish trading headquarters. Today, it houses a foundation dedicated to the life and work of the Nobel Laureate in Literature, established in 2007 and settled in this space near Alfama in 2012. The visit includes a permanent exhibition on José Saramago (1922-2010). If you keep an eye on the schedule, you might catch book launches, lectures, and other events.

Markets, exhibitions, shops, cafés, concerts, parties: there’s a whole world to discover in this cosmopolitan ‘factory’, a complex from 1846 that completely transformed the landscape of Alcântara when it reopened in 2008. Fancy a haircut, a new surfboard, or even need a place to stay? You can find all this and more under one roof.

It has a collection of approximately six thousand pieces, with just over a thousand permanently on display. Opened by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in 1969, this museum space consists of two separate circuits: one dedicated to Oriental and Classical Art and the other to European Art.

This viewpoint on the bridge offers vistas across the Tagus, but beware: even those with a head for heights can find it a little daunting. The bridge opened in 1966 and has 14 pillars, but the one that’s relevant to you is accessible via Avenida da Índia, in the back of Village Underground.

The industrial-age iron tracery of this 15-metre high lift – also known as Elevador do Carmo – is one of Lisbon’s most beloved landmarks, but it only became a national monument in 2002. It was built by Portuguese-born Eiffel disciple Raul Mesnier de Ponsard, and it officially opened in August 1901. It links Rua do Ouro, downtown, to the square next to Igreja do Carmo, a little further up the hill. At the top, up a spiral staircase, a viewing platform offers 360-degree views of downtown Lisbon. The Elevador is part of the public transport system, so if you have a travel card a one-way trip is equivalent to a bus journey; on board, you can only buy pricey return tickets.