Restaurant Solar do Duque. Calcada do Duque  is a street made of hundreds of stairs, lined with lots of traditional Portuguese restaurants, near Largo Duque de Cadaval , a square full of open-air cafes near the beautiful Rossio Station. 

Around the Castle of St. Jorge (Castelo de São Jorge), the tiny and partially restored ancient neighborhood of Santa Cruz do Castelo , is one of the most picturesque parts of Lisbon.

Mouraria, Rua dos Cavaleiros. From here, you can walk to a beautiful viewpoint over the city, Miradouro da Graça.

Bairro Alto 

Bairro Alto. During daytime, the famous Bairro is a very quiet district, it’s really worth it to walk around: trendy shops, art galleries and fashion. At night, bars suddenly appear everywhere from behind the shutter doors.

Quite close to the historic Alfama neighborhood, a very nice street to walk around at Lisbon’ city center is Rua dos Bacalhoeiros (street of the cod fish sellers).

Alfama (more…..)

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Mercearia Castello Cafe, a bit tucked away on a tiny street, Rua das Flores de Santa Cruz behind the Castle, opens in summertime a small outdoor seating just around the corner. Quiche and salads, coffee and toast, this cafe is a great place to stop for a snack or a light meal after visiting the Castle.

Rua Bartolomeu do Gusmão, just near the Castle. The neighborhood is very charming, it’s really nice to walk through the cobbled small streets. Costa do Castelo features some of the most spectacular viewpoints of Lisbon.

A 10 minutes walk away from this street is a great cafe/bar overlooking the river Tagus, 25 April bridge and the city, ‘O Terraço‘, spectacular views!

Rua do Espírito Santo…. normal life is going on, quietly, nobody takes attention to the tourists. This hilly part of Lisbon, located in the highest hill of the historic centre,  is one of the main historical and tourist sites.

Travessa do Funil A rainy day, February 2009. Guests of Boutique Hotel ‘Solar do Castelo’   are picked up.

 more…..  an idea to walk up the hill to the Castle

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Definitely one of the coolest bars of the city! You can get there from Rua da Costa do Castelo, the neighborhood of The Castle of St. Jorge (Castelo de São Jorge).

Sergio Curto: ‘O Terraço’ opened about two years ago, the building belongs to the government. We also serve some snacks, toast and ‘2 plates of the day’. Opening times: daily from 12:00 – 24:00, Saturday and Sunday 10:00 – 01:00.’  Caipirinha: € 4, Mojito € 5 , a secret recipe

Update September ‘09: ‘O Terraco’ , one of Lisbon’s beloved terrace cafés, has just closed and in a few months a new restaurant will take its place. More….

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To visit the castle, you can walk up the hill starting at Beco dos Fróis , from Largo Rodrigues de Freitas . This church, Igreja do Menino de Deus on the square of the same name was commissioned byJoao V,King of Portugal. It is one of the few churches which survived the big earthquake (1755) relatively undamaged. Construction began in 1711 but even today it has not been completely finished.

At the end of  Largo do Menino Deus (Square of God’s son) you’ll reach the (second) entrance to the castle of São Jorge. (The other entrance is at Rua da Costa do Castelo).

This is a wonderful hidden part of Lisbon. At the moment construction works have started here. Besides: don’t’ forget to wear flat shoes! The steets are cobbled in this area around the Castle.

Looking back, you can see the towers of Igreja da Sao Vincente de Fora (Church of St. Vincent outside the walls), a Renaissance church used primarily as a royal pantheon for the Portugese monarchy.

After passing through the gates, you enter Travessa do Funil, a very popular street with tourists, directly underneath Castelo São Jorge.

The urinal (urinol) at the corner of Travessa do Funil and Travessa Chão da Feira, Lisbon’s only open air uninal.

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The taverns are the most typical and traditional restaurants in Portugal: tasty appetisers, irresistible cheeses, olives, salt cod rissoles with red pepper rice, sardines,  fried lamb chops, bean stew, beef with sauce.  Great local wines.

Beautiful view from ‘A Tasquinha’ ’s terrace: Largo Contador Mor.

New owner of ‘A Tasquinha’ Romana Mendouça: ‘ My husband and I worked very hard to buy this restaurant. Happily it’s successful, some days we have 120 people for lunch.’ Restaurant speciality: ‘deliciosos molhos’ (delicious sauces).

‘A Tasquinha’ is open from 09:30 till 02:00 (in summertime). Every night live fado from 19:30 till 23:00.

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Singer inside the walls of the Castle 

Although the first fortifications on the Lisbon hilltop are known to date only from the 2nd century BC, archaeological research has shown that human occupation exists there at least since the 6th century BC, originally from autochthonous Celtic and Iberian tribes (with probable Phoenician, Greek and Carthaginian influences), afterwards Roman, Suevi, Visigothic and Moorish.

In the context of the Christian Reconquista the castle and the city of Lisbon were retaken from the Moors by King Afonso Henriques with the help of Northern European crusaders taking part on the Second Crusade. The Siege of Lisbon, which took place in 1147, was the only success of that Crusade. According to a famous legend, the knight Martim Moniz, noting that one of the doors to the castle was opened, prevented the door from closing again with his own body, sacrificing his life but allowing the Christians to enter the castle.

Many of the existing walls were erected during the centuries of Moorish domination. The Moors held power until 1147, the year Afonso Henríques chased them out and extended his kingdom south. Even before Lisbon became the capital of the newly emerging nation, the site was used as a royal palace.

It overlooks the Alfama, the mountains of Monsanto and Sintra, Ponte do 25 de Abril, Praça do Comércio, and the tile roofs of the Portuguese capital. In the square stands a heroic statue — sword in one hand, shield in the other — of the first king, Afonso Henríques.

Address: Rua da Costa do Castelo
Bus: 37 Tram: 12 or 28
Web site: www.castelosaojorge.egeac.pt

Prices: Admission 5 € adults, free for children under 10

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