Budget · 3-hour walk · Lisbon
Chiado and Bairro Alto in three hours
The poet's café, the roofless convent, two great miradouros, the old funicular down Bica and the sunset over the river at Santa Catarina.
The Baixa and Alfama route climbs the east hill; this one climbs the west. Chiado is the city's old literary quarter and Bairro Alto above it is a quiet grid of lanes by day and the loudest few blocks in Lisbon by night. Walk it late in the afternoon, ride the funicular down, and finish at the miradouro where the city comes to watch the sun set over the bridge.
The route, stop by stop
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A Brasileira
Art Deco coffee house of 1905 where Fernando Pessoa drank; his bronze sits at a table on the pavement outside. Order a bica standing at the bar.
15 min here Walk here → -
Convento do Carmo
A Gothic church left roofless by the earthquake of 1755 and never rebuilt, open to the sky, with an archaeological museum in the old chancel.
30 min here Walk here → -
Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara
The garden terrace at the top of the Glória funicular, looking straight across the Baixa to the castle on the opposite hill.
20 min here Walk here → -
Bairro Alto
Down through the grid of lanes, laid out in the 16th century, with laundry across the streets and bars that open shutters only after dark.
20 min here Walk here → -
Elevador da Bica
The yellow funicular of 1892 that drops down the steepest street in the city towards the river. Photograph it from the top and walk down beside it.
15 min here Walk here → -
Miradouro de Santa Catarina
Under the statue of the giant Adamastor, the terrace where the city gathers at sunset to watch the light go down behind the 25 de Abril bridge.
30 min here Walk here →
More in Lisbon
Every walking route in Lisbon, or the full Lisbon guide for where to stay and what a day costs.