What to do around the Hotel - 10 tips by the Concierge (part 1)

In Lisbon, there's always something to visit and to discover and a wide range of possibilities and experiences. 

Walking through this thousand years old city, rich in monuments and typical neighborhoods where the city finds its roots and remain close to its most genuine traditions is perhaps the best way to feel its life pulsating.

To help you discover the city around the hotel here are some of our Concierge recommendations.                                              
1. Miradouro São Pedro de Alcântara

A garden with a panoramic view over Lisbon Miradouro São Pedro de Alcântar is a garden with

panoramic views across the city to St. George Castle and central Lisbon. A map made of tiles marks all the distinctive buildings, and the lower geometric garden contains busts of heroes and gods from Greco-Roman mythology, such as Minerva and Ulysses.   

 2.   São Roque Church & Museum of Sacred Art Home of the world's most expensive chapel.

 The church with the plainest façade in Lisbon as one of the city's richest interiors. Each of the chapels is a masterpiece of Baroque art but the showpiece is the fourth one left, the world's most expensive chapel. Adjoining the church is a Museum of Sacred Art, containing 16th Century Portuguese paintings (including one of Catherine of Austria, and another of the wedding ceremony of King Manuel I), a display of vestments, and an impressive collection of baroque silver.

3.   Bairro Alto & Chiado

Lisbon's Cultural and bohemian heart; nightlife and shopping mecca.

Bairro Alto is a picturesque working class quarter dating from the 16th century that has traditionally been the city's bohemian haunt of artist and writers.

Neighboring Chiado is an elegant, sophisticated district of theaters, bookshops, old-style cafes, art
nouveau jewelry and luxurious international names such as Hermes and Cartier

4.   Carmo Convent and Church Romantic Gothic ruins. 

The ruins of this gothic church are evocative reminders of the devastation left by the 1755 earthquake. At the time of the earthquake is was the largest church in Lisbon, but today the roofless nave open to the sky is all that remains of the arches and rubble that caved in on the congregation as they were attending mass. In what used to be the main altar is now a small archaeological museum with an eclectic collection of tombs (the largest on in of King Ferdinand I), statuary, ceramics, and mosaics.

5.   Santa Justa Elevator

An Eiffel Tower-like landmark overlooking the city. On of the city's best-loved landmarks and also know as the "Elevator of Carmo" this extraordinary structure was built at the turn of the century by the Portugal-born French architect Raoul de Mesnier du Ponsard (an apprentice of Gustave Eiffel, explaining the structure's similarities to Paris' Eiffel Tower), to connect downtown to Bairro Alto (lowest and highest points of the city).