Lisbon Leading Golf Destination

The Sun is shining, the sky is light blue and you have green trees shaken by a small breeze but not enough to spoil your stroke, this is just the right scenario for a perfect Tee.

At the end of the day, you return to the hotel and guess what? You are in downtown Lisbon, surrounded by history and culture, just a few walking minutes away from a couple of the most well-known Cafés and Restaurants. Impossible, you may say! Not really, let me tell you why:

Lisbon is not known as a primary Golf destination, but according to a survey made in 2018 by the Lisbon Tourism Council, for 49,3% of the enquired, Golf is the reason they’ve decided to visit Lisbon.

There are several courses available in Lisbon or in the surrounding areas, with easy and quick access by car. This way, instead of staying confined to the resort facilities you can have the best of two worlds and enjoy the pleasure of golfing and still feel the bubbling of a cosmopolitan city.

Here are a few examples of Golf Courses, just at hand:

Quinta da Marinha

The Golf Course at Quinta da Marinha has 18 holes with 5.870 meters of unadulterated nature surroundings and major challenges. Designed by the legendary Robert Trent Jones Senior, this par 71 has great views to the Atlantic Ocean and Sintra Mountains. The area, Lisbon Golf Coast, won the IAGTO Award in 2007 - Best Established Golfing Destination Europe.

Paço do Lumiar 

Designed by an American architect, Gary Grandstaff, Paço do Lumiar is a 9 holes Golf Course designed as a challenge for the better player while remaining great fun for all the family. Huge U.S.G.A. tees allowing for constant repair on our 7 par three and 2 par four. Greens designed for any top-rated golf course, and all of this right in the middle of Lisbon!

Aroeira

At only 30 minutes’ drive from the Lisbon center, located on the other margin of the Tagus River, with an extremely mild climate, allowing to play golf along all the year, is Aroeira Country Club with 2 fields with 18 holes which is considered by experts, as one of the best Golf Complexes of Europe. Aroeira "I" was designed by Frank Pennick one of the most well-known and famous Golf fields architects, who achieved here a real masterpiece, to reach, in an exemplary way the requisites of a championship golf with the spontaneous and savage nature harmony which shelters and surrounds it.
This is just a small hint of what Lisbon has to offer.

Travellers’ Choice 2019

TripAdvisor’s Travellers’ Choice Awards 2019 were just disclosed and the Hotel Avenida Palace has been elected in 4 different categories.

The Travellers' Choice Awards are the highest honor given by TripAdvisor, based on reviews and opinions from millions of travelers.

This is a recognition that occurs for the 6th time and places the Hotel Avenida Palace among the top 1% hotels around the world that, according to the travellers’ opinion, are truly exceptional.

These are the rankings for the Hotel Avenida Palace:

6th - Top 25 Hotels - Portugal
10th - Top 25 Hotels for Romance – Portugal
10th - Top 25 Luxury Hotels – Portugal
7th - Top 25 for Service – Portugal

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all our Dear Guests who took the time to share their experience at the Hotel Avenida Palace.

Here's the complete list of Travellers' Choice Winners.

World Travel Awards

Lisbon was elected Europe’s Leading City Destination by World Travel Awards.

Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the World Travel Awards 2018 was held, for the first time, in Lisbon and reinforced the city as Europe’s major destination.

Besides been considered Europe’s Leading City Destination, Lisbon was also awarded World's Leading City Break.

Amongst hotels and institutions, Portugal received a total of 15 awards including the most desirable one, World’s Leading Destination, for the second year in a row.

New App to visit Lisbon

Want to know Lisbon and have fun at the same time? Download the app Detective Trail.

Launched by MyCityHighlight, a Swiss company focused on tourism and leisure, Detective Trail is a mobile application with a pedestrian route and a treasure hunting game that allows tourists and locals to get to know the city while they have fun playing a series of jigsaw puzzles.

After passing through several cities with great success the App is now in Lisbon presenting the users with problems and mysteries and puzzles, which once solved will grant them access to the route and the code that will take them to the final destination and the desire treasure.

The App covers many of Lisbon’s most important sites such as Bairro Alto, Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara, Aqueduto das Águas Livres, Casa Fernando Pessoa, among others, making the user interact with the many mysteries to solve.

In Portuguese, English and German, Detective Trail Lisboa is available for download in digital format for iOS and for Android, and in print on the brand's website.

Moda Lisboa

From October 11th to the 14th, the Pavilhão Carlos Lopes hosts the 51st edition of ModaLisboa.

This Thursday sees the beginning of a new era of ModaLisboa as Lisbon and Porto associations will partner for the first time.

The 51st edition of ModaLisboa is once more divided between sites set in Parque Eduardo VII, with one exception: the Nuno Gama fashion show, on Saturday, will take place at the National Museum of Ancient Art.

Find out more in the program below

World Smile Day

Today we celebrate the World Smile Day!

Created in 1999, the World Smile Day is celebrated every year on the first Friday of October.

Harvey Ball was the creator of the smiley, a yellow smiling circle, internationally known. 

Happy Smile Day

World’s Best Aquarium

In the year it celebrates its 20th anniversary, the Oceanário de Lisboa was elected for the 3rd time, World’s Best Aquarium by TripAdvisor’s Travelers’ Choice 2018.

With more than 33.000 reviews, the Oceanário de Lisboa had a global rating of 4,5 out of 5 and was considered excellent by 64% of the reviewers.

Built for the EXPO´98, the Oceanário de Lisboa is a large public aquarium whose prestige is widely recognized, not only in Lisbon and Portugal but also across the world, and has etherealized the centuries-old bond between Lisbon and the ocean.

Its exceptional exhibitions and the architectural features of its buildings, full of symbolism, allows a unique, unforgettable experience. The Oceanário consists of two buildings connected by a large forecourt: the original Oceans Building and the new Sea Building. The forecourt, from which the exhibitions and the educational area can be accessed, boasts a magnificent panel featuring 55 thousand tiles.

Since its opening, the Oceanário de Lisboa has welcomed over 23 million visitors from 185 different countries. After 2015 and 2017 this is the 3rd time the Oceanário is considered the World’s Best Aquarium.

36 hours in Lisbon by The New York Times

A recent article by Ingrid K William on the New York Times made some suggestions on how to enjoy Lisbon on a weekend.

Among the many ideas, the writer highlights the cuisine, the culture, and the nightlife.~

The journey starts by Graça District, where it is recommended to visit the Graça Convent, the chapel and the Baroque Clothier ( just reopened after renovations) and of course the Belvedere with its beautiful view.

The afternoon proceeds with a visit to the Casa Fernando Pessoa, museum and cultural center in Campo de Ourique that allows, through an interactive exhibition, to involve the visitors in the poet’s writing.

Dinner takes place close by in Peixaria da Esquina, with a feast of seafood. Then the writer hits Lisbon’s nightlife, which she considered having gain “new highs” due to the rooftops available.
Topo Chiado is the chosen one for a cocktail in the outdoor lounge.

Saturday starts with a “sugar rush” in the famous Pastelaria Alcôa and the Pastel de Nata is the elected one, the rest of the morning is spent shopping, especially cork made products.
Lunch is on chef Kiko Martins restaurant, A Cevicheria and the afternoon is dedicated to Belém and its monuments, Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, Torre de Belém and the Museu de Arte, Arquitectura e Tecnologia, praising the museum’s futuristic façade.

The writer then returns to the city center for dinner at the Taberna da Rua das Flores in Chiado, located in an old grocery store with the ambiance of a true antique tavern. The night continues to Principe Real and a visit to the cozy Pub Lisboeta and Gin Lovers, located in a 19th century Palace and where you can choose from over 50 brands of gin.

Sunday begins with coffee and like in Italy, Lisbon’s coffee is a delicious espresso.
To finish the weekend the writer suggests a visit to one of the many kiosks one may find in several gardens and belvederes. With an attractive architecture, these are great options to enjoy some of Lisbon’s specials, such as Ginginha.

Tram 24

Deactivated in 1995 the Tram 24 recently returned to the streets of Lisbon in a route between Campolide and Camões Square.

On April 24th, Carris relaunched the Tram 24, in a route that connects Lisbon’s downtown with the Amoreiras/Campolide district.

Photo DN

The Tram 24 started working in 1905 and at the time it connected the Rossio Square and Campolide. In 1995 the route was suspended due to constructions in the city and has been stopped since then.

In 2015, an online petition was created in order to revive a route that connected the waterfront and the “7th hill”.

Finally, in 2011, the City’s Council approved the reactivation which had its debut on April 24th, 2018.
Climbing Rua Alecrim and Rua da Misericórdia until Igreja S. Roque, then through S. Pedro de Alcântara garden and Principe Real, along Rua da Escola Politécnica until Rato and Amoreiras, the Tram 24 is the perfect way to visit the 7th hill.

Travelers look for new experiences

Innovation is always trendy in the tourism world and the standard city tour is no longer enough for the tourist who eagers for new experiences. 

TripAdvisor released a report about travel trends in 2018 on the segment Experiences, Tours, and Activities. This information was based on the reservations made in 2017 and it shows that although tourists are still interested in monuments and important sights, they are looking for local alternative experiences.

The interest in new experiences such as cultural, gastronomic tours, cooking lessons and historic and patrimonial experiences had an incredible growth, showing that travelers are expanding horizons.

Travelers are looking more and more for authenticity and they search for local culture, balancing their itineraries, mixing traditional tours with local experiences. It is clear that travelers will still visit Belém Tower, but they will reserve some time for a gastronomic tour through Alfama.

As it is normal when demand increases the offer follows and so, last year guides and tourism operators created more than 30 thousand new experiences worldwide.

One of the most annoying situations when traveling to a popular destination is the immense queues and that is why the product “skip-the-line” was the most popular in 2017.

As the name implies, this is a product that allows you to access, without queues, to some of the world’s most visit sights, making you save precious time, and improving the experience tremendously.

Best European Leisure Destination

In the 6th edition of the “Leisure Lifestyle Awards” by the magazine “Global Traveler”, Lisbon beats Rome, Paris, Prague, and Venice.

Global Traveler is a business luxury leisure magazine published in Los Angeles and has 300 thousand readers that travel internationally on a regular basis.

Lisbon was elected due to its diversity and to the quality of the touristic offer, according to Paula Oliveira, Executive Director of Portugal Tourism Bureau, who states to Jornal Económico that ”this award values the work that has been developed in the endorsement and viability of major events, but also in the creation and management of projects or equipment of touristic interest that improve the experience of the tourist and of the people who live and work in Lisbon”.

Cruise passengers choose Lisbon

A couple of months after the opening of the new cruise terminal, the news couldn’t be better, for cruise passengers who love Lisbon.

In an inquiry made by Lisbon Tourism Office, Lisbon was recommended by 100% of the cruise passengers who visited us during 2017, and 97% will most likely return.

Another relevant number is that 89% of passengers who already visited Lisbon reinforce the city as a major destination.

Within the city, passengers have elected Belém, Bairro Alto, Cais Sodré and Baixa-Chiado as their favorite spots, tourist bus and the underground as the preferred transportation system and in a scale of 1 to 10, Lisbon scored 9 in terms of monuments, churches, museums, weather, cleanness, and safety.

Lisbon is the place to visit in 2018

Another year has begun and Lisbon is still on everyone’s mind.

CNN Travel elected Lisbon as one of the 18 places to visit in 2018. In the list “18 best place to visit in 2018”, Lisbon is presented as a city that “offers Mediterranean skies, Atlantic surf and hilly, cobbled streets with panoramic views of red roofs and houses in shades of yellow, pink and blue.

CNN states that Lisbon’s isn’t a secret anymore highlighting our gastronomy, especially the 28 Michelin stars, 6 of them in Lisbon and the Eurovision Music Festival, taking place in May.

The article also mentions that it is not only the Europeans that will visit Lisbon, the new Delta Airline daily flight from Atlanta, will certainly bring a lot of Americans to a city that has grown as a European tech hub.

Find here the complete CNN's list.

2017’s most visited Monuments, Palaces and Museums

The Direcção Geral de Património (DGCP) presented 2017’s results concerning visits to the Portuguese Monuments, Palaces and Museums.

As expected, and somewhat reflecting the continuous growth of tourists visiting Portugal, the number of visits to the Portuguese most important sites has increased in 8,9% when comparing to 2016.

If you look to the top 6, the Castelo de São Jorge is by far Portugal’s most visited monument, with
1.970.858 visitors, followed by Mosteiro dos Jerónimos  with 1.166.7933, then the Torre de Belém with 575.875, Mosteiro da Batalha with 492.093, the Palácio Nacional de Mafra with 377.961 and finally the Convento de Cristo in Tomar with 354.763 visitors.

In regards to museums, MAAT – Museu de Arte, Arquitetura e Tecnologia surpassed its numbers reaching 375.000 visitors, followed closely by Museu Nacional dos Coches with 350.254, the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga in third and in fourth place the Museu Nacional do Azulejo.

Sintra also has its place in this list, Parques de Sintra and Monte da Lua shared the numbers of 2017 and Sintra’s palaces, monuments and parks welcomed 3.19328 visitors, with Palacio da Pena as the most visited one.

Lisbon, the Europeans Favorite Destination

A recent analyses made by the flight and hotel search engine Jetcost show Lisbon as the most search cities by Europeans.  

Portugal is in the Top 10 of the European countries most searched by tourists from all over Europe, especially by French, British, and Spanish,

The analysis made of the searches on Jetcost’s website and so obtaining a more reliable data, since they are real surveys and not interviews, indicates that Lisbon has been the most required city by Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch and Russian customers, and ranked second in the preferences of British tourists.

In regards to the rest of the country, Faro, the gateway to the Algarve, is the favorite city for British tourists, chosen second by the Dutch, occupying the third position for the French, Germans, Italians and Russians and fourth for the Spanish.

Porto who is been increasing is popularity is the second most requested by the Spanish, French, German, Italian and Russian, the third by the Dutch and the fourth by the British.

World’s Best Aquarium

For the 2nd time the Oceanário was elected by TripAdvisor’s Travelers Choice the world’s Best Aquarium.

This famous travel portal presented the Top 10 Aquariums in 2017, and after an analysis on the quality of the service and visitors reviews, the Ocenário got 1st place.

Photo Ocenário

The Oceanário de Lisboa is a public aquarium whose prestige is widely recognized, not only in Lisbon and Portugal but also across the world. Its exceptional exhibitions and the architectural features of its buildings, full of symbolism, allow a unique and unforgettable experience.

The Oceanário consists of two buildings connected by a large forecourt: the original Oceans Building and the new Sea Building. The forecourt, from which the exhibitions and the educational area can be accessed, boasts a magnificent panel featuring 55 thousand tiles.

Last year the Oceanário received visitors from 180 countries that shared more than 29.000 reviews, most of them classified as Excellent.

With more than 20 million visitors since its opening in 1998, the Ocenário is one of Portugal’s most important touristic attractions.

5 reasons to visit Portugal

Portugal is probably one of the most sought destinations across Europe at the moment. The reasons vary and here are a couple more. 

The debate has started: Will mass tourism ruin our country? Are we growing too fast? Will the infrastructures hold? Will cities like Lisbon loose its uniqueness and its identity?

Well, these are all good questions worth a long debate but, as for now, Portugal is probably one of the best destinations in Europe and it keeps flourishing every day, with new restaurants, new stores, new hotels, new attractions and it will not stop.

Although we have more than 900 years of history, it looks like Portugal was just found and, unfortunately, many people think this is not a good thing, because they are afraid it will spoil it.

Not at all our opinion, tourism is the engine that drives our economy and we, as Portuguese, should embrace tourism and make every visit to our beautiful country an unforgettable one.

Every day there are new reasons to visit Portugal, you have all heard about Portuguese cuisine, our sun, our history, our neighborhoods and our hospitality.

Today will give you 5 more reasons.

1. Portugal is a developed country in terms of digital technology and communications, taking 6th place among 61 economies. 
2.  According to the Globe Peace Index 2017, Portugal is Europe’s most peaceful country and 3rd in the all world.
3. Over 60% of all Portuguese speak a foreign language.
4. In a report made by the World Health Organization, Portugal comes in 12th among 191 countries.
5. We have one of the world’s best internet coverage. According to the World Economic Forum report about global competitiveness, Portugal ranks 13th place, in a list of 138 countries.

We almost forgot one of the most important reasons, the Hotel Avenida Palace. See you soon!

Lisbon’s Museums and Monuments

Tourists’ interest in Portuguese culture exploded in 2016, and 2017 promises to be even better.~


When walking the streets of Lisbon, one can easily see the increasing number of tourists visiting the city. The lines to access major sights, monuments and museums, especially over the weekends, are the major obstacle for those who don’t have a great amount of time to visit the city.

The numbers now available, clearly demonstrate that the growth is real, in the 1st trimester of 2017 visits to Lisbon’s monuments, palaces and museums increased 14% and the Castelo the São Jorge is the most visited one.

Regarding the museums the increase was 10%, and here is where we can easily see the tourists’ influence, in 2011 only 38% of visitors to the museum were tourists, which in 2016 raised to a little over 50%.

For instance, the event “Night at the Museums” welcomed in 2015 10,833 foreigner visitors, in 2016 that number reached the 45,611 mark.

In terms of the most visited museums, Museu Coleccção Berardo ranks first, but this is most certainly influenced by its free access. Ranked in second is the Fundação Gulbenkian, in third the Museu dos Coches followed by the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga and the Museu do Azulejo.

Strangely enough, the most visited exhibition is from one of the most visited museums, the exhibition of Joana Vasconcelos in Palácio da Ajuda, followed by “O meu corpo é o teu corpo” at the Museu Colecção Berardo and “José de Almada Negreiros: Uma maneira de ser moderno” at the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian.

The study presents other curious facts, for instance, that English tourists prefer monuments, the French museums, and the Spanish palaces. The study also demonstrates that the visitors to the museums are young, mostly women and educated.

Source: Expresso

Top 5 – 2017’s most visited Museums

The Directorate General for Cultural Heritage just released the information regarding the most visited museums during the 1st trimester of 2017.

According to several publications, Lisbon is one of the cities to visit in 2017, and among the features mentioned by all of them are Lisbon’s cultural and historical richness.

The Directorate General for Cultural Heritage, the organism in charge of museums and monuments, released the number of visitors all through the 1st trimester. As expected, the Museu Nacional dos Coches, just reopened, was the most visited museum of the 1st trimester, with an increase of 1,4%,  followed by Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, but the big surprises come from the Museu Nacional de
Arqueologia and the Museu Nacional dos Azulejos both presenting good results, with increases around 20%, as seen below on the top 5.

1. Museu Nacional dos Coches - 70.227 visitors
2. Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga - 47.089 visitors
3. Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea Chiado - 46.973 visitors
4. Museu Nacional de Arqueologia - 38.301 visitors
5. Museu Nacional do Azulejo - 33.568 visitors

Reopening of the National Coach Museum

The National Coach Museum reopens this Saturday with a new museum project.

On May 20th, the National Coach Museum, one of the most visited museums in the country, opens at 10 am and will remain open until midnight. Displaying a unique collection of the world of gala coaches and carriages from the 17th to the 19th century, mostly from the crown estate or private property of the Portuguese Royal House.

Among the pieces is the "Coche dos Oceanos", one of the coaches of the embassy sent to Pope Clement XI in 1716 by Portuguese King João V.

The reopening on this exact date is not a coincidence. On May 20th  it is celebrated the European Night of Museums, created by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication, which will fill the Portuguese museums with special activities throughout the night.