Lisbon Attractions

Compiling a list of things to do in Lisbon challenges even the most fertile of imaginations. The Portuguese capital is blessed with a rich historical legacy, but is equally celebrated for its enthusiastic promotion of the fashionable and contemporary. The following top 10 attractions we feel reflect an itinerary of extraordinary diversity and highlights the very best the city has to offer.

Lisbon is home to Portugal's most popular visitor attraction, the Oceanário de Lisboa, in Parque das Nações. This is one of Europe's largest aquariums and is filled to the gills with an astonishing range of sea life. We are particularly fond of the sleek sharks and graceful rays that patrol the central tank. And look out for the colossal sun fish, the largest bony fish on the planet! Elsewhere, the cuddly sea otters are the family favourites. The oceanarium is easily our top pick but a close second is the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, in Belém. A 16th-century monastery of great cultural significance forever associated with Portugal's golden Age of Discovery, it's a masterpiece of Manueline stonework, an architectural style unique to this country. Its beauty alone is worthy of its UNESCO World Heritage Site status. For a novel journey across downtown Lisbon hop aboard Tram 28, the wonderfully quirky streetcar that trundles through some of the city's most attractive neighbourhoods. Along the way it passes several grand and noble monuments, including the Sé (cathedral).

One of the city's newest museums is the Museu do Oriente. Themed around Portugal's presence in Asia, a time span that encompasses 500 years, the dazzling collection numbers rare Chinese and Japanese porcelain and unusual artefacts unearthed in the Middle East and sub-continent.

And where to go for that picture-postcard moment? It has to be Castelo de São Jorge. The edifying views across the city and the shimmering River Tagus are simply unbeatable and the perfect way to glean an overall impression of this most endearing of European capital cities.

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