Chiado

Chiado is Lisbon in its Sunday best. Grand nineteenth-century facades, old bookshops, theatres, and cafés where poets and politicians once argued over coffee. It sits between the lively lower town and the hilltop streets of Bairro Alto, so it makes a perfect base for seeing how the city changes character from one street to the next.

On this tour we weave through the elegant streets of Chiado and its neighbours, looking up at the buildings and learning who lived and worked behind them. Expect stories about the fire that reshaped the district, the ruins of the Carmo Convent that were left open to the sky, and the Santa Justa lift that carries people between the levels of the city. Along the way we stop at viewpoints over the rooftops of the Baixa and the river beyond.

Two lengths

The 2-hour ride is the heart of the area: the main squares, the famous streets and the best viewpoints, at a relaxed pace. The 3-hour ride takes in more of the surrounding streets and gives you longer to wander on foot at the places you like, with your driver waiting. Both can be shaped around what you love most, whether that is architecture, food, literature or just good views.