Lisbon is Portugal's bustling and busy capital city, located just about in the middle of the country on the mouth of the Tagus River. With the iconic orange roofs spread across the city and the many, many hills that characterize the place, there are plenty of great viewpoints to be found.
After spending a month based in Porto in the north, I island-hopped in the Azores and Madeira before settling into exploring and working from Lisbon for the month of November. A month I associate with rain, grey and cold was delightfully spent in Lisbon where the sunshine lingers on and the temperature stays pleasantly above 20 degrees.
Here are some of the best viewpoints in the whole city where you can really grasp the vastness of it all from above:
Miradouro da Graça
Often with live music to be found, this is one of the higher up viewpoints in the city where you can see really well the iconic Ponte 25 de Abril which looks incredibly similar to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco!
Miradouro das Portas do Sol
This viewpoint is further down in the city, so gives a closer up view of the famous orange/red roofs that are so symbolic of this city.
Miradouro do Castelo de São Jorge
From the massive St. George's castle, built in the 11th century, that stands tall in the heart of the city high on a hill, you can get this incredible view over the whole city.
Miradouro de Santa Catarina
This one is the best spot in the city for sunset as it goes down right behind the famous bridge. There's a bar here with a sunset terrace too, but the gardens are the perfect free spot and often crowded with people eager to catch a glimpse of the view.
Miradouro de Santa Amaro
Quite a ways out of the city, but right near to the AirBnB where I was staying is this totally inconspcious view point that offers one of the best views of the bridge - you would almost think you were in San Francisco from this close!
Cais das Colunas
Situated directly on the river across from the famous Arco da Rua Augusta, this is one of the best sunset viewing spots in the city as it descends behind the stunning Ponte 25 de Abril bridge and the iconic Santuário de Cristo Rei in the distance.
Tejo Promenade
You can actually pick up this pathway from Cais das Colunas and walk for an hour and a half or so all the way out to Torre de Belém, but the nicest part starts just under the Ponte 25 de Abril (bridge) and meanders along the waterfront, with prime sunset viewing. There's restaurants along the waterfront and it's a popular place to walk, run and bike.
View from the ferry from Cais do Sodré
It's not technically a viewpoint, but you can get some of the best views of the bridge and looking back towards Lisbon as you ride the little ferry from Cais do Sodré south across the river. The ferry is on the same payment system as the rest of Lisbon transport (buses, metro, tram) so you can just tap your Viva Viagem card to board.
Santuário de Cristo Rei
I've saved the best for last because hands down the best view in all of Lisbon is from the statue of Christ the King on the opposite side of the river. Take a ferry from Cais do Sodré and hop on a bus to the most wonderful panorama all over the city and with the bridge perfectly framed in the shot. Highly recommend at sunset - but sadly only in the winter months when the sun sets before 7:00pm as that's when it closes. If you come for sunset in the summer months, you can walk around to the left down the road and get somewhat of a view back toward the city from Quinta da Arealva.
Lucky enough to catch a rainbow at sunset
The way down to Quinta da Arealva
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Hi! I’m Jana, a Dutch-German-British-Canadian with a dream of seeing every country in the world. I am a storyteller, photographer and adventurer passionate about documenting and sharing my travels.
