It’s a 2-hour drive north to Évora, the majestic capital of the Alentejo, a UNESCO World Heritage city. Take the slow road, winding your way through picturesque villages like Serpa, Moura, and Monsaraz, which occupies a spectacular location overlooking the Alqueva reservoir, Western Europe’s largest man-made lake.
Arriving in Évora in the late afternoon, spend your time moseying around its white-painted heart, admiring the medieval fortifications and 16th-century aqueduct before preparing to feast on Alentejo food in one of the city’s excellent restaurants.
Next day, start out in the main square, the Praça do Giraldo, once a scene of executions and the horrors of the Inquisition, now an elegant focal point for city life and serious coffee drinking. Spend the rest of the morning visiting the 12th-century cathedral—being sure to admire the views from the roof—and the Temple of Diana, whose columns form one of the best-preserved Roman ruins in the Iberian Peninsula.
In the afternoon, visit the Igreja de São Francisco, which, besides being an impressive example of Portugal’s “maritime discoveries–inspired” Manueline architecture, is best known for a chapel with walls made from human skulls and other bones.
Day 14: Elvas
For the final day, visit two very different frontier fortress towns. First Elvas, whose defenses, built during Portugal’s war of independence from Spain in the 1640s, are the biggest of their type in the world. A giant complex of overlapping walls and ditches encircles the ancient city on the old road leading to Lisbon from Madrid. It’s also a World Heritage Site.
Just over an hour to the north, Marvão perches on a spur of rock surging 860 meters (2,800 ft.) above the plain. It was fought over since ancient times due to its commanding position over the lands below. Inside its stone walls, the town of red-tiled, white-walled houses seems to grow out of the rocks. There’s a peaceful atmosphere now, but it’s easy to imagine as a battlefield between Celts and Romans, Christians and Moors, and Spanish invaders versus the British redcoats helping defend Portugal in the 1760s.
Lisbon with Kids
A week In Lisbon with Kids
Day 1
Lisbon is pretty much unique among European capitals in having summer-
long sunshine, plus suburbs featuring broad sandy beaches and regular Atlantic rollers ideal for surfing. So rather than drag the kids around museums, get them enrolled in one of the city’s many surf schools. That way they spend the mornings having fun in the waves, you get to do cultural stuff undisturbed by the complaints of bored juniors, and you can all spend some quality time together in the afternoons.
Carcavelos Beach, just a 20-minute train ride from downtown, is ideal for beginners, but there are beaches within a short drive from Lisbon to suit all standards.
In the afternoon, it’s time to discover what lies beneath the waves. The Oceanário (p. 113) is a delight for all ages, but children will marvel at its range of sea life. The aquarium also organizes special events such as concerts for young children, or sleepovers where kids (and parents) can spend the night next to the shark tank. You’ll need at least a couple of hours to explore the Oceanário.
Day 2
After the morning at surf school, spend the afternoon on dry land. Take the kids to Castelo de São Jorge (St. George’s Castle; p. 98) so they can admire the view, roam the ramparts, and imagine the days of the Romans, Moors, and Crusaders who lived and battled there. Then head down the castle hill and up the next slope to the Graça neighborhood to catch Tram 28 (p. 105), the most iconic line of Lisbon’s vintage yellow streetcars (eléctricos). It will likely be crowded with tourists, but the eléctrico remains a fun way to see the city as it rattles down the narrow lanes of the Alfama neighborhood, scoots through Baixa’s streets, passes the posh shops of Chiado, and finally ends at the Cemitério dos Prazeres, Lisbon’s largest cemetery. Few tourists venture here, but the 19th-century necropolis, with its massive family tombs, makes for an intriguingly spooky visit. Don’t miss the pyramid built by Dom Pedro de Sousa Holstein, Duke de Palmela, believed to be Europe’s biggest private mausoleum.
Day 3
In the afternoon head for the zoo. The Jardim Zoológico de Lisboa (p. 117) has been around for 132 years and contains over 2,000 animals from 300 different species. At least one you’re unlikely to see anywhere else—the Iberian lynx—is the world’s rarest cat, struggling to survive with the help of a conservation program in the wild lands of southern Spain and southeastern Portugal. The zoo is a much-loved attraction for Portuguese schoolchildren who come to see the rare red pandas or the “enchanted woods,” where exotic birds fly in the open air.
Day 4
Take the train out to Sintra (p. 157). High up in the hills to the west of Lisbon, this was the summer retreat for the royal family and their aristocratic entourage. Among the thickly forested hills are fairytale palaces and secret gardens to explore. Make like 18th-century nobles and hire a horse-drawn carriage to take you through the forests to the gates of the phantasmagorical Palácio da Pena (p. 162).
Day 5
Sport Lisboa e Benfica, better known simply as Benfica, is one of the world’s great soccer clubs, twice European champions. In fact, it’s believed to be the world’s biggest club in terms of membership, with almost 160,000 paid-up fans. Catching a home game can be a tremendous experience, especially if they are playing against cross-town rivals Sporting or northern upstarts FC Porto. If you can’t get to a match, you can still tour the Estádio da Luz stadium and visit its state-of-the-art museum dedicated to the club’s 112-year history, in which its greatest player, Eusébio (1942–2014), plays a starring role.
Next door to the stadium is one of Europe’s largest shopping malls, the Centro Colombo, offering 119,725 square meters (1.3 million sq. ft.) of retail therapy. There are 340 stores, 60 restaurants, nine movie screens, and a bowling alley. It’s all vaguely themed around the Portuguese Era of Discoveries.
Day 6
Lisbon’s coach museum, the Museu Nacional dos Coches (p. 111), has one of the world’s greatest collections of historical carriages. It is Portugal’s most visited museum and contains Cinderella-style carriages dating back to the 16th century. The oldest was used to bring King Filipe II from Madrid to Lisbon during the Spanish occupation, and the most exuberant is a gold-covered vehicle given as a gift to the Pope from a Portuguese king in 1715. It’s housed in a new building that opened in 2015 in Lisbon’s riverside Belém district.
Nearby in the Picadeiro Henrique Calado you can watch some 18th-century-style horsemanship. This arena is where the Portuguese School of Equestrian Arts holds its daily training and weekly performances, with horses and riders clad in period costumes to conjure up the
