20 best viewpoints in Lisbon – part 1

Lisbon is known as the city of the seven hills. This can be a bit annoying when you want to go anywhere and have to climb a million stairs to get to your destination. However, this also means that, throughout the city, you can find many viewpoints with unbelievable views.

In this blog post, I will show you some of the most beautiful ones and explain to you how to get to each one of them so that you won’t lose any of the breathtaking views of the city while you are there. Below you can find 10 of the 20 best viewpoints in Lisbon. Here you can find the 2nd part of this list.

*Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, if you click through to make a purchase, I earn a small commission – at no extra cost to you!*

Torel Garden

We start with a not too well-known garden, hidden in one of the hills of Lisbon, quite near to Avenida da Liberdade (freedom avenue) to which you will have some nice views. This garden was created in the 18th century and was open to the public in the 60s. It used to have a couple of individual seats that were quite cool, however, last time I went there these seats were gone, so now you may wish to have a picnic instead of a seat and observe the views.

You can get here either from the Rua das Pretas where you will find some stairs (coordinates 38°43’10.5″N 9°08’32.5″W just for you to be sure that you found them). A probably easier way to get there is to use the Ascensor do Lavra (or if you prefer, climb the stair of calçada do Lavra). The garden is located a couple of meters on the left.

View from Torel park in 2018, nowadays the benches are gone. — View from Torel park in 2018, nowadays the benches that were one of my favourite features of the park are gone but you can sit on the grass and appreciate the beautiful landscape in the secret viewpoint in the centre of Lisbon.

Near Torel garden, you can find Campo dos Mártires da Pátria, a beautiful garden where you can interact with ducks, roosters, geese and sometimes even turtles. Between the two gardens, you will also find a beautiful building that is part of the NOVA medical school. So if you decide to go to this garden, you should consider also wandering a bit in the surrounding streets and seeing a couple of impressive buildings.

This is the beautiful NOVA Medical School located in Campo Mártires da Pátria just a few meters from Torel Garden Viewpoint.

Portas do Sol

This is probably one of the most well-known viewpoints of Lisbon and is famous for its stunning sunrises. The name of this viewpoint can be translated as “Gates of the Sun” and for a good reason since from here, you can have a beautiful and unobstructed view of the sunrise.

Photo with the sunlight hiting the river Tagus and the top of the new Lisbon port at sunrise — In this photo the sunlight hits the river and the top of the new Lisbon port, where sometimes you can also see big cruises.

This viewpoint is located in Alfama in the Largo Portas do Sol and in there you can also see the famous 28 Tram passing by. In this viewpoint, you can get a beautiful view of the Tagus river and also Alfama hill.

To get here, you can, for example, take the 28 Tram, or you can walk from Baixa Rua Limoeiro until you get to the Largo Portas do Sol.

This way you will also find yourself in front of the beautiful Sé de Lisboa. This beautiful cathedral was built in the 12th-century and has survived the 1755 earthquake and tsunami (suffering some interventions through the time).

Tram 28 passing in from of the 13th-century Cathedral in Lisbon. — On your way to Portas do Sol and Santa Luzia viewpoints, you can walk in front of the amazing 13th-century Cathedral of Lisbon.

Santa Luzia

Quite close to the previous viewpoint, you can find the viewpoint of Santa Luzia. This one is probably my favourite viewpoint of the city (however I am not the only one that feels this way and it is quite touristy, so you may want to get up early and even enjoy the sunrise almost alone, but probably not completely alone…).

This viewpoint is also in Alfama and is constituted by two platforms. The most well known and usually more packed is the higher one since probably it gives you the most beautiful view. However, the lower part is also pretty and with a similar view, so you may want to check if it has fewer people there.

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Santa Luzia landscape to Alfama at sunrise

Beautiful blue tiles in Santa Luzia viewpoint

Santa Luzia landscape to the Tagus River at sunrise

To get here, you can also follow the Rua Limoeiro until you get to Largo de Santa Luzia, a couple of meters below Largo Portas do Sol.

Between this viewpoint and Portas do Sol, you can also find another viewpoint that doesn’t really have an official name (as far as I know) where you can also see some people skating. This is not the best viewpoint and, since you have the Portas do Sol and Santa Luzia so close, it is definitely not your first choice in the region.

São Jorge Castle

Another viewpoint located relatively near the previous two is the entrance of Castelo de São Jorge. Honestly, the entire castle can be thought of as a beautiful viewpoint for the city. However, as soon as you get into the complex, you will see a big open space with some pine trees and ruins that will provide you with an amazing view of the Tagus river and Ponte 25 de Abril.

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São Jorge castle is one of the highest points in Lisbon’s landscape. As a result you can see many landmarks from this incredible viepoint.

From every turn of the castle, you can see a new part of the city from above, here you can see Martim Moniz.

The downside of this viewpoint is that is not free, like the rest, since it is inside the Castle complex. The price to enter the castle is 10€ for people older than 25 years. If you reside in Lisbon, you can also have a free ticket at the ticket shop in the castle.

To get there… are you ready for a bit of leg day? The easier way if you come from Baixa is to follow Rua de São Mamede until you get to Escadinhas de São Crispim. Then you keep following Rua Bartolomeu de Gusmão, which will get you close to Arco do Castelo.

When you walk around the castle you can find several other viewpoints to the city, through the windows, doors and holes.

To get to the castle you also can see some of Lisbon’s street art and cute coffees on some of the streets that lead you there.

A tip that I can give to you is that you can use the elevator at Pingo Doce Chão do Loureiro to avoid the Rua de São Mamede and the Escadinhas de São Crispim. This elevator will get you directly to Costa do Castelo Street and you can keep following it until Rua Bartolomeu de Gusmão (unrelated funny fact: Bartolomeu de Gusmão was a priest that wanted to fly and created a sort of plane called Passarola. He is also one of the main characters of the book Memorial do Convento, from the Portuguese Nobel winner writer José Saramago).

However, if you get lost at some point, try to follow streets that go up and you will probably find the castle eventually.

Santo Estêvão Belvedere

If you want to wander around the beautiful Alfama neighbour, you can find yourself in Miradouro Santo Estêvão Belvedere (which is technically not in Alfama anymore).

This is a less know viewpoint that will provide you with a lesser-known panoramic view from Lisbon. What I mean by this is that you won’t see many of the major attractions of the region, which can be identified very well in the other viewpoints. Nonetheless, it will give you a beautiful view of the Tagus river and the Museu do Fado.

Besides that, the surrounding area is quite beautiful, in particular, the Beco do Carneiro and Escadinhas Santo Estêvão may be one of the most beautiful places in the area.

In Escadinhas de Santo Estêvão you can see some beautiful Lisbon houses with pastel colours and tiles.

These stairs are located below the Santo Estêvão viewpoint and will get you to Rua dos Remédios

To get to this viewpoint you can take the tram 28 until Rua Escolas Gerais (close both to Miradouro portas do sol and Santo Estêvão Belvedere). You then follow this street until Rua do Vigiário and you will get to Largo de Santo Estêvão. You can also take the bus 759 that will get you close to the Museu do Fado and you’ll just have to follow Rua dos Remédios and Escadinhas de Santo Estêvão.

Unusual view from a off-the-beaten path viewpoint in Lisbon

Graça

The Graça (Grace) viewpoint is famous for its amazing view of the São Jorge Castle. This is probably the closest viewpoint to the castle and it has a beautiful framing of the castle and the city. to me, it feels somewhat cosier than the others. It is smaller and the entire view feels more closed as well.

To get to here, you just need to head to Largo da Graça using, for example, the Tram 28. Another option is, starting from Martim Moniz, climbing the Rua dos Cavaleiros and Travessa and Rua dos Lagares until you get to the beautiful Caracol da Graça. These are stairs and an amazing open-air gallery of street art that get you right by the viewpoint. You can learn more about this in my next post about street art in Lisbon.

Besides the street art, near this viewpoint, you can also explore the beautiful Largo da Graça and its stunning houses with colourful facades. Some of these facades are also made of tiles.

The Graça square, near Graça viewpoint, has some beautiful tiled houses, so typical from Lisbon.

Besides the street art, you can also peak the view at the bottom. Also in the future, you will also have a lift from below to the viewpoint if you don’t want to climb the stairs. As of 2022, this lift is still under construction.

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Senhora do Monte

Near the previous viewpoint, you can find the Senhora do Monte Viewpoint. This is a bigger viewpoint but it is also more packed with tourists from time to time. The view from here is also more open and you can have at least a 180º view of the city, the river and the south margin.

From Senhora do Monte viewpoint you can have a 180º view of the city and the river.

To get here you can take a bit of a shortcut from the middle of Caracol da Graça through Jardim da Cerca da Graça which may also work as a viewpoint. I’m not including it in this list since I’ve never been there because it was under construction. If this happens to you too you will have to get back to Largo da Graça and follow Rua Damasceno Monteiro until you see a street that goes up… a lot… that is the road that you want to follow until the viewpoint.

To get to Senhora do Monte viewpoint you will have to endure a quite steep street.

Before getting to the street that will get you to Senhora do Monte viewpoint you can see it from far so that you will mentally prepare for what is coming.

Miradouro dos Barros

Details of the view from Barros viewpoint, just below Senhora do Monte viewpoint (just before de steep street)

This viewpoint is somewhat a hidden gem. It is just below the Senhora do Monte one and is located in the Rua Damasceno Monteiro. You can sit there on a bench or at a public table and watch the landscape.

If you don’t want to bother to climb the Calçada do Monte street, this viewpoint is a great alternative.

Monte Agudo

This one is another one of the less well-known viewpoints, even though it has a quite nice view. It is, however, a bit further away from the city centre/the touristy parts of the city which may explain the less amount of people that visit it.

The quickest way to get to the viewpoint is to walk the streets of Angola, Moçambique (slightly) and, in Rua Ilha do Príncipe, follow the stairs (you almost did a trip through Africa in here).

A bit further away from the river, you will find the Monte Agudo viewpoint.

This is a less central and less well-known viewpoint and can be found in the Sapadores Region.

Penha de França

Lastly for now, you can find the Penha de França viewpoint. This is quite a nice viewpoint because depending on the side of it where you are, you can see both Ponte Vasco da Gama and Ponto 25 de Abril, making it an almost 360º viewpoint.

Plane between the Instituto Superior Técnicno college in Alameda.

Here you can also find an old water reservoir where sometimes artworks can be seen on the wall.
To get here, you can take the bus 797 from Praça do Chile (Arroios metro) to Rua Cesário Verde. Or you can also walk Rua morais Soares, Calçada Poço dos Mouros and Rua Marques da Silva until you get there. Walking until there is also a bit of a leg workout but, probably is not the worst of the ones that I mentioned in this list. You can also get there from Avenida Almirante Reis, following Rua Marques da Silva but this one is also very steep…

Sunrise photo from Arroios to Penha de França viewpoint.

Water resevoir in Penha de França viewpoint.

Don’t forget to check the next post for the rest 10 amazing viewpoints in Lisbon!

Have you ever been to any of these viewpoints? How was your experience? Do you have suggestions for first-time travellers to any of these? Leave them in the comments, people would love to read your suggestions!

In case you are wondering, all these pictures were taking with the following equipment: