Lisbon – part. 2: famous streetcars, elevators, viewpoints….

Lisbon’s symbol? The famous yellow streetcars – shiny, well-maintained, empty. Too bad that only on postcards ;) Today about them, but not only. Do you know where the prettiest viewpoint is? Where is the largest train station in Portugal located? In this post, we answer these questions.

In the first part of our Lisbon coverage, we described Lisbon’s two most popular neighborhoods , Baixa and Alfama. We’ve taken you on a walk through the bustling, tight-knit streets to the most important places in downtown Lisbon. Today, we’re moving a bit away from the center and finally squeezing into streetcar number 28:)

A ride on the famous streetcar No. 28

On the second day, we decided to see how Lisbon’s place transportation works, and in every possible way. We rode the subway, the old and popular No. 28 streetcar, the modern streetcar and the famous hill-climbing streetcars (also called elevators, or Elevador‘ami in Portuguese).

After previous experiences and watching people squeeze into the streetcar, we decided to start first thing in the morning, hoping to get ahead of the biggest wave of tourists. We took the subway to the streetcar stop. We bought an all-day ticket for 6 EUR (it is valid for 24 hours and, importantly, it is not possible to buy a new ticket on the same cardboard box, e.g. for further zons of the metro until the 24 hours are over – then you have to buy a new, clean cardboard box, and, as you guessed, there is an additional fee for the cardboard box). The ticket is valid on all modes of transportation of the carrier Carris.

We started our journey on streetcar number 28 at the Intendente metro station. Despite the early hour we could barely fit in, it’s a good thing that the Poles are seasoned in algae riding ;)

It also worked out well that we had seen most of the attractions passed by the 28 the day before. This allowed us to focus on other places, turn our heads in the opposite direction of others and see the charming, narrow streets. Streetcar shots are also included ;)

The streetcar route is scenic and is a bit like riding a double-decker bus in the first row, when you constantly have the feeling that the bus is about to fall short. The same is true of the streetcar, which travels through the narrow streets of Lisbon, almost rubbing up against parked cars.

Additional attractions are provided by the wagon itself, which is quite old and makes its own sounds too ;) As we mentioned, the 28 is a typical tourist route and passes, among others, the viewpoints of da Senhora and da Graca, Igreja de São Vicente de Fora, Panteão Nacional, Castelo de São Jorge and many others. It is also one of the favorite places of pickpockets, so we advise you to be careful.

We ended the ride at Praça do Comércio, where we were surprised to see a crowd at the stop, surprisingly not for the No. 28 streetcar, but in the direction of Belem. This was not good news for us, because that’s where we planned to go the next day, so we were facing another morning, which would start very early, in order to fight for a place on the streetcar again ;) Just a reminder that we were not in season, until I dread to think what happens here in the so-called “high season”. HIGH SEASON.

While in the square, we took the opportunity to take some shots again, including of the bridge, which may resemble the one in San Francisco. This is the April 25 bridge (Ponte 25 de Abril).

We decided to ourselves that today would be a day for streetcars, so we set off toward Cais do Sodré, from where we began the hunt for more yellow steeds. However, before we sped off, we looked for some place to eat, and here we were very disappointed. Unfortunately, at our dinner time in Portugal, everything is closed, and most restaurants open at 7 pm. We threw some cookies on the grill and continued on our way.

Lisbon viewpoint

We generally walked toward the viewpoint and the Igreja de São Roque temple on it. Along the way we passed, among others. Praça Luís de Camões and Igreja do Loreto.

When it comes to St. Peter’s Church. Rocha (Igreja de São Roque), this church, inconspicuous from the outside, hides chapels with beautiful decorations inside. It’s worth a look inside, and not just because of the famous Chapel of St. John the Baptist. Anyway, see for yourself:

A piece behind the church is an elevator, but before descending it we went towards the viewpoint: Miradouro de Sao Pedro de Alcantara. This large terrace is a fantastic place for several reasons.

First of all – the view! The prettiest one we’ve seen. You can see the Baixa and Alfama neighborhoods from here, with the castle at the top (or rather, at the top).

Secondly – it is very nicely arranged: there are benches, trees, you can rest peacefully, escape from the Portuguese sun and eat something.

That’s it third – there are quite a few stalls here where you can buy something hot or sweet to eat, order coffee or refreshing lemonade.

In addition, there is a fountain here, and if one would insist on the sun, however, one can go down to the lower terrace, which is completely exposed. We really had a very pleasant time here.

Anyway, take a look at our panorama for yourself:

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The view from the Miradouro de Sao Pedro de Alcantara is completely opposite to that from the Castle of St. Peter. We also mentioned St. George’s, which we wrote about in a previous post about Lisbon.

Elevators, or Elevador’s in Lisbon

There are several Elevadors in the area (3 to be exact), and the nearest terrace is quite besieged(Elevator de Glória). The ride costs €3.6, but if you have an all-day ticket, it is of course honored. Since we owned one, we took various elevators up and down :) Of course, the first time we hit a tour, so once again we huddled with strangers, but fortunately the next ones were almost empty.

It was more fun for us to photograph the elevators than the ride itself, but it’s worth taking a ride on these old vehicles for once. Unfortunately, we were disappointed with their appearance. We were expecting beautiful yellow wagons, glistening in the sunlight, and the ones we saw were rather dingy, although you have to admit that you can at least see how hard they are exploited ;) Apparently, the people of Lisbon decided to give them a local character, so as not to be boring. It’s just a shame that you still see the beautiful ones from under the needle in brochures, flyers and photos.

Also noteworthy are the streets used by the elevators: narrow, some accessible to pedestrians, and right next to cafes, apartments, even hostels (especially at the Elevador do Lavra elevator, across the street). Climatic!

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Lisbon train station, the prototype of the Stables of the Unicorns ;)

There was a vintage streetcar, there was a subway, there were elevators, and it was time for the largest station in Portugal, the Oriente! Since we learned that this is where the prototype of Lodz’s main transfer stop (fondly called the Stable of the Unicorns) is located, we couldn’t miss it. The station is huge and indeed the architecture resembles that of the Lodz stop, except that it is a dozen times larger, and there are no rainbow colors.

This Moloch, was built as part of the Expo, which was held in Lisbon in 1998.

Right next to the station is a shopping center, and behind it is a long promenade with numerous attractions and restaurants where Lisbon residents like to spend their leisure time.

There is the Vasco da Gama Tower, a cable car that you can ride along the promenade, as well as a good vantage point for a bridge named after guess-who ;-)

We were here towards evening. It was a time when families with children were already slowly gathering to go home, and they were being replaced by groups of friends and tourists who want to enjoy a warm evening by the river.

It was a day full of all means of transportation, but there was also a lot of walking. We definitely enjoyed the viewpoint de Sao Pedro de Alcantara the most, which we highly recommend to you.

After our second day in Lisbon, we decided to spend the next one away from the center. Maybe it will be a little slower and calmer there :)

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We also recommend our entry: Lisbon – 3 places you must see!