Alfama District, Lisbon Portugal. Part II - maxyourtravel.com.

Portugal was not on our bucket list. Not even close to its much more popular neighboring destination - Spain, but it took one visit to its capital to cement the Lusitania region as one of the most interesting locations we have visited. Here are some reasons why you too should consider it for your Europe travel plans.

This is a second part of my post about our visit to Lisbon. You can read my previous write up here - it elaborates on the first five items of the below outline. This bullet point outline is a summary of our sightseeing and activities while visiting Lisbon's old town and includes our walking map. In this post I expand on the remaining items of our Alfama itinerary. So the quick list is for anyone who isn't a big reader but since my blog is also about sharing tips and lessons learned especially with those of you who are new to not only travel with kids but travel in general I hope you'll check out the entire two part post for additional info and photos.

1. Best area to stay.

I'm sure Lisbon is full of great places to stay but to us the Old Town was hands down the best area for accommodations for our first time in Lisbon in order to get a proper taste of the city.

2. Rossio Square.

Otherwise known as the King Pedro IV Square is on of many in Lisbon but probably one of its most interesting squares - definitely a must to visit.

3. Santa Justa elevator.

Elevator of beautiful, unique architecture with a viewing platform for some great views of the city. Be aware of long lines though!

4. Rua Augusta.

Lisbon's main pedestrian street full of shops, restaurants, street vendors, artists and performers. An absolute must!

5. Lisbon's Fado music and street performers.

Lisbon is known for it's Fado music which you can find in many of it's bars but also around different streets and alleys of Alfama.

Again you can read more about items 1-5 in Part 1(here)

6. Rua dos Correiros.

Adjacent, parallel street to Rua Augusta but a little more quaint and narrower - is home to even more great restaurants and food options.

7. Arco do Triunfo.

Lisbon's' version of arch of triumph on Rua Augusta. Beautiful piece of architecture. Opens up to Praca do Commercio square. Has an elevator that will take to another great viewing point.

8. Praca Do Comercio.

The most prominent, grand of Lisbon's squares. With Arco do Triunfo on one side and nice views of Taugus river on the other. Must visit!

9. Final thoughts on Lisbon's Alfama.

If you travel with kids be aware that towards the evening Alfama is full of nightlife (great for folks with no kids :-) ) and also don't be surprised if you'll come across folks trying to sell you stuff you don't want. No pushiness though from anyone. Despite this Alfama felt very safe and we would highly recommend it as the most attractive item on your Lisbon visit itinerary.

10. Other Lisbon attractions outside of Alfama totally worth visiting

Parque Eduardo VII - Lisbon's largest central park with some nice views of the city and great landscaping

• Praca do Imperio - one of the largest squares in Europe with a stunning fountain and city garden

• Parque Eduardo VII - Lisbon's largest central park with some nice views of the city and great landscaping

• 25 de Abril Bridge - San Franciso's Golden Gate's bridge's cousin, equally stunning

• Sintra - charming, quaint country town with a beautiful, elevated palace straight out of Disney

Click here for google maps walking directions to all of the above Alfama attractions. They originate at our accommodations so feel free to adjust them accordingly. They also include a stop at Brown's Central Hotel (for some lunch) and the Benfica soccer store. Both stops highly recommended and both of which you can see and read more about in my first post about Lisbon. The directions terminate at the Tasca Do Chico bar. Also a highly recommended to us spot for Fado music that we unfortunately didn't get to enjoy but will definitely save for next time.

Below you'll find more insight into the items 5-10 of the above list which represents our first encounter with Portugal's capital city's Old Town.

5. What things to do and see in Lisbon Alfama - Lisbon's Fado music and street performers.

Lisbon is famous for it's Fado music which is a term describing live music in Portuguese pubs, restaurants and cafes. While it may be tricky to get into bars traveling with kiddos you'll be glad to hear that you don't need to leave the streets to get a more than ample taste of Portuguese music as there are plenty of performers lining the streets of Alfama.

Music performers are just one type of artists you'll find roaming the streets. There are plenty of entertainers out there trying to earn a buck by wowing you with their talents. Our little man found out many of them are ready to let the bravest of the tourists participate in their shows.

6. What things to do and see in Lisbon Alfama - Rua dos Correiros.

At every step along Rua Augusta, Lisbons Old Town's main pedestrian street you are solicited by waiters and restaurant greeters making it a little overwhelming to pick the right spot to eat. However, whether you select a restaurant facing the Rua Augusta Arch or hop on over to the neighboring Rua dos Correiros (a similar but narrower and a little more intimate promenade ) you will not regret the experience. There are few better meal experiences I can think of better than sitting down, outside in the Portuguese summer under an umbrella of one of the local establishments and enjoying their food. Rua dos Correiros seemed to be almost exclusively a home to only restaurants so you can imagine the culinary devotion that can be attributed to this location.

There are plenty of lunch and dinner options with many of them traditional Portuguese food. Eating local food is our way of experiencing the culture so we didn't even for a minute consider anything other than Portuguese but there are other options there including quite a bit of Italian food.

Make sure to try Sardines and Bacalhau which is Cod Fish and an absolute obsession of Portuguese who love their seafood. We had a meal on Rua dos Correiros as after strolling down this charming street it was impossible for us to imagine ourselves sitting down and eating anywhere else. Rua dos Correiros seems a little more secluded than it's neighbor around the block Rua Augusta which is fitting for a more intimate dinner and less distractions away from your experience.

7. What things to do and see in Lisbon Alfama - Arco do Triunfo.

As I had already mentioned at the north end of Rua Augusta, you will find an impressive triumphal arch reminiscent of the presumably more famous one in Paris.

Having passed under it multiple times and marveled at it from under as well as afar we did not realize this until final hours before leaving Lisbon but there is a view point at the top of the arch. Apparently an elevator takes you to the second floor where you use the stairs to make the rest of your way up to the very top of the arch. This is definitely on our list of things to do next time in Lisbon as I'm sure the views from Arco do Triunfo are great onto both Rua Augusta as well as the Taugus River and Comercio Square.

8. What things to do and see in Lisbon Alfama - Praca Do Comercio.

When you go under Arco do Triunfo you enter square Praca Do Comercio which as the name implies played a very important commercial role throughout the history of Lisbon.

The square is also referred to by its old name of Terreiro do Paco, since the royal palace stood here before the famous Lisbon earthquake. This is perhaps one of the largest squares we have ever seen. It's size is impressive as is the statue in its center of King Jose I riding his horse and allegorically crushing snakes under the horse's hoofs. Our son had fun kicking the soccer ball around on large portion of the square which was surprisingly well shaded from the scorching sun.

The square is located on the banks of Taugus and does provide some nice views of the river.

9. What things to do and see in Lisbon Alfama - Final thoughts on Lisbon's Alfama.

One last piece of info on exploring Alfama is about street vendors and night life. This area is also home to many bars and a very vibrant nightlife so be aware of this while roaming the streets after dark and if the nightlife is the reason you're here, while this visit obviously didn't allow us to confirm this 100% it seems like you're very likely to have a great time and plenty of options here. Lastly, even during the day don't be surprised if some of the vendors around and locals you'll run into on the street try to sell you all kinds of not so desirable stuff. Despite this occurring multiple times to us no one was pushy or didn't know how to take a simple "no" for an answer. So we felt very safe on the streets of Alfama, even after dark. You can see quite a bit of Lisbon police presence around in all of the tourist areas anyway.

The Lisbon Old Town itself has a lot to offer and is definitely one of those places it's worth getting yourself immersed in so whether you follow our basic outline or just try to wing it you will not be disappointed visiting Alfama. As a matter of fact if you do have time we do recommend spending at least one day by simply going out in Old Town without a plan and trying to see where the streets of Alfama will take you.

10. Other Lisbon attractions outside of Alfama totally worth visiting

Alfama wasn't the only spot that we visited during our stay as you'll see below there's plenty of stuff to see in other areas of Lisbon as well as outside of the city itself but that's a topic for another post though I will include a couple of highlights below. Praca do Imperio is one of the largest squares in Europe with a stunning fountain and city garden. It was a great spot for some unwinding and we were able to fly our drone there. Parque Eduardo VII which is Lisbon's largest central park blew us away with some nice views of the city and great landscaping. We were not prepared but it's an awesome spot for a picnic. 25 de Abril Bridge is San Francisco's Golden Gate's bridge's cousin, equally stunning red suspension bridge definitely worth of at least ending up on some of your photos. Finally Sintra totally charmed us with it's character. It's a quaint country town with a beautiful, elevated palace straight out of Disney. It's an absolute must to tour the palace itself and check out great views of Sintra surroundings from the hill the palace sits on. I included some photos of all these goodies below and can't wait to post about them in more detail.

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