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| Lisbon
Tours - Excursions |
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Walking
Tours
Lisbon is a city that demands
a stroll around its unique neighbourhoods – notably Chiado,
Bairro Alto, Mouraria and Alfama. Many
of Turismo de Lisboa’s publications include some self-guided
walking tours, although there are currently no guided walking tours
available.
Bus Tours
Standard bus tours are offered by Cityrama
(telephone number: (21) 386 4322, e-mail: circuitos@cityrama,pt,
for €28 (half-day) and €65 (full day), including Sintra,
Cascais and Estoril. The tours
depart from Marquês de Pombal Square, although pick-up can
be organised from a number of hotels. Similar half-day tours are
offered by Portugal
Tours (telephone number: (21) 352 2902 or 9175 47650, e-mail:
infor@portugaltours.pt),
also costing €28 and departing from Marquês de Pombal
Square.
Cityline
(telephone number: (21) 319 1090 or 386 4322) offers an open-top
bus service, costing from €13. Being a hop-on-hop-off bus service,
the length of the tour can be self-determined and the ticket is
valid for the day. The tour starts from Praça Marqués
de Pombal. A similar service is offered by Carristur
(telephone number: (21) 361 3000 or 9662 98558 whose terminal is
Praça do Comércio.
Passeante Promenader
(telephone number: (21) 388 2513) offers city tours of up to 2 hours,
in a people carrier. The Tours cost from €30 and pick-up from
various city centre hotels is arranged. Cityrama
and Passeante Promenader also
offer night tours, which include a visit to a Fado house for €68
and €72 respectively.
Tram
Tours
Carristur (telephone number:
(21) 361 3000 or 9662 98558) operates a city tour in a restored
tramcar for €16. The tram takes an hour and a half to travel
through the historical sights of the city, departing from the Praça
do Comércio and passing the cathedral and castle. A cheaper
and often more enjoyable option is for tourists to just take one
of the city’s old rumbling public trams.
Boat
Tours
Transtejo
(telephone number: (21) 322 4000) offers a variety of boat tours,
including 2-hour tours of the River Tagus, from
the docks east of Praça do Comércio and travelling
as far west as the Belém Tower. Tours cost
€15 and depart daily at 1100hrs and 1500hrs from the Terreiro
do Paço river station, April to October. Cityrama
(telephone number: (21) 386 4322, e-mail: circuitos@cityrama.pt)
offers visitors a 3-hour cruise on the Tagus for €25. Tours
leave from Praça Marqués de Pombal at 1430hrs from
April to October.
For a Half
Day
Estoril and Cascais
The resort of Estoril is located approximately
30km (19 miles) west of Lisbon and has long attracted the wealthy,
who have built villas in the green hills above the beaches. A little
further west from Estoril, Cascais has had a somewhat
more humble history, operating more as a fishing town than as a
hideaway for the rich. Both towns attract crowds of tourists from
Lisbon and abroad to their wide Atlantic beaches and watersports
facilities. Cascais is renowned for its great seafood restaurants,
while Estoril has one of Europe’s largest casinos. Trains
to both destinations depart from Cais do Sodré station.
Further information on both Estoril and Cascais is available from:
Estoril Tourist Board,
Arcadas do Parque
Telephone number: (21) 467 8230
Fax number: (21) 467 8213
e-mail: animacao@estorilcoast.com
For a Whole Day
Sintra
Many palaces, villas and gardens around Sintra, situated in the
mountains west of Lisbon, have earned it a place as a UNESCO
World Heritage site. Sintra is dominated by the Palácio
Nacional de Sintra (telephone number, (21) 910 6840, fax
number: (21) 923 4118), a royal summer palace that was developed
in the 15th and 16th centuries and now houses the world’s
most important collection of Mudejar azulejos (glazed tiles).
The palace is open Sunday-Tuesday 1000-1700hrs and can be reached
by train from Rossio station.
Admission is €3.
The Sintra Tourism Office,
Praça da República 23
Telephone number: (21) 923 1157,
Fax number: (21) 923 5176,
website: www.cm-sintra.pt),
can provide further information. |
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