Lisbon Travel Guide - Introduction

Lisbon is home to the longest bridge in Europe, the Vasco de Gama Bridge, which spans the Tagus River estuary. It is among the 20 longest suspension bridges in the world. Large constructions feature prominently throughout the city with the Parque das Nacoes boasting one of the world’s largest aquariums. The city is also home to the imposing Jeronimos Monastery, which took over 50 years to build.

Culture-wise, Lisbon can certainly cut it. Collections similar to the one found at the Gulbenkian Museum are numerous in the city and feature works from the great European masters such as Rembrandt, Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Even the recently renovated metro system is in itself a work of art and features works by well-known contemporary artists designed to represent the theme of the particular area in which each station is located.

Getting to Lisbon is perhaps not as straightforward as some other capitals in the central region of the continent for simple geographical reasons; the city is the westernmost capital in the whole of Europe and relatively far south. The city does however have good road and rail links and is easily reached from neighbouring Spain in a matter of hours.

Flight connections to the Portuguese capital are numerous from destinations all over Europe and although the city has not been connected with some of the more well-known budget airlines such as Ryan Air, very reasonably priced flights are still available with operators like easyJet and Monarch Airlines.