Lisbon sits on seven hills, and its free viewpoints, the miradouros, are where locals stop to look out over the rooftops to the Tagus. We picked the ones with something for kids too: a tile map to match to the skyline, a playground beside the view, a gondola over the river, a glass floor inside a bridge pillar. Here's what we checked, from the castle walls to Cristo Rei.
Castelo de São Jorge is a Moorish-era fortress on the city's highest hill, with walls and towers to walk and views over the rooftops to the Tagus. Around 40 peacocks roam the gardens and nest in the stone pines.
The ticket includes a guided tour of the archaeological site, with the remains of 11th-century Moorish houses, and a camera obscura in Ulysses Tower that projects live views of the city.
A hilltop terrace beside the small Senhora do Monte chapel, founded in 1147, where Portugal's first king, Afonso Henriques, gathered his troops before taking Lisbon. From the railing, kids can pick out the castle and the Graça church on the left, the Baixa rooftops and the Carmo ruins below, and the Tagus beyond. It is one of the calmer city viewpoints, close to the Miradouro da Graça.
A terrace garden beside the Santa Luzia church, with a pergola, a small pond and tiled walls. Two azulejo panels by António Quaresma show Praça do Comércio before the 1755 earthquake and the taking of the castle from the Moors.
From the wall, kids can spot the dome of Santa Engrácia, the church of Santo Estevão and the two towers of São Miguel above Alfama's rooftops, with the Tagus behind.
A public garden laid out in 1864 on two terraces at the edge of Bairro Alto. The upper terrace is the viewpoint: a long balustrade looking east over the Baixa to São Jorge Castle, the Sé cathedral and the south bank of the Tagus, with a blue-and-white azulejo tile map that names the landmarks.
The lower terrace has a small pond.
Jardim da Cerca da Graça fills the old grounds of the Graça convent, the largest public green space in the historic center. Wide sloping lawns leave room for ball games and picnics, and there is a playground, picnic tables, an orchard and a kiosk café with a terrace. Three viewpoints look across to São Jorge Castle and down over Mouraria.
Padrão dos Descobrimentos is a monument on the Tagus shaped like a caravel setting out to sea, with Henry the Navigator at the prow and 32 explorers, mapmakers and missionaries carved up its two ramps. An elevator and 42 narrow steps lead to the rooftop viewpoint.
In the plaza, kids can walk across a 50-meter compass rose with a world map marking Portuguese sea routes, ships and Neptune.
A gondola line built for Expo '98, running 1,230 meters over the edge of the Tagus about 30 meters up. The 40 enclosed cabins seat eight, with automatic doors. Kids get a view of the Oceanarium, the Vasco da Gama Bridge and the river, and the ride lasts 8 to 12 minutes.
The south station is beside the Oceanarium, the north one beside the Vasco da Gama Tower.
Cristo Rei is a 28-meter statue of Christ on an 82-meter pedestal, on a hill in Almada facing Lisbon across the Tagus. A lift rides up inside the pedestal, then 74 narrow spiral steps reach the terrace at the statue's feet, looking over the 25 de Abril bridge and the city.
Below, the grounds have a chapel, a lookout and a café.
Pillar 7 holds up the Lisbon end of the 25 de Abril Bridge, and the visit starts outside around its base before heading in. Kids follow a quiz trail past a scale model of the bridge, a mirror room and a cable room.
The top is a glass-floored viewpoint over the Tagus, and a virtual reality ride covers parts of the bridge closed to the public.
Lisbon sits on seven hills, and its free viewpoints, the miradouros, are where locals stop to look out over the rooftops to the Tagus. We picked the ones with something for kids too: a tile map to match to the skyline, a playground beside the view, a gondola over the river, a glass floor inside a bridge pillar. Here's what we checked, from the castle walls to Cristo Rei.
Castelo de São Jorge is a Moorish-era fortress on the city's highest hill, with walls and towers to walk and views over the rooftops to the Tagus. Around 40 peacocks roam the gardens and nest in the stone pines.
The ticket includes a guided tour of the archaeological site, with the remains of 11th-century Moorish houses, and a camera obscura in Ulysses Tower that projects live views of the city.
A hilltop terrace beside the small Senhora do Monte chapel, founded in 1147, where Portugal's first king, Afonso Henriques, gathered his troops before taking Lisbon. From the railing, kids can pick out the castle and the Graça church on the left, the Baixa rooftops and the Carmo ruins below, and the Tagus beyond. It is one of the calmer city viewpoints, close to the Miradouro da Graça.
A terrace garden beside the Santa Luzia church, with a pergola, a small pond and tiled walls. Two azulejo panels by António Quaresma show Praça do Comércio before the 1755 earthquake and the taking of the castle from the Moors.
From the wall, kids can spot the dome of Santa Engrácia, the church of Santo Estevão and the two towers of São Miguel above Alfama's rooftops, with the Tagus behind.
A public garden laid out in 1864 on two terraces at the edge of Bairro Alto. The upper terrace is the viewpoint: a long balustrade looking east over the Baixa to São Jorge Castle, the Sé cathedral and the south bank of the Tagus, with a blue-and-white azulejo tile map that names the landmarks.
The lower terrace has a small pond.
Jardim da Cerca da Graça fills the old grounds of the Graça convent, the largest public green space in the historic center. Wide sloping lawns leave room for ball games and picnics, and there is a playground, picnic tables, an orchard and a kiosk café with a terrace. Three viewpoints look across to São Jorge Castle and down over Mouraria.
Padrão dos Descobrimentos is a monument on the Tagus shaped like a caravel setting out to sea, with Henry the Navigator at the prow and 32 explorers, mapmakers and missionaries carved up its two ramps. An elevator and 42 narrow steps lead to the rooftop viewpoint.
In the plaza, kids can walk across a 50-meter compass rose with a world map marking Portuguese sea routes, ships and Neptune.
A gondola line built for Expo '98, running 1,230 meters over the edge of the Tagus about 30 meters up. The 40 enclosed cabins seat eight, with automatic doors. Kids get a view of the Oceanarium, the Vasco da Gama Bridge and the river, and the ride lasts 8 to 12 minutes.
The south station is beside the Oceanarium, the north one beside the Vasco da Gama Tower.
Cristo Rei is a 28-meter statue of Christ on an 82-meter pedestal, on a hill in Almada facing Lisbon across the Tagus. A lift rides up inside the pedestal, then 74 narrow spiral steps reach the terrace at the statue's feet, looking over the 25 de Abril bridge and the city.
Below, the grounds have a chapel, a lookout and a café.
Pillar 7 holds up the Lisbon end of the 25 de Abril Bridge, and the visit starts outside around its base before heading in. Kids follow a quiz trail past a scale model of the bridge, a mirror room and a cable room.
The top is a glass-floored viewpoint over the Tagus, and a virtual reality ride covers parts of the bridge closed to the public.
