• Ponds with ducks and swans, plus geese, carp and free-roaming peacocks, an easy draw for toddlers
• Playgrounds inside the garden, so a visit to the Estrela Basilica opposite can end with a play stop
• Seasonal program of open-air film and jazz, antiques fairs and a Christmas market, with picnics busiest on weekends

Jardim da Estrela is a mid-19th-century public garden with playgrounds, an iron bandstand, and ponds full of ducks, swans, geese and carp. Peacocks walk the paths, and parakeets flit through the jacarandas, dragon trees and araucarias.

Families picnic on the lawns, kids learn to ride bikes on the paths, and older ones play ball. One entrance faces the Estrela Basilica.