Private Tuk-Tuk Alfama and Graca Viewpoints Tour Lisbon

Lisbon Cathedral and the Roman Theatre

Lisbon Cathedral, the Sé, was begun in the mid-twelfth century, soon after the city was taken by Portuguese forces, and its two crenellated towers make it look like a fortress. It has survived several earthquakes and still marks the start of the climb into Alfama. The tuk-tuk pauses outside so you can photograph the façade, often with a yellow tram passing in front.

A few turns uphill lie the remains of a Roman theatre built in the first century, when Lisbon was the Roman town of Olisipo. It was rediscovered in 1798 during rebuilding after the great earthquake, and a small museum now shows its seating, stage and carved stones. The guide explains how layers of Roman, Moorish and Christian Lisbon sit on top of one another on this hill.

Santa Luzia and Portas do Sol viewpoints

The Santa Luzia viewpoint is one of the most romantic corners of Lisbon: a terrace with a vine-covered pergola, blue and white tile panels and a view straight down over Alfama to the river. One of the tile panels shows the riverfront square as it looked before 1755, a rare picture of the lost city.

A few steps away, Portas do Sol takes its name from one of the gates of the old Moorish walls. From its wide terrace you see the white façade of the São Vicente de Fora Monastery, the dome of the National Pantheon and a sea of terracotta roofs falling to the Tagus. This Lisbon viewpoints tour by tuk-tuk stops at both, giving time for photos without any climbing.

Graça and the Senhora do Monte viewpoint

Graça grew up around a large Augustinian convent and church on one of the highest hills of the city, and later became a working-class district with factory housing courtyards called vilas. Its viewpoint, shaded by pine trees beside the church, looks across to the castle, over Baixa and as far as the 25 de Abril Bridge, especially beautiful in the late afternoon light.

Higher still, the Senhora do Monte viewpoint is the highest in Lisbon, next to a tiny chapel. From here the whole centre spreads out below you, from the castle to the river and the hills of Bairro Alto opposite. On longer options there is time to linger here, while the Classic tour includes the Graça viewpoint as its main stop in the district.

São Vicente de Fora, the flea market and the National Pantheon

The Monastery of São Vicente de Fora was rebuilt in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries on the site of a church founded outside the old walls, which is what fora means. Its cloisters hold some of the finest tile panels in the city. On Tuesdays and Saturdays the square nearby, Campo de Santa Clara, fills with the stalls of the Feira da Ladra flea market.

Just below rises the white dome of the National Pantheon, the former church of Santa Engrácia. Work began in the seventeenth century and was only completed in 1966, so long that the phrase works of Santa Engrácia became a local saying for any never-ending job. Close by is Santa Apolónia, the oldest railway station of Lisbon, on the riverfront.

Alfama, the Fado Museum and Chafariz d'El-Rei

Alfama is the oldest neighbourhood in Lisbon, a maze of stairways and tiny squares that keeps the shape of the Moorish town and largely survived the 1755 earthquake. Electric tuk-tuks are one of the few vehicles that can wind through its narrow streets, which is why an Alfama tuk-tuk tour is so popular. Laundry lines, tiled facades and small grocery shops show daily life up close.

At the lower edge of the district the guide points out the Fado Museum, devoted to the soulful song born in these streets, and the Chafariz d'El-Rei, one of the oldest public fountains in the city, with roots in the thirteenth century. For centuries water carriers queued here to fill their jars before carrying them up the hill.

Praça do Comércio and Cais do Sodré

Praça do Comércio opens onto the Tagus where the royal palace stood until it was destroyed in 1755. Rebuilt as a grand square framed by yellow arcaded buildings, it is entered from the city through the triumphal Rua Augusta Arch, completed in 1875. The tuk-tuk passes along the river so you can see the square from its best angle.

The tour starts and ends in Cais do Sodré, the riverside district beside the Mercado da Ribeira, the city's main market hall since 1882, and the pink-painted Rua Nova do Carvalho. Ferries leave here for the south bank and trains for Belém and Cascais, so it is a practical meeting point for anyone looking for things to do in Lisbon before or after the ride.