{"id":1839,"date":"2018-12-12T11:00:25","date_gmt":"2018-12-12T11:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/devourlisbonfoodtours.com\/?p=1839"},"modified":"2022-02-28T16:10:28","modified_gmt":"2022-02-28T16:10:28","slug":"lisbon-miradouros","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/dev.devourtours.com\/blog\/lisbon-miradouros\/","title":{"rendered":"A Love Letter to Lisbon: Miradouros"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
This post is part of our Love Letter<\/a> series: first-person accounts of what we love about Lisbon.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Photo Credit: cityodes<\/a>, Text Overlay: Devour Lisbon Food Tours<\/a><\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n You can whine about the hills in Lisbon, but the splendid views above them are worth every climb.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n When someone asks me what\u2019s my favorite thing about this city, I have to say it\u2019s the miradouros<\/em>, what we call the viewpoints.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The city hall has labeled the official viewpoints, but there are many other \u201cunofficial\u201d ones waiting to be discovered on hotel terraces, rooftop bars, or even at your window if you\u2019re lucky.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Official or not, they all have one thing in common: a front row view of the Tagus river, Lisbon\u2019s most famous feature.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n If you\u2019re visiting the city for the first time, you\u2019ll probably head to Miradouro das Portas do Sol<\/em> or Santa Luzia<\/em>, but once you\u2019ve lived here for a while, you\u2019ll end up going through them all.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Like many locals, I used to spend my afternoons at Miradouro de Santa Catarina<\/em> watching the sunset and sharing a litrosa<\/em> (a liter of beer) with friends. The viewpoint was always a bit rough around the edges, but that was the beauty of it, at least for me.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n In July this year, Santa Catarina<\/em> closed for renovation<\/a>, and no one knows when it will open again. Unaware of it all, tourists continue to drop by, hoping to cross another viewpoint off their list.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n You can tell Lisbon is under construction by the number of cranes emerging amid the terracotta roofs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n While the sunsets continue to steal the show, standing at a viewpoint today, I can\u2019t help but notice how the city is changing. And it\u2019s not just the buildings. The audience has changed too.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n I live in the Gra\u00e7a neighborhood<\/a>, where tourists were once a rare sight. Now it\u2019s nearly impossible not to bump into them, and their selfie sticks, at Miradouro da Gra\u00e7a<\/em> or Miradouro da Senhora do Monte<\/em>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n In spite of that, I can still find a way to escape the crowds and enjoy the viewpoints on my own.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Sometimes that means waking up early to capture the lonely bougainvillea at Santa Luzia<\/em>, other times it\u2019s by going further from the center to Largo das Necessidades<\/em> or abandoned places like Panor\u00e2mico de Monsanto<\/em>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n You don\u2019t always have to be on a hill to enjoy the best views in Lisbon, though. You can also sit along Ribeira das Naus<\/em>, Lisbon\u2019s stunning riverfront.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n And if you want a different perspective, head to Cais Sodr\u00e9 and hop on a boat to Cacilhas. It\u2019s only a 10-minute ride!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/figure><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n