Day tours in Lisbon & surroundings
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Program
Drive across the largest cork region in the world for an exciting journey into the past. Evora is one of Portugal's finest
and most delightful towns. It is a true open-air museum with a large number of wonderfully preserved monuments
and buildings of public interest. The whitewashed houses, arches, and twisting alleyways that characterize the town
reflect the Moorish presence. Evora is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, showing off its Roman and Moorish history.
The main square, Praça do Giraldo is now filled with shops and cafés, and surrounded by attractive townhouses with
wrought-iron balconies, adorned with medieval arches and is an ideal place to relax and do some people-watching.
From there, the pedestrian Rua 5 de Outubro (lined with souvenir shops) leads to the Roman temple and the Sé
(cathedral), built in 1186. The roman temple of Diana, dating from the 2nd century, it is one of the Iberian Peninsula's
best preserved Roman monuments.
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A short walk behind the cathedral leads to the Jesuit University, where you can mingle with students and admire this superb XVI century building.
Amongst all churches, the one that should not be missed is the Church of São Francisco, a Manueline-Gothic structure completed around 1510. On display,
are the bones and skulls of some 5000 people covering the walls and columns of the church's Chapel of Bones.
We proceed to Azeitão - famous for its wine cellar, where we can stop for a guided visit to this antique muscatel wine producer and wine tasting.
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...With a beautifully untouched provincial atmosphere, fascinating whitewashed old town, Evora has been a cultural oasis
for 2,000 years. Part of the town is enclosed by ancient walls and has been preserved in its original state, as well as its
monuments dating from various historical periods. It was known by the Romans and vestiges from this period still remain.
Évora was wrested from the moors by a Christian Knight and flourished as one of the most dynamic cities in the Kingdom
of Portugal during Middle Ages. The court was resident here for long spells and Évora became the scene where many
important decisions were made. During the XIV, XV and XVI centuries, it was formerly a major center for the
humanities.The university was founded in 1551, and it was here that great European Masters passed on their knowledge.
The many monuments erected by the major artists of each period now testify to Évora's lively cultural, artistic and historical
past. The variety of architectural styles (roman, gothic, manueline, mannerist, baroque), the palaces and even the squares
and narrow streets are all part of the rich heritage of this museum-city...
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...The forest-clad, elongated hummock of the Serra da Arrábida is a veritable oasis of natural vegetation amid the
suburban sprawl of the Setúbal peninsula, with an incredibly diverse wildlife to match. Along the shore of the Sado
estuary, its sheer flanks drop sharply into a turquoise sea, the pale limestone cliffs eaten away at the base to form
small sandy coves. Although the 50km-long ridge of the Arrábida attains a maximum of only 501m (Alto do
Formosinho), the views from the top are truly spectacular, giving the impression of much greater altitude. More than
1,000 species of vascular plants have been recorded from the Arrábida natural park. Situated to the south of the
peninsula is the hub Setubal, actually Portugal's third largest port after Lisbon and Porto. Renowned for both its
fishing and fish restaurants and its many historic buildings and museums, Setubal makes a superb Portugal holiday
base or indeed a day trip. To the west of Setubal centre are stunning beaches backed on by the Arrabida Natural
Park. To the south is the natural reserve of the Sado estuary, home to numerous birds and wildlife including
bottle-nosed Dolphins...
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