Lisbon sits on the north bank of the Rio Tejo, 15 km from the Atlantic Ocean, nestling beautifully among seven small hills - each with miradouros (vantage points) that offer wonderful views of the city and the river.

Lisbon's long experience of contact with other cultures in the form of exploitation, exchange, or a messy combination of the two, has marked it deeply. And after the transformations and migrations of recent years, a capital that centuries ago was a world city - perhaps the first of it's kind - is finally becoming one again.

The party part of Lisbon is called Bairro Alto - dotted with Fado bars, restaurants and interesting little shops with fashion and design.

Baixa is the posh city centre with elegant squares, streets and avenues and a lot of pedestrian shopping and café life.

1. Take the tram no. 12 from Praca do Comércio uphill through the Alfama and see the Castelo de São Jorge with amasing views. And the no. 28 from Martim Moniz square through, Graca, Chiado, Madragoa and Estrela all the way to Prazeres cemetery.
2. Have a drink at the top of the Elevador de Santa Justa on a quiet evening.
3. Go for a traditional meal with fado song - and Portugise melancology.
4. Royal fairytales on 4 wheels - see the breathtaking coaches in Museo Nacional de Coaches.
5. Try the famed small custard pies “pasteis de nata” with a cup of – supposedly – Europes best coffee.
6. For royal maritime means of transport see the 250 years old barges in the Museo da Marinha.

It’s a 20 minute drive from the centre. The fare should be about 8€ with an extra 1.60€ for luggage in the boot. At night, on weekends and bank holidays the price increases by 20%. If you don’t want to fight with the driver about his overprizing you can buy a flat-rate taxi voucher at the tourist information desk at the airport. A centre-of-town voucher costs around 15€.

The cheaper option is the Aerobus which leaves every 20 minutes from 7.45am-8.45pm and goes directly to the city centre. Tickets: 3€ (including all day access to trams and busses) – can be bought on the bus.

After 450 years of Roman rule Lisbon was ruled by the Moors for more than 400 years. It was a major city of Al-Andalus with about 30.000 residents of different religions – Arabic, Jews and Christians. The city fell to the northern European crusaders in 1147 and they slaughtered most of the inhabitants – including most of the Christians.

The kingdom of Portugal could not expand on land – the neighbour Spain was too powerful – so it went to sea, driven by greed, adventure and religious fervour. It’s golden years was initiated in the early 14-hundreds when Prince Henry the Navigator constructed larger sea going vessels and trained mariners to overcome the psychological barrier of sailing into unknown waters – before people thought they’d fall off the edge of the world.

In 1497 Vasco da Gama found the sea route to India and quickly gained control of the waters by using violence on a scale that staggered the locals. Common practice would be to cut off ears, noses and hands of prisoners before burning them alive, or rigging them up and using them for crossbow practice.

Soon the wealth of the spice trade poured into the country. One successful voyage with a cargo was enough to make every man onboard wealthy for the rest of his life. The opulence of Europe’s then richest city was unrivalled.

Most of the architectural remains of this golden age was lost in a terrifying earthquake which hit Lisbon in 1755 – followed by a gigantic tsunami wave. But the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos outside the city in Belem survived and is a masterpiece of the golden age Manuelene architecture – an elaborate “nouveau riche” late gothic style.