Photos and Article by Jeremy C. Photography

Portugal is at its best in July and August – the summer season full of sunshine after the grey, rainy and damp winter is gone. Although daytime temperature can rise up to over 30oC, you can enjoy comfortable weather at night with cool breeze blowing from Atlantic Ocean. Lisbon, the capital city of Portugal, is an important trading port in Europe and the Mediterranean region. Same as Hong Kong, it’s a coastal city built on the hills. Sinuous roads going up and down are a distinctive feature of the city. It’s thus also known as “The City of Seven Hills”.

Wandering around the alleys and pathways of Lisbon, discovering the neighborhoods without agenda while searching for topics to photograph is already an amazing way of traveling. Besides exploring the city on foot, riding the tram in Lisbon is considered the best way to travel to different areas of the city, as the trams are an integral part of the public transport network and cover a wide area of the city from the east to west. Among those, the number 28 tram is the most popular route as it covers the popular tourist districts of Alfama, Bairro Alto and Baixa-Chiado, passing through the beautiful medieval streets and plazas. Since the tram runs frequently, you can get off anytime to savor the charming streetscapes of Lisbon and get back on to continue your scenic journey when feeling tired. Below are three recommended tourist districts to visit. More details will be introduced later on.

1. Baixa-Chiado District
2. Alfama District
3. Cacilhas Coast

The Lisbon Old Town includes areas from the metro station Rossio Square, Baixa-Chiado and further south to Comercio Square and the seafront. Built on the cliffs, the Santa Justa Elevator in Rossio is the best place to enjoy a panoramic view of Baixa-Chiado. On the top floor, you can enjoy an amazing view over the city. The colorful European houses lining along the streets will give you an illusion as if you are inside the animation world of Hayao Miyazaki. Towards the east across the valley you will see another mountain, which is the lookout point of Castelo de Sao Jorge, another popular location to enjoy a bird’s eye view of the city. Towards the south you will see a deep blue sea. You will feel so relaxed with a view like this.

Walk towards the south from Rossio Square along Rua da Prata, you will pass through a long, narrow and lively street named Rua da Conceicao. Being the major route of the scenic number 28 tram, this street is busy from morning till night. Walk one or two blocks further to the south, you will arrive at one of the landmarks of Lisbon – the Praca do Comercio Square. Facing the ocean with restaurants on both sides, the square is a good place to hang out. You can walk up to the pier across the square; enjoy the jazz music by the sea and join the dancing crowd to get a glimpse of the free spirit of the western European people.

Alfama is the oldest district in Lisbon, formed by narrow streets and squares. You can see the characteristic tiles on the facades of old buildings, and enjoy the different vistas behind each turn when strolling down the tramway. There are always unexpected surprises await. Those who like the Old Town can spend a day on the Portas do Sol Square. Besides enjoying good food at the restaurants, you can also walk up the pathways to Bairro do Castelo where great views of the churches located on the periphery of the Alfama District, terracotta roofs and the wide, blue Tagus River can be enjoyed.

The Cacilhas Coast accessible by a ferry ride from the pier next to Terreiro do Pa?o train station is highly recommended for those who enjoy viewing the sunset. Upon arrival at Cacilhas, walk towards the west for about 15 minutes and you can get a closer look of the Ponte 25 de Abril bridge and enjoy the leisure time with the locals fishing on the shore. The Ponte 25 de Abril bridge is a suspension bridge connecting the capital city Lisbon and the municipality of Almada. It’s often compared to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco as both bridges look so much alike. You can enjoy a Portuguese seafood dinner at the restaurants by the pier at night before taking a ferry back to the central city of Lisbon.

Lisbon, a city of sloped paths, alleys and street corners, offers a rich variety of photography topics. We can bring a wide-angle zoom lens (such as EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM) for architectural and cityscape shots, which can help create a sense of space with its exaggerated angle of view. A medium to telephoto zoom lens (such as EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM) is also useful to create shots with tighter compositions and perspective compression effect. This focal range is ideal for capturing portraits and the everyday life of the locals, as well as zooming-in to the distant architectures and transportation, giving you the flexibility to explore new angles or compositions. In general, Portugal is a safe country compared to other European countries, so you don’t have to worry about taking out your camera to shoot on the streets or at night. You are recommended to bring along one or two more lenses (such as prime lens) so you can have more varieties on the choice of lens equipment based on your itinerary of the day and enjoy maximized fun of travel photography.

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