Arrábida and Setúbal Sweep · part 1

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Lisbon

   Lisbon is built on hills, as the old joke goes, to give the trams something to do. The city rises from the north bank of the Tagus river on seven hills, a tumble of tiled houses, church domes and steep cobbled lanes, with yellow trams creaking up the slopes, and the great red suspension bridge, the 25 de Abril, spanning the estuary. In 1755 a huge earthquake, followed by a tsunami and fires, destroyed much of the centre and killed tens of thousands, and the flat grid of the Baixa district was rebuilt afterwards under the Marquis of Pombal. The hill quarters of Alfama and Mouraria, which came through, still have their medieval twists and turns.

   Read the complete Lisbon write-up.

2. 2. Setúbal

   Setúbal is a working port city at the mouth of the Sado estuary, the sort of place that tourists tend to skip and locals quietly love. Fishing boats, ferries and cargo ships share the water, and across the estuary the long, flat sand spit of Tróia stretches out. Out in the water lives a small resident community of bottlenose dolphins, which you can sometimes see from boat trips leaving the harbour. Behind the city rises the Serra da Arrábida, a steep ridge of limestone covered in Mediterranean scrub.

   Read the complete Scenic stretch near Setúbal write-up.

3. 3. Lisbon

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Lisbon write-up.