LISBON – EASTER – MAY & JUNE 2025 - 5 DAYS

Meeting at the airport and direct flight to the Portuguese capital, the seven-hilled Lisbon (Lisboa). With its eyes turned to America and its back to Europe, Lisbon, built on the banks of the Tagus River (Rio Tejus), is a modern metropolis of particular beauty that maintains the atmosphere of the former colonial superpower. With many palaces, monasteries, a castle, but also ultra-modern buildings, as well as beautiful avenues, squares and streets crossed by the characteristic, picturesque trams. Lisbon is one of the most interesting and much-sung cities in the world. The city with the shadow of its great poet Fernando Pessoa. Transfer and check-in at the hotel. Walk and first acquaintance with the city. Overnight stay.

Our tour today is dedicated to the city and its monuments. Leaving our hotel, we will cross the lush "Avenida da Liberdade" (Liberty Avenue) which is adorned with some of the most interesting buildings of Portuguese architecture. We will continue with the streets of the Lower Town (Baixa). Then, we visit the National Museum of Royal Carriages which has a unique collection of luxury and wealth of carriages of the royal family from the late 15th to the 19th century. This collection is considered the most remarkable of its kind in the world and allows the visitor to experience both the evolution of technology in their construction and the influence of art in their decoration. We continue our journey and head to the Belem area. Our first stop is on the banks of the Tagus. We will see the Belém Tower (Torre de Belém), also known as the Tower of Saint Vincent, the Monument of the Discoveries (Padrão dos Descobrimentos), as well as the map on the floor in front of the Monument of the Discoveries that depicts the sea routes of Portuguese seafarers during the 15th and 16th centuries. Our last stop is the Jerónimos Monastery (Mosteiro dos Jerόnimos), the emblematic Monastery of Lisbon, the most important monument to the power and wealth of colonial Portugal that was completed with the money from the pepper tax! The monastery began to be built in 1501 and its construction was completed a century later. Here, Vasco da Gama spent his last night praying, before his great voyage to India. It is the top example of the uniquely Portuguese Manueline decorative style. In the church of the Monastery, Santa Maria de Belem (Our Lady of Bethlehem), are the tombs of King Manuel I, Vasco da Gama, the poets Luís de Camões and Fernando Pessoa. Together with the Belém Tower, they belong to the UNESCO list of world cultural heritage monuments. Our tour today ends here. We suggest you stay in the area, explore it and enjoy it after first tasting the famous sweets, the pasteis de Belem, in the most famous and historic pastry shop located there. In the afternoon, visit the castle (Castelo de Sao Jorge) and wander through the alleys of Alfama. Take a ride on the famous tram 28. In the evening, we recommend enjoying the typical Portuguese songs fados, made famous all over the world by Amalia Rodrigues.

Morning departure for a particularly enjoyable excursion to the outskirts of Lisbon. Crossing the streets of cosmopolitan Estoril with its luxurious mansions and the famous casino, we make a brief visit to neighboring Cascais, once a fishing village that the royal family chose in the 19th century for a summer residence and today is a popular tourist resort. Our next stop, romantic Sintra, which is among the treasures of the Unesco World Heritage. The city is full of palaces. Its symbol is the Palacio National de Sintra (the National Palace of Sintra), from where we can pour into the city and enjoy it. We will continue with a visit to Cabo da Roca, the cape that is the westernmost point of Portugal and continental Europe. The Portuguese poet Luis de Camoes describes it as "the place where the land ends and the sea begins". Return to Lisbon. If you wish, you can disembark at the Park of Nations (Parque das Nacoes). Here, you will see the modern face of Lisbon. The area was redeveloped on the occasion of the organization of the 1998 World Exhibition (EXPO), dedicated to the Oceans. There are ultra-modern buildings, conference and exhibition spaces, museums, hotels, art and performance spaces, the impressive 145-meter-high Vasco da Gama Tower, the tallest building in the city, the Vasco da Gama Bridge, one of the largest in the world, and the famous aquarium (Oceanario de Lisboa). Take your walks, visit the aquarium, take the cable car and enjoy the area from above. Return by Metro to the hotel (Oriente Metro stop with the impressive Calatrava roof). Overnight stay.

Breakfast at the hotel and free day. Optionally, we suggest you visit Obidos, a beautiful castle town and place of creation of famous artists. Due to its beauty, it was always given as a wedding gift to the queen. Our next stop is Nazare, one of the most famous tourist resorts on the Silver Coast (Costa da Prata), with long sandy beaches, the large and once threatening waves of the Atlantic and the delicious food in its numerous restaurants. We continue our journey, crossing the historic area of ​​Batalha, known for the great historical victory of the Portuguese against the Castilians in 1385 in the Battle of Aljubarrota. We pass by the Monastery of Santa Maria da Vitoria, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and continue for our last stop of the day in Fatima. In Fatima, three little shepherd children, on May 13, 1917, said they had a vision. The Virgin Mary appeared to them. She announced that she would appear in the same place every 13th of the month, until October, and gave them three prophecies. Although many anti-clericals consider the Miracle of Fatima to be an attempt by the Catholic Church to regain its lost political power, in the mid-1920s, dictator Salazar encouraged the pilgrimage. Today, millions of believers flock to Fatima, bringing great income to the region. We will visit the Basilica of Fatima, the Chapel of the Apparitions, as well as the modern Basilica of the Holy Trinity, the work of the eminent Greek architect Alexandros Tombazis. Overnight stay

Breakfast at the hotel and transfer to the airport for our return flight to Athens.