Absolute Best Things to Do in Alfama Lisbon with Kids (or Without!)

When planning to visit Lisbon, along with a day in Belem, one absolute ‘must-see’ destination is Alfama. Located on a steep hill, there are so many things to do in Alfama Lisbon that it can easily take an entire day to explore. If visiting Lisbon with kids, even they will be happy you included a visit to Alfama in your plans!

Located next to the downtown, Baixa area, of Lisbon, Alfama is known for its incredible castle, tiny, picturesque streets, incredible food and fado music. While you could drop into the area for just a few hours, we highly recommend taking a full day to explore and enjoy the most unique area of Lisbon.

How to get to Alfama Lisbon

Alfama sits on a huge hill. Since most of us would prefer to walk down the hill rather than up, we recommend starting at the top of Alfama, especially if you are visiting Lisbon with kids. Well, we still have to walk all the way up the hill to get there, right?! Wrong! Lisbon is blessed with a series of amazing elevators that help locals and visitors master those incredible hills. This is so helpful to know when you visit Lisbon as it will make your days so much easier.

Start your morning early because the crowds at the Castelo Sao Jorge grow as the day goes on and that will be your first destination. when exploring Alfama Lisbon.

How you start your visit to the castle area will depend on where you are staying but since most people stay in the Bairro Alto, Chiado, or Baixa area, I’ll assume that you will too! Lisbon’s wonderful elevators are free to use and will make your life so much easier. Just have a quick look at the map because you may actually be closer to the second elevator when on your way to Alfama so you can skip the first one.

To access the first elevator, make your way to Rua dos Fanqueiros. Walk through the front doors of Elevador Castelo which is a beautifully tiled white and blue building at number 170/178. Take one of the elevators to the top and you’ll exit on to Rua da Madalena where there, it is called the Elevador Baixa. Our Airbnb in Lisbon was located on Rua de Madalena so we started our day here.

Next walk along the flat route to the second elevator. As you arrive on Rua de Madalena, walk across the street to Largo Chão do Loureiro. Walk through the square towards the Pingo Doce supermarket and by its entrance, you’ll see another pair of elevators. Take one of the elevators to the top floor (7 floors up!)  and you will exit next to the Restaurant Zambeze.

Beside the restaurant is a beautiful terrace that looks out over the city. Feel free to stop in for a look if you’d like.

Once you’re ready, return to where you exited the elevator and follow the signs to the Castelo de São Jorge. Yes, you do have to walk up a hill but it really isn’t much in comparison to not using the elevators.

NOTE: If you have difficulty walking or simply prefer to take another route, you can also take a tram or bus to the castle from Praça da Figuera. The famous Tram #28 goes near the castle but it is often very full. You can also take Tram #12. Both trams will drop you near the castle but there will still be a bit of an uphill walk. To arrive closer to the entrance, Bus #737 will drop you at the castle entrance or you can get a taxi or Uber.

Best Things to do in Alfama with Kids

Visit the Castelo São Jorge

The Castelo São Jorge is so much more than just a castle. While the castle that remains for us to visit today consists primarily of the main castle walls and a few towers, the castle area includes a beautiful lookout, the castle ramparts, wandering peacocks, a small museum, a small restaurant and so much more. it is absolutely one of the most popular things to do in Alfama. Outside the main entrance you’ll also find the castle town which remains inside the castle walls (but outside the area that you must pay to access).

History of the Castle

Castelo São Jorge was built by the Moors in the early 11th century. Dom Afonso Henriques conquered the Moors and became the first king of Portugal. The Castelo became the home of Portuguese Royalty until the 16th century when royalty moved to the Praça da Comercio. It later became a military garrison and was rediscovered in the mid-1900s. The archeological restoration of the castle area continues today and visitors are able to see some of the archeological excavation as they explore.

Admission to Castelo Sao Jorge

The price to enter, at the time of publication, is 10 euros per adult, 5 euros per student and children under 12 are free. The castle opens at 9:00 almost every day. It is closed on certain holidays. To find out recent prices and hours of operation, check out the official website for the Castelo São Jorge.

As you walk beneath the archway that welcomes you to the castle grounds, the ticket office is to the right.

The Terrace

After purchasing tickets, go directly to the Miradouro de São Jorge. You can’t miss it as you enter the grounds. If you’d like a refreshing drink, a snack or a coffee, there are small kiosks to the left.

NOTE: Be forewarned that the coffee here isn’t very good. If you can wait a little, the coffee is WAY better in the small restaurant which you’ll see later.

The Miradouro de São Jorge has an incredible view over the city of Lisbon and you’ll be able to see the Tagus River, the Elevador de Santa Justa and the Convento de Carmo ruins.

At the center of the square is a statue of Dom Afonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal who took Lisbon from the Moors.

As you walk along the terrace, you’ll find many benches from which you can enjoy the view and beautiful trees.

If you’re in Lisbon with kids, they’ll love the cannons (Caiden, our youngest son, thought they were awesome!) You’ll also find a tiled panorama chart that will explain the beautiful view.

The Courtyard and Peacocks

The Miradouro is beautiful with stone pathways and trees.

As you walk around the terrace, to the right is the castle courtyard with beautiful flowers and strutting peacocks. We were amazed to find some high in the trees as well! I had read somewhere before our visit that these peacocks came to Portugal at the time of the great voyages of the 16^th century. If visiting Lisbon with kids, this will be one of their favourite things to see during the entire trip!

The Castle

Just off from the courtyard is the entrance to the inner castle.

If you climb the stairs to the left, just inside the entrance, it will bring you towards the walls surrounding the archaeological sight.

If you wander further inside the inner courtyard, there are several sets of stairs you can take to explore the main walls of the castle and the towers.

We recommend that you do both! As you explore the walls of the inner courtyard, you’ll have amazing views of Alfama and the castle itself.

In the Tour de Ulisses, the Ulysses Tower, there is a camera obscura which provides a real time view of Lisbon using a periscope. The camera obscura is accompanied with a guide and takes place throughout the day. We had already missed the earlier English tour and the later tour was several hours away so we opted to not visit. We’d advise checking out the schedule as a first stop on your exploration of the castle walls.

Museum and Cafeteria

As you leave the castle, you’ll return to the beautiful courtyard with its peacocks. To the left is a small museum housing archaeological finds of the castle area and a cafeteria with interior and outside seating. We took a break for a much needed caffeine fix and had amazing lattes!

As you exit the castle grounds, there are public washrooms to the left just before the exit.

Castle Town

Outside the paid area of the castle, to the left, you’ll find a small castle town. Wander Rua da Santa Cruz do Castelo to find many cute shops and cafes. Many of the buildings date back to the middle ages. Notice how small the doors are? this is related to the size of people living in Alfama at the time!

We found a great little shop selling cork products just off Rua da Santa Cruz do Castelo. You’ll find cork products throughout Lisbon but some shops have better quality than others. We bought several items including a purse and a belt at this little shop. As with many of the cork stores, this one also has several toys and things that any family visiting Lisbon with kids will enjoy.

Visit the Church and Monastery of São Vicente de Fora

What we didn’t realize until we arrived is that the church of São Vicente de Fora is not the same as the Monastery de São Vicente de Fora. Definitely visit both as they are very different and beautiful. The church is right at the end of Rua de São Vicente de Fora in Alfama Lisbon.

As you leave the church, to the left is a beautiful entrance covered in flowers. Enter the courtyard and enjoy as you find your way to the main entrance of the monastery.

The gentleman at the entrance didn’t speak English but that didn’t matter. With the help of a handful of fingers I was able to explain the ages of the children and he understood with a smile. 

The monastery has arrows to help visitors stay on a route. It really is stunningly beautiful.

As you wander, you’ll find the crypts of kings and queens of Portugal as it is here that you will find the Pantheon of the House of Bragança, the last royal family dynasty of Portugal.

Near the top, the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora has one of the most beautiful tile collections in the world. En route, Caiden had a great time with stairs … that seemed to go nowhere even though they were very pretty.

Getting back to the tile collection at the Monastery, these beautiful blue and white tiles fill the walls of an entire floor highlighting the Fables of LaFontaine. The fables themselves are written in English alongside which we found incredibly helpful since we visited Lisbon with kids. It was great to be able to tell them the story before exploring the tiles. Incredibly, this is not an over-crowded sight and is definitely one of the most unique things to do in Alfama.

Finally, there is a tower which provides some of the most beautiful views of Lisbon.

Visit a local flea market in Alfama

To the other side of the Church of São Vicente de Fora is the street Arco Grande de Cima. Just a few minutes walk down this street will bring you to the Mercado de Santa Clara. It is a large market similar to a flea market with new and used tables selling a variety of things. It is open on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

Are you looking for an Alfama restaurant for lunch?

By the time you’ve visited the castle and the monastery it will be lunch time. There are many small, amazing Alfama restaurants to get something to eat but we really want to recommend one particular spot.

Follow Calcada de São Vicente in front of the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora and at #42 you’ll find Beco a Sério. This small little Alfama restaurant had incredible food and some of the best sangria we had during our entire stay in Portugal. The bacalhau a bras was fantastic! The staff was incredibly nice and super attentive about Sydney’s allergies. We definitely would return here.

Whether you’re interested in visiting an Alfama restaurant for lunch or not, make sure to walk down the Calçada de São Vicente and then follow Escolas Gerais. This narrow street is so unique and it’s amazing to see the trams come so close to the buildings as they travel up and down.

Visit the Miradouro de Santa Luzia & the Miradouro das Portas do Sol: Two Amazing Look outs in Alfama

Alfama Lisbon is filled with amazing look out terraces, or miradouros. While visiting the miradouros is one of most popular things to do in Alfama, it is still absolutely worth going.

Each miradouro provides a similar but unique view. We brought you to two earlier in the day: the one near the top of the elevator and the Miradouro de Castelo de São Jorge. It’s now time to visit the two most well known: Miradouro de Santa Luzia and Miradouro das Portas do Sol. They are almost next to each other so it’s easy to visit both.

The Miradouro de Santa Luzia is a large terrace overlooking Alfama and the Tagus River. On the day we visited there was a large cruise ship in port so that pretty much took up the entire view. We returned later in the evening as our dinner plans were nearby and it was beautiful.

On the wall of the nearby church you’ll find tiles showing the Praça do Comercio as it looked before the 1755 earthquake that destroyed most of Lisbon. There is also a set of tiles showing the taking back of Lisbon from the Moors by Afonso Henriques (his statue was on the terrace at the Castelo São Jorge).

Local musicians were playing at the Miradouro de Santa Luzia during both of our visits and the atmosphere was calm and enjoyable. There were people selling bracelets later in the evening but they weren’t pushy and were actually very nice to talk with.

The Miradouro das Portas do Sol, Gates of the Sun, is one of the old Moorish gates of Lisbon. It is much smaller than the Miradouro de Santa Luzia but equally as pretty.

There is a small café to get a very scenic coffee and when we visited, there was a little market with handbags and other souvenirs. I’m not sure if that is a regular occurrence or not but it was enjoyable to look around.

Explore the Rest of Alfama Lisbon with Kids (or without!)

To get a true feel for Alfama Lisbon, you need to wander up and down the maze of narrow streets. There are many self guided walking tours online but after having followed one of them, I think next time we’d just wander.

As you leave the Miradouro das Portas do Sol you can start by walking down the long stairs to Rua Norberto de Araujo. Notice on the left a mural illustrating the history of Lisbon.

Continue to wander for at least an hour. If you have a smart phone with a map, it can be really helpful. We used ours a lot.

It’s a small area but just make sure that when wandering, you don’t just head directly downhill because you’ll miss a lot of this amazing area.

Wander down, wander up, take a few side streets, walk under archways to take the stairs up or down, look at the murals, notice the colours of the houses, imagine what it was like to live here decades ago and what it’s like to live here today, explore the local fountains, etc.

Our kids just loved exploring the small streets, stairs and little corners. You never know what you’ll see next!

You’ll likely end near the Largo do Chafariz de Dentro where you can visit the Fado Museum. We had planned to visit the museum but the whole family was just too tired so we stopped for an ice cream and relaxed instead.

We continued to wander until we reached the Sé Cathedral and then continued to the waterfront at Praça da Comercio where we relaxed until dinner.

I had pre-booked our dinner at Farol de Santa Luzia. I’m so glad we did because it gave us a chance to revisit the Miradouro de Santa Luzia which didn’t have much of a view earlier in the day due to the cruise ship in dock. And its the view that makes it one of the most popular things to do in Alfama. It was a wonderful place to relax for a bit before our reservation. Dinner was delicious and the Farol de Santa Luzia definitely made the list of our favourite restaurants in Lisbon.

This is a long day but, in the end, you’ll have had an amazing day exploring Alfama Lisbon and all the wonderful sights it has to offer.  

Don’t forget to check out our top things to do in Lisbon for other great ways to enjoy your vacation in this amazing city! And if you’re looking to take a daytrip from Lisbon, look into a daytrip from Lisbon to Sintra or from Lisbon to Tomar. If you’d like to see more of Portugal, consider spending a few days in Carvoeiro in Portugal’s Algarve.

Make sure to PIN our plan for an amazing day in Alfama Lisbon with kids (or without) so you can easily find it when planning your own visit!