Just outside the old town, Marquês de Pombal is Lisbon’s financial centre with several office buildings. The area offers convenient transport connections, and it also makes a great starting point for exploring Lisbon’s historic neigbourhoods on foot.
From the Marquês de Pombal roundabout, it’s a straight route to the Baixa (downtown Lisbon) and the River Tejo. Just walk down the hill on Avenida da Liberdade, a tree-lined divided street, with pedestrian walkways, shops and cafés.
Eduardo VII Park
Avenida da Liberdade promoted the expansion of Lisbon northwards in the late nineteenth century. It soon became the avenue where the wealthy built their mansions. Today, many of those mansions have been replaced by modern office buildings and hotels. Avenida da Liberdade has become home to some of the most luxurious shops in Lisbon, such as Prada and Chanel.
A few, often overlooked, attractions can be found around this area scattered over adjoining neigbourhoods. At the end of Avenida da Liberdade, Eduardo VII Park is the largest park in central Lisbon. On top of it, admire an impressive view that stretches as far as the River Tejo.
Further to the northwestern side of Avenida Liberdade, Praça das Amoreiras is the finishing point of the Águas Livres aqueduct. Built in the eighteenth century, the aqueduct supplied drinking water to Lisbon until the 1960s.
Northwest of Parque Eduardo VII, Calouste Gulbenkian Museum is home to one of Europe’s richest art collections, with six thousand pieces of ancient and modern art. The complex which houses the museum is set in the Gulbenkian gardens.
West of the Gulbenkian complex is Lisbon’s zoo, and in the opposite direction, heading east, there is the Praça de Touros at Campo Pequeno, a bullring in a brick Moorish-style building.
