Amblers, have I got a walk for you! This walk begins at our Lisbon apartment at Praca de Luis Camois, and continues past the life-size sculpture of the man in the chair and the world’s oldest bookstore shown in my second post. It then makes a left hand turn to take you down the pedestrian shopping street, which leads you to Rossio Square. Continue through the square, and past the beautiful train station to gorgeous tree-lined Avenida da Liberdade and up to Parque Eduardo VII, passing by beautiful Marques de Pombal. Click here for the map directions, but this is a snapshot of the walk for a quick view:
(For all photos, click on the image for a full screen view.)
If you walk straight through, it would be a two-mile walk (one way), and it would take the average walker 49 minutes. But what’s the fun in that? This is a wonderful walk through some of the nicest areas of Lisbon! Take your time, get off the path to see what’s up that side street, grab a bench under the shade trees and watch the world go by, or stop for a pastel de nata. Bruce and I enjoyed this walk so much, we returned to explore more in other days and at night.
Here, then, is what you will see along the way, after you pass the bookstore, and then turn left onto the pedestrian shopping street:
Pedestrian streets are marked with white paint in a design.
Fountain at the beginning of Rossio Square
Rossio Square: The surface is flat, but it’s an optical illusion. Follow the waves!
Across from Rossio Square at the far end is the beautiful train station. You have to have a ticket to enter the tracks where the tile murals are located, so stop back when I write about our train trip to Sintra to see those murals!
Past the train station on the same side of the street (on the left) is this unusual add-on to a historic facade.On the right is Fabrica da Nata- Pasteis de Nata, where we stopped for a snack.
Pastel de Nata: Don’t worry; I will be writing (and showing) plenty of food in an upcoming post dedicated to Portuguese cuisine!
The beginning of the gorgeous tree-lined portion of Avenida da Liberdade
Views of the side streets off the avenue:
Continuing up Avendida da Liberdade to Marques de Pombal Square:
Continue up the hill through Parque Eduardo VII, and you will be rewarded with this panoramic view:
Congratulations, you made it! Now you have a choice to either take the metro back from Marque de Pombal (look for the red and white “M” sign), or walk back like we did.This is us back in Chiado:
A walk down to Rossio Square at night:
This is an overhead view of the pedestrian street and Rossio Square for perspective. This was shot from a viewing platform next to the convent in Bairo Alto, adjacent to the entrance to Elevador de Santa Justa, which is temporarily closed.From this viewing platform, you can also see the castle lit up in the distance. This is the top of the elevator on the right.
To the left is the convent.
At the pedestrian street level of the Santa Justa lift are the Pelicans, by Bordalo II. (More Bordalo II in future posts.)
Coming up next: LOVING LIVING LIKE A LOCAL IN LISBON #5: BUSTLING BAIXA
After traveling on ten small group tours with Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) and enjoying every single one, we hadn’t planned on changing course. But thanks to a gal we met on our very first tour with OAT, we learned of a new (and very different) concept: The Good Life Abroad (TGLA). She had learned about the company from other OAT travelers who had enjoyed their first TGLA experiences, so she booked a month in Paris. She suggested I check out the TGLA Community Facebook page to see what other TGLA travelers had to say about their experiences. That was in spring of 2025, and after reading many posts, we were convinced. We booked a month in Lisbon, Portugal, for September 13 – October 13, 2026.
Since then, I have continued reading more positive posts from other travelers who chose to live like a local with TGLA. And, our friend loved her month in Paris! We were so excited when September 13 arrived.
The Good Life Abroad, founded by Andrew Motiwalla, is designed for 55+ active adults who would like to live in a foreign city for an extended period and engage deeply with the local culture and community.
This is exactly what we were looking for as an alternative to the small group tour experience where we only stay in any given city or town for a few days before moving on. Our previous visit to Lisbon wasn’t even that long; it was for one day during a cruise in 1998. What can you possibly experience in a city in a day? It was barely scratching the surface as a tourist. Bruce and I prefer to be travelers.
For me, I was yearning to go full circle. My international travels began by backpacking through the South Pacific for one year after college, in 1984. I was truly living like a local, even working in a couple of different cities in Australia. I had missed that immersive experience and wanted to enjoy it again—this time in more comfort as a senior, living in an apartment rather than bunking in youth hostels.
The TGLA program includes an apartment, usually in the same building as the others in TGLA “community.” Our group of 14 were split up in two buildings near each other in the central Chiado area of central Lisbon. We were located at Lisbon Best Apartments Chiado Camoes, overlooking Praca de Luis Camoes.
Three days each week, there are activities planned for the group by the community manager, who is also available throughout the week to answer questions. On Tuesdays, we met up at a restaurant in a different neighborhood each time to enjoy the local cuisine. This was a great time to catch up on what we all did during our four days exploring on our own.
On Wednesdays, a cultural activity was planned, either a walking tour, market tour and cooking class, or tile painting workshop. Thursday evening was happy hour, the final one being during an awesome sunset cruise. We also did a side trip to Sintra with lunch. All of these activities are included in the cost.
Lisbon has an excellent metro system, which our community manager, Jen, taught us how to use during our orientation tour. She provided a card loaded with 10 Euros, which we could refill as needed. Bruce and I found it easy to get around by using our card for not only the metro, but the “electrico,” electric tram, bus, and ferry across the Tagus River. For areas not as easily accessible, we used Bolt, a less expensive and more popular option than Uber. It is such a reasonably priced option that locals use it a lot. Since Lisbon is a VERY hilly city with cobblestone streets, our group used Bolt often.
In Europe, many people use WhatsApp to communicate, since it is free. Jen set up a group for us, so that is how we all communicated with each other. Jen would post the location of our next meet-up along with a map link and other information. It worked out great!
Our month in Portugal was a wonderful experience! More details and photos will appear in upcoming posts, but for now I will leave you with photos of our apartment and views from our living room balcony. (I opted against using a camera for this trip and shot all photos with my Google Pixel 8a phone. Although it was convenient, since I was using my phone for GoogleMaps navigation, the downside was the noticeable wide angle distortion on some of my pictures.)
(For all photos, click on the image for a full screen view.)
This little terrace was just inside the entry to our apartment; an unexpected surprise!
Our kitchen included a large refrigerator, freezer, dishwasher, coffee maker, and washer/dryer combo all located behind the white doors. There was also a two-burner induction stovetop and microwave in addition to the sink. All dishes, glassware, pots and pans, utensils, and cutlery were included, along with dish soap, laundry detergent, and coffee pods. There was even an exercise mat and two large umbrellas, in addition to a safe. Jen gave us a tote bag with goodies!I did a double-take when I entered the beautiful marble bathroom. That’s a TV on the mirror wall! There was also one in our bedroom and living room in the 600 sq. ft apartment! We only have one TV at home!This was our building, and that’s Bruce standing on the balcony enjoying the view.Our view!
The view to the right. The electrico came by our building and stopped nearbye.
