Running tour · Lisbon

Belém to Rossio

6.0 mi run

Open in Stride Stories

The stories on this route

1. Belém Tower

   Look out at the white tower on its bastion, jutting into the Tagus at the end of a little footbridge. This is Belém Tower. Officially, it's the Tower of Saint Vincent, after Lisbon's patron saint. The military architect Francisco de Arruda designed it, in local limestone, and it was finished in 1519.

2. The Jerónimos Monastery

   Look at that long, pale-gold front, and the towering carved door, with Henry the Navigator standing between its two doors. This is the Jerónimos Monastery.

3. The Monument to the Discoveries

   Look up at the stone prow facing the river, 56 metres high, shaped like the front of a caravel. Henry the Navigator stands at the tip, holding a small ship. Behind him, more than thirty figures climb the ramps: kings, explorers, mapmakers, artists, scientists and missionaries.

4. The 25 de Abril Bridge

   Look up: the orange towers, the cables, the road deck high over the Tagus, and the trains on the deck below. Listen, too. That hum is cars crossing steel grating instead of asphalt.

5. Cais do Sodré

   Look one block inland, at the street with the pink road and the bar signs. That's Rua Nova do Carvalho. Locally, it's Pink Street.

6. Praça do Comércio

   Look around you: yellow arcades on three sides, the bronze horseman in the middle, and the arch straight ahead. Lisbon still calls this Terreiro do Paço, the Palace Yard.

7. Rossio

   Look north, at the columned theatre with a statue on its roof. That's the National Theatre. Before it, this was the site of the Estaus Palace.

Stories researched October 2026 · every fact checked against a source