The Baixa is Lisbon’s downtown — a flat grid of streets between two hills, rebuilt on a clean plan after the 1755 earthquake. Chiado climbs the slope above it. Together they are the easiest part of the city to walk.
The Baixa
Rebuilt after the earthquake as a rational grid of wide streets and matching façades — an early piece of town planning. It runs from the riverfront Praça do Comércio, with its arcades and triumphal arch, up the pedestrian Rua Augusta to the Rossio. The Elevador de Santa Justa, an iron lift from 1902, connects it up to Chiado — long queues, and the walk round the back is quicker.
Chiado
The shopping and café quarter on the hill — the old bookshops, the Bertrand (said to be the world’s oldest still trading), the café A Brasileira with the bronze Pessoa outside, and the São Carlos opera house. It shades up into the Bairro Alto above.
Good to know
- Reached from our side by ferry from Cacilhas to Cais do Sodré, then a short walk
- The Santa Justa lift’s viewing platform can be reached from the top for free via Chiado
- Trams 28 and 12 pass through, as does most of the city bus network
- Flat and walkable — this is the part of Lisbon that isn’t a climb