Great Unconventional (and not-so-crowded) Views in Lisbon
This is as in-the-know as you can get. There's a huge protected swath of land and an agricultural school above the Alcântara neighborhood. You will wander winding paths through gardens, pocket parks, fields, forests and some university buildings. It's peaceful. Enter through a small gate in the wall at the northwest corner of Rua Prof. Vieira Natividade and Calçada de Tapada. You can only go during the week, during daylight hours. Closed on most weekends and holidays.
As an added bonus to Miradouro do Jardim do Torel, you can take the least used funicular in Lisbon, Ascensor Lavra. It's an unremarkable area at the top of the hill, until you find this lookout park. Then you'll wonder why nobody else is up there.
This is a great target for a runner or someone who really wants to "get some steps in" pushing a stroller. Start at Praça do Comércio and exit Baixa neighborhood at Rossio. Make a slight left through Praça dos Restauradores and follow the regal Avenida da Liberdade until you hit Marquês de Pombal Circle. Proceed to the top of Parque Eduardo VII. You can really feel Lisbon pulsing below.
Campo de Ourique is a neighborhood most people don't find unless they forget to get off the E28 trolley. Campo de Ourique is flanked by Prazeres Cemetery. The cemetery is a somber, well-organized grid of tombs and grave markers, open to the public. If you make a loop of the cemetery wall exterior you will be walking into a very quiet, residential area. Maybe they're so quiet because they don't want anybody to know how cool of a view they have. Mum's the word. The Alcântara Valley has been a critical thoroughfare in Lisbon for 2,000 years. The A2 highway feeds the start of the April 25th Bridge. A Roman Aqueduct crosses below, fed from somewhere in all that green you see on the other side, Parque Florestal de Monsanto.
