Some of the highest vistas in Lisbon, never crowded, and insanely fun on a bicycle
Parque Bela Vista
Always open
Used as the location for the Rock in Rio concerts, this huge park on Lisbon’s east side is great to visit if you live nearby. It also has a pretty good viewpoint over the city and the river, making it quite popular with runners, joggers and walkers from all over Lisbon. And there’s a small playground and even a lake.
But it’s a particularly good green space to visit if you’re on a bike. Parque de Bela Vista is a massive bowl of lawns and paved paths, with a few trees sprinkled throughout and some picnic tables, which makes it ideal for riding a bicycle. It’s usually empty, particularly on the weekdays, which means you can really zip along the paths without fear of hitting a small unpredictable human.
It’s an especially nice ride if you are doing the bike loop from Parque das Nações, from which you can do via a combination of bike lanes and roads to reach Bela Vista park’s highest elevation and get some speed coming down the hills. Some of the nearby neighborhoods, particularly in Chelas, have a bad reputation, but none of the families nor the elderly visiting the park seem to think there’s anything to worry about, and the park is always well maintained.
