Restaurants, bars and museums in Lisbon · Page 288

Ponte 25 de Abril

Lisbon · Sights & Landmarks

The 25th of April Bridge, or Ponte 25 de Abril in Portuguese, is a suspension bridge connecting Lisbon to Almada over the Tagus (Rio Tejo) River. Its address is Rua Professor Vieira Natividade in Lisbon. Driving West from Lisbon, you will come to the 25th of April Bridge before you reach the Belém district. The lower level, added in 1999, carries the trains. The span took 45 months to complete, and was inaugurated in 1966, as the Salazar Bridge, after the country’s dictator at the time, António de Oliveira Salazar. After the dictatorship fell in April 1974, it was renamed to the current 25th of April Bridge. The design of the bridge is similar to the San Francisco – Golden Gate Bridge, because the same design firm, the American Bridge Company, designed both. A popular place to see the bridge is the river walk by Doca de Santo Amaro and the LX Factory and Alcântara area. The best time to see the bridge is at sunset. The Pilar 7 Bridge Experience tour gives you a birds-eye view of the bridge from a lookout point at 80 meters (262 feet). Visitors take a tour of the bridge and learn more about the history and interesting facts. The tour is normally free for visitors with a Lisboa Card. Almada is also a popular location for tourism because visitors can go to the Cristo Rei monument and get beautiful views. Visitors can take the Fertagus train from Rossio or Sete Rios and ferry from Cais do Sodré to Almada without dealing with traffic on the bridges. Popular places tourists like to visit while they're in this area of Lisbon include the National Coach Museum (2.1 km), Monument to the Discoveries (2.5 km), and the Jerónimos Monastery (2.6 km), and the Archaeology Museum (2.7 km). Other places tourists like to visit include the Chiado and Bairro Alto districts. The Vasco da Gama Bridge was built for the 1988 Lisbon Expo to connect the north and south parts of the country.

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