4 Best Sights in Lisbon, Portugal

Winemakers Catarina Moreira and David Picard turned an old car repair workshop into Lisbon’s only urban winery. Using grapes picked nearby and minimal intervention techniques, the family produces vibrant and lively small-batch wines. The winery tours are an accessible but rigorous journey into wine biochemistry.

For a close look at the wine business, visit the manor house and cellars of the José Maria da Fonseca Company. The intriguing tours cover the winery's long history and allow you to see all stages of production, including a peek into its dark and mysterious prized Moscatel cellars, where 100-plus-year-old bottles are still aging gracefully. End the tour with a choice of wine-tasting experiences. There's a JMF wine bar nearby too.

The jewel in the crown of this winery set in a late-16th-century mansion is its box-hedged garden and striking azulejos. Visitors can tour the building, gardens, and wine cellars (advance bookings are advised). Among the highlights is the so-called Casa do Fresco, which houses the country's oldest azulejo panel. Dating to 1565, it depicts the story of Susanna and the Elders. Scattered elsewhere are dramatic bright blue sculptures, Moorish-influenced panels, fragrant groves of fruit trees, and enough restful spots to while away an afternoon.

On the west side of Praça do Comércio is an impressive showroom for hundreds of wines, representing Portugal's many demarcated regions. Tastings (three or four wines, from €15 per person, for a minimum of two people) can be adapted to suit personal preferences. Note that the wines that you taste may not necessarily all be on sale, but there are plenty of alternatives; or head round the corner to Rua da Conceição for branches of two major wine merchants, Garrafeira Nacional and Napoleão.