Photos: Dale Cruse - 10M views from San Francisco, CA, USA, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 Pedro Ribeiro Simões from Lisboa, Portugal, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 DiogoBaptista, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo credits
Photos: Dale Cruse - 10M views from San Francisco, CA, USA, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 Pedro Ribeiro Simões from Lisboa, Portugal, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 DiogoBaptista, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Lisbon tiles on the street with a former tile conservator
Your local guide
Rita Carvalho
View profile
Highlights
- The tiled façade of the Viúva Lamego factory
- What Pombaline shop-front patterns originally meant
- A figura de convite in a church porch
- Art nouveau butcher and bakery tiles in Graça
- How to tell a modern copy from an original
About this tour
This session looks at Lisbon through its tiles, from the factory front of Viúva Lamego to Pombaline shop fronts and art nouveau panels on old butcher and bakery shops in Graça. A former tile conservator explains what these patterns meant when they were made, not just how they look today. It is a close, technical look at a material most people only glance at.
The call opens with a sound check, then follows the three stops at a slow pace, since the guide often stops mid-sentence at a detail worth a closer look. Questions are welcome throughout, and a short list of buildings worth seeking out follows once the call ends.
This suits anyone interested in decorative arts or craftsmanship, whether visiting Lisbon or not. It also suits anyone who wants to learn how to spot an original tile panel from a modern reproduction.
Included
- Live video walk with a local guide
- Questions to your guide all the way
- A short list of places to visit later
Not included
- Internet connection
- Travel to the city
Itinerary
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Welcome and sound check 7 min
The guide joins the video call, checks the picture and sound with you, and gives you a quick sense of Lisbon before heading out.
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Viúva Lamego factory front 21 min
Outside the Viúva Lamego tile factory on Largo do Intendente, the guide points out the building's own tiled façade and explains how this workshop has supplied tiles across the city for generations.
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Pombaline shop fronts 21 min
Walking past a row of Pombaline shop fronts, the former conservator explains what the geometric patterns on each one originally meant to the shop's customers, rather than just how they look now.
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A church porch and Graça tiles 21 min
At a church porch, the guide points out a figura de convite, a tiled figure meant to welcome visitors, before finishing in Graça among art nouveau tiles on old butcher and bakery shopfronts, explaining how to tell a modern copy from an original panel.
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Your questions 14 min
Time to ask anything about Lisbon: prices, safety, food, or whatever you are curious about.
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A short list to keep 6 min
Before you go, the guide sums up with a few things worth remembering: a dish to try: Ginjinha and Bairro Alto, worth a slower look.
Good to know
- A stable wifi or mobile connection makes the picture smoother than a shaky one.
- Any phone, tablet or laptop with a camera works. You watch, the guide does the walking.
- Times are shown in Lisbon time, so check the time where you are before you book.
- The session is not recorded, and recording it yourself is not allowed. Feel free to take your own notes.
- Ask questions any time, out loud or in the chat. The guide will pause to answer.
- Sessions run in small groups, up to 10 people, so there is room for everyone to ask something.
Questions about this tour
What will the session cover?
The guide walks through Lisbon, showing you São Jorge Castle and Praça do Comércio live on camera, plus whatever else you would like to see.
What happens if my connection drops?
Rejoin with the same link within a few minutes and the guide will catch you up on anything you missed.
Can I ask the guide questions during the session, or is it a fixed script?
Anything, any time. Sessions leave room for your own questions throughout, not just at the end.
Do I need any background in art?
No. The guide explains what matters as you go, whatever you already know or do not.
How it works
- You get one join link after booking.
- Join from any device: phone, tablet or laptop.
- We meet on Google Meet; the link comes with your booking. I walk Lisbon live with my phone and you ask anything as we go.
Times shown in Lisbon time (WET)
Cancellation
Flexible
- Cancel up to 24 hours before the start: full refund.
- Cancel less than 24 hours before the start, or no-show: no refund.
- If the guide cancels or the date does not reach its minimum group: full refund.
- Cancel in My Account → Bookings; the refund is calculated from the start time in the tour's local time.
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Only travellers who booked and paid through Locals Guide and whose tour took place can leave a review, within 60 days of the tour. Every review is marked "Verified booking". We check reviews before they appear and publish positive and negative ones alike; we remove only reviews that break our rules (insults, personal data, unrelated content). Guides cannot pay for, edit or hide reviews, and ratings are the plain average of all published reviews.
Next: Fri 30 Oct · 10 seats left From 24,00 €
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