A city facing the ocean

Start inside LX Factory, the old industrial yard in Alcântara that sits almost beneath the approach to the great red suspension bridge over the Tagus. Stand in the main lane between the brick warehouses, with the bridge deck overhead, and take a moment to get your bearings. The complex opens onto Rua Rodrigues Faria, and that is the way the walk leaves. The whole route runs flat along the river from here to Belém, so there is nothing to climb. Face the street gate, press Play, and let the yard's story set the tone before you head for the water.

Leave LX Factory onto Rua Rodrigues Faria and thread through the side streets of Alcântara towards Rua da Cozinha Económica, which brings you to the railway line and the wide road running along the river. Cross both to the waterfront, then bear left along Avenida de Brasília towards the dock. It is a flat fifteen-minute walk, about 1.2 kilometres. You arrive at Doca de Santo Amaro when the marina opens up on your left: a basin of moored boats sitting directly under the bridge, with the Tagus beyond the breakwater.

From the dock, head west along the river on Passeio Carlos do Carmo, the long waterfront promenade that carries almost the whole leg. Keep the Tagus on your left and simply follow the water for about 1.7 kilometres, around twenty minutes of easy, level walking. The arrival cue is unmistakable: a low, curving building faced in white tiles rises from the promenade on your left, with the old brick power station standing beside it. That is the MAAT. Its roof is a public walkway, so you can climb it for a view back over the river.

A short six-minute leg, about 460 metres. Walk west from the MAAT and cut inland through Largo do Marquês de Angeja, crossing the railway and the busy road that separate the riverside from the town. Turn right onto Avenida da Índia and follow it west. The National Coach Museum is on your right: a large modern building of pale concrete raised on columns above the avenue, with the museum's older quarters a little further along in the historic palace riding school.

Continue west along Avenida da Índia and turn right into Praça Afonso de Albuquerque, the formal garden square with a tall column and statue at its centre. Walk up through the square, about 600 metres and nine minutes in all, on level ground. The Palácio Nacional de Belém looks over the square from its top side: a long pink façade with the Portuguese flag flying, home of the President of the Republic. You have arrived when the palace is on your left and the square's gardens lie behind you.

The next stop is only five minutes away, about 350 metres. Drop back down through Praça Afonso de Albuquerque and follow its edge west, past the gardens. Pastéis de Belém is on your right, easy to spot by its blue-and-white sign on a long stretch of shopfront. The pastry shop has been baking the same custard tart here since the nineteenth century, and its story is the guide's to tell. Press Play once you are standing in front of it, before deciding whether to step in.

Walk west on Rua de Belém, and within a minute the monastery's great stone front comes into view ahead. Turn into Largo dos Jerónimos and follow it along the length of the façade, then take Rua dos Jerónimos and the walkways to come round to the church. It is about 600 metres, eight minutes on the flat. The Jerónimos Monastery is on your right: a wall of carved limestone stretching further than any building you have passed so far, with the church portal standing out from the long line of the cloister wing.

From the church, work your way back to Rua dos Jerónimos and follow it, then bear right on the walkway down into Praça do Império, the vast garden square in front of the monastery with a fountain at its centre. The leg is about 800 metres, ten minutes, entirely level. The Museu de Marinha fills the monastery's western wing, facing the square, and is on your right as you come along Praça do Império. Look for the museum entrance in the long façade rather than the church doors you have just left.

Cross Praça do Império eastwards, past the fountain, then take the walkways down through the passage under the railway and the road to reach the riverside. The leg is about 700 metres, nine minutes, with a few short twists at the underpass but no real climbing. The Monument to the Discoveries is impossible to miss: a tall stone prow pointing out over the Tagus, lined with carved figures, with a huge compass-rose mosaic laid in the pavement in front of it. Stand on the mosaic facing the monument to press Play.

The final leg runs west along the river for about 1.2 kilometres, fourteen minutes of flat walking. Follow the waterfront walkways from the monument, keeping the Tagus on your left, and join Avenida de Brasília where the path meets it, then return to the riverside walkways for the last stretch. Belém Tower appears ahead of you long before you reach it: a square stone tower rising from the water on your left, reached on foot from the shore. The walk ends here, with the river opening out towards the ocean beyond the tower.