Voices of old Lisbon

Start at the top of Lisbon, on the terrace of the Senhora do Monte viewpoint, with the small chapel beside you. Stand at the railing and let the city settle below you: the castle on its own hill, the river beyond it, and the packed roofs of Alfama in between, which is the district this walk goes down into. This is the highest point of the route, so take your time here. When you are ready to move, the walk leaves by Rua da Senhora do Monte, the street behind the terrace. Press Play while you are still at the railing, facing the river.

From the viewpoint, follow Rua da Senhora do Monte as it drops away from the hilltop, then turn left onto Rua Damasceno Monteiro, which brings you down to Largo da Graça. Keep right around the largo and take the short walkway through to the terrace. It is about 700 metres and nine minutes, mostly a gentle descent. You have arrived when the ground opens into a wide terrace with trees beside the Graça church, the castle hill in view in front of you and the river beyond. This is the second of the walk's viewpoints: lower than the first, but closer to everything you are about to walk through.

Leave the terrace back through Largo da Graça and turn right onto Travessa de São Vicente, then right again onto Rua da Voz do Operário, which carries you down the hill. A left onto Arco Grande de Cima brings you to the church: about 500 metres, six minutes. The monastery's two square white towers show above the rooftops as you descend, and its long limestone front is on your right when you reach Arco Grande de Cima. It is one of the largest buildings in this part of the city. Press Play beneath the towers.

This is the shortest leg of the walk. Continue east along Arco Grande de Cima, keeping right where it opens into Campo de Santa Clara: barely 130 metres, two minutes from the church. Campo de Santa Clara is a long sloping square that runs from the monastery towards the white dome of the Pantheon, and on market days it fills from end to end with the stalls of the Feira da Ladra, Lisbon's flea market. The market ground is on your left as you enter the square. On other days the space is quiet and the rows of stalls are easy to picture. Either way, stop here with the dome ahead of you.

Carry on east along Campo de Santa Clara, walking the length of the square towards the dome, then turn right onto the walkway and right again to reach the building: about 220 metres, three minutes. There is no missing the National Pantheon. Its white dome is the biggest thing on this side of the hill and has been in view since the previous stop. The building is on your left when you arrive. Find a spot where you can see the whole dome before you press Play.

This is the longest leg, just over a kilometre and about thirteen minutes. Go back along Campo de Santa Clara the way you came, past the market ground, and at the far end turn briefly onto Rua da Voz do Operário, then right onto Rua de São Vicente, leaving the monastery behind you. Bear right onto Rua de Santa Marinha, take the short, sharp pull up Calçada da Graça, and then let Rua de São Tomé carry you along the hillside. A walkway and a few metres of Rua Norberto de Araújo bring you out at Portas do Sol, on your left: a broad open terrace with the roofs of Alfama falling away below and the river beyond.

The next viewpoint is only 140 metres on, two minutes. Walk southeast along Rua Norberto de Araújo, then turn right onto the walkway and follow it round to the terrace. The Miradouro de Santa Luzia is a different kind of lookout from Portas do Sol: smaller, with a garden and a pergola heavy with bougainvillea along the wall, and the same view of Alfama's roofs and the river framed between its columns. Find a place along the balustrade. From here the walk drops into the heart of Alfama, so take in the view from above before you go down into it.

Now you go down. From the terrace, the walkways lead you into the steps and lanes of Alfama. Thread down through Calçadinha da Figueira and Calçadinha de São Miguel, both narrow and steep, to Rua de São Miguel, then turn right into Beco do Mexias, which drops you out onto Largo do Chafariz de Dentro at the bottom of the hill. About 400 metres, four minutes, nearly all of it descending. This small square is where the maze ends, and the Fado Museum is on your right as you come out into it.

From the square, the walk climbs back up along Rua de São Pedro. Bear left onto Rua de São Miguel, then turn left onto Rua de São João da Praça and stay with it as it kinks left and right and rises towards the cathedral. Bear right onto Cruzes da Sé, and a short walkway brings you to the building: about 600 metres, nine minutes, uphill most of the way. The Sé is unmistakable, a fortress of a church with two squat crenellated towers and a rose window between them. Stand where you can see both towers. Press Play here.

The last leg is short and downhill: under 200 metres, two minutes. From the cathedral, pick up Cruzes da Sé again briefly, then go down Arco das Portas do Mar to the street at the foot of the hill, Rua dos Bacalhoeiros, and turn left. Casa dos Bicos is on your left almost at once, and you cannot mistake it: the whole front is studded with pyramid-pointed stones, hundreds of them, the bicos, or beaks, that give the house its name. Today it houses the José Saramago Foundation. This is the end of the walk, at the bottom of the hill you started on top of, with the river a short way beyond the street.