Explore Quinta do Arealva: Lisbon's Hidden Gem for Street Art.

Quinta da Arealva: The best Street Art in Lisbon... and much more.

Take the boat from Cais do Sodres to Casilhas and walk 20 minutes and you find the real The End – bring your own drinks and enjoy the best sunset in all Lisbon. No reservation needed. 🙂

Back in 2017, The Guardian claimed that Restaurant Ponto Final offered the best sunset seats in Lisbon. They were wrong. The restaurant isn’t even “the end”, as the name suggests – the real end is about 200 metres further west, at Quinta da Arealva.

Here, you not only get one of the best sunsets in Lisbon. You also find some of the Lisbon’s most interesting street art in the city. The pieces in the ruins of Quinta da Arealva are more street than art – rough, layered, fragile and very alive – especially when you compare them to the curated walls you now find all over town.

If you, like we do, bring your own bubbles and bites, this place becomes a perfect combination: best sunset, most intense street art, and one of Lisbon’s finest picnic spots.

Our favourite urban art venue

There are three reasons why Quinta da Arealva is a must‑go for art lovers and for travellers who want to break away from the usual tourist trail.

The last truly anarchic urban art venue

Quinta da Arealva is, in many ways, the last venue where you still find authentic, anarchic urban art on this scale.

Most other street art spots in Lisbon are now either:

curated by a gallery,
managed by an organisation or institution (sometimes with a gallery involved), or
part of the tourist business – usually guided tours combining projects from the first two categories.

Quinta da Arealva is different. It is still pure anarchy. Artists have to make an effort to reach the place and work there – even though it’s not actually difficult to get to – and that effort shows in the energy on the walls.

The missing link for a perfect half‑day on the left bank

Quinta da Arealva - Street Art and Picnic

Combine Picnic and street art at Quinta da Arealva. A Hidden Street Art Gem in Lisbon

Finaly Quinta da Arealva is also the missing link that makes half a day on the Tejo’s left bank truly worth it.

Start by taking the boat from Cais do Sodré to Cacilhas. When you arrive, turn right and walk about 500 metres along the quay until you reach the big concrete elevator. Take the free lift to the top and make your first stop at the café in the botanical garden inside the old fortress – the view over Lisbon from here is stunning.

From there, continue down Almada’s narrow streets to Cristo Rei. After you come back down from the statue, go behind the large parking area and follow the small dust road along the slope. It doesn’t look like much, but it leads you straight to Quinta da Arealva.

Forget about Ponto Final. This is the real final stop – and this is where you get one of Lisbon’s best sunsets, surrounded by ruins, river and wild urban art.

Go now – time is running out

The most important reason to go (if you need another one) is simple: time is running.

Like almost every prime riverside location in Lisbon, the whole area around Quinta da Arealva will, sooner or later, be turned into a luxury development. When that happens, this version of the place – raw, open, unpredictable – will disappear, and with it a big piece of Lisbon’s authentic art scene.

Seems as if the Irish play a big role in Lisbon's history?

Cristo Rei seen from Quinta da Arealva, Lisbon

The view of Cristo Rei from Quinto do Arealva – Without huge efforts you can trace the O’Neils back to the 12th century. With all the ‘clans’, kings, queens, knights & fights it’s not difficult to imagine what the O’Neils have been through – and what stories that are buried with all the clan members. And they are still around. So someone must bless them 🙂

Quinta da Arealva also comes with an unexpected connection to Irish and Danish history.

The first time I read about the O’Neils, bells started ringing. I knew I had seen the name before. While working on this post, I finally remembered why.

In 1866, when Hans Christian Andersen visited Lisbon, he stayed with his friends José and Jorge O’Neil at Quinta do Pinheiro (today part of the American Embassy). Two O’Neils in Lisbon could have been a coincidence – but of course they were related.

José and Jorge were two of José Maria O’Neil’s three sons (the third was Carlos O’Neil). José Maria was the Danish General Consul in Portugal and son of Sean (João) O’Neil, the man who built Quinta da Arealva.

The Kingdom Of Denmark Alexandre O'Neill

The Kingdom of Denmark by Alexandre O’Neill – One more O’Neill – and this one a little more difficult to trace. Still it only took me a few click to find the connection to Quinta da Arealva.

José and Jorge were sent to school in Copenhagen, where they stayed with Admiral P. F. Wulff for five years. That’s where they met Hans Christian Andersen. A few years later, Admiral Wulff’s daughter Henriette returned to Copenhagen after a visit to the O’Neils in Lisbon, bringing back an invitation for Andersen to visit.

During his stay in Portugal, Andersen also visited the third brother, Carlos, in Setúbal. Knowing how adventurous Andersen was, it’s hard to imagine that he didn’t also visit Quinta da Arealva – especially when you stand in this magical place today and realise how easy it is to reach from Cais do Sodré.

Thomas