25 de Abril Bridge
Lisbon's iconic suspension bridge stretches across the Tagus with Golden Gate swagger.
The Ponte 25 de Abril is one of Europe's most recognisable bridges — a sweeping, rust-red suspension bridge that spans the Tagus River, connecting Lisbon to the town of Almada on the south bank. Built in 1966 and originally named after dictator Salazar, it was renamed after the Carnation Revolution of April 25, 1974, the bloodless coup that ended nearly five decades of authoritarian rule in Portugal. That date is sacred in Lisbon, and the bridge carries the memory of it. The resemblance to San Francisco's Golden Gate is no accident — both were built by the same American company, the American Bridge Company, using a similar design language.
Most visitors experience the bridge from a distance, whether from the hilltop Cristo Rei statue on the Almada side (an excellent vantage point), from the Alfama waterfront, or from the Belém district where you can watch traffic flow overhead while wandering between the Jerónimos Monastery and the Tower of Belém. But the bridge itself also has a lower deck that was added in 1999 to carry the Fertagus rail line, giving it two tiers of traffic — road above, trains below. Driving across it is genuinely thrilling, especially at dusk when the city lights up behind you.
There's no pedestrian crossing on the bridge itself — you can't walk across it — so if you want to get close, your best bets are the Almada riverbank near Cacilhas (reached by a short ferry from Cais do Sodré), or the Miradouro de Santo Amaro in Alcântara, which sits almost directly beneath the bridge's Lisbon-side towers and offers arguably the best up-close view in the city. Sunset from Santo Amaro, with the bridge glowing orange above you, is something you won't forget.
