Your tile is fired overnight, so you come back to Graça the next day. That gives you 24 hours in one of the last neighbourhoods in central Lisbon where people still hang their laundry over the street. Most visitors pass through Graça for the viewpoint and leave in twenty minutes. The pickup gives you a reason to come back and see the rest.
Where exactly are you?
Rua da Senhora do Monte 38C, up on the hill above Alfama. Five minutes on foot from the Tram 28 Graça stop, or bus 737 and 794. From Baixa-Chiado it is a 15 to 20 minute walk, and it is uphill the whole way. Wear something other than new shoes.
Graça sits just above Alfama: quieter, less visited, and the streets are still residential. That is the whole difference. Alfama is where the tour groups go, Graça is where you can hear someone’s television through an open window.
Straight after your session
The Miradouro da Senhora do Monte is about a minute away, and it is the highest viewpoint in the city. The castle, the river, the bridge, all of it from one wall. Go now rather than at sunset, when there are three hundred people and someone playing a speaker.
POP is at the same address as the atelier. Portuguese products, wine, cheese, conservas. Workshop participants get 5% off, and it is the obvious place to sit down after 90 minutes of holding a brush steady.
The afternoon
Walk down into Alfama. Not with a map, the point is to get lost, and every wrong turn ends at a view. If you painted a floral tile that morning you will start noticing the same motifs on the facades, which is either interesting or slightly annoying.
Tram 28 runs past the door. It is the tourist tram and it is packed, but from Graça you are near the top of the line, so you might actually get a seat going down.
The Feira da Ladra, Lisbon’s flea market, is a ten minute walk away at Campo de Santa Clara. Tuesdays and Saturdays only. Old tiles turn up there, and some of them are genuinely old.
Coming back for the tile
Collect on your way to whatever you are doing next. It takes two minutes.
Come back in the morning if you can. Graça before ten is a different neighbourhood: bakeries open, no one at the viewpoint, the light hitting the facades from the east. That hour is the reason some people come back to this part of Lisbon on their next trip.
Booking a session
45€ for one tile (1h30) or 50€ for two (2h), all materials and artist’s guidance included. Sessions at 10:30 and 15:00, seven days a week. Find us here. Take the 10:30 on your first day, and you will never be in a rush about the pickup.
Questions we get asked
Is Graça worth the climb?
The viewpoint alone, honestly, no. There are easier miradouros. The neighbourhood, yes. It is one of the few central areas that still belongs to the people who live there.
How do I get there without walking uphill?
Tram 28 to the Graça stop, then five minutes on the flat. Bus 737 also comes up. A taxi will do it for a few euros from Baixa.
Can I collect the tile at a different time from the session?
Yes, come back any time we are open the next day. It takes a minute.
What is there for kids while the tile is firing?
The viewpoint, the tram, and the walk down through Alfama. The workshop itself takes no prior experience, so children paint their own tile alongside you.