FADO
FREE TOUR

If you want to understand the Lisbon soul, our Fado Free Tour is the tour you were waiting for. This free tour is a plunge into the essence of Lisbon and its people and has received international awards for its originality. This Take Lisboa free walking tour is not simply a stroll around the Lisbon neighborhoods of Mouraria and Alfama. The guide is also a Fado singer and she will tell many stories about Fado but also sing to you in the narrow streets of Lisbon Old Town. The Fado Free Tour begins in Martim Moniz at the gates of Mouraria, the moorish district that looks in the opposite direction of the river Tagus. Did you know that one of the origins of Fado most disruptive thesis states that Fado was born in Brazil and descends from the song lundum? As we start climbing the hills of the Moorish district Mouraria, our guide will tell tales about the Portuguese sailors and how they mourned their homes in distant seas across the world. Did you know the word Fado comes from the Latin word fatum, which translates to fate? The alleys and patios of Mouraria and Alfama are the perfect scenery to introduce to you the rituals of Fado, the many different genres inside this genre and stories about the first Fado singer Maria Severa. As we venture into the Alfama district, we will reveal how a marginal song from the poorest neighborhoods of the city ascended to the status of National Song and a dictator cleverly took advantage of this. We will share with you the surprising origin of the Portuguese guitar and how a simple girl from the neighborhood of Arroios called Amália Rodrigues achieved the status of Queen of Fado. "All that matters is to feel Fado. Because Fado is not sung, it happens. Fado is felt, not understood, not explained." This is quote from Amália Rodrigues herself. We could not agree more. This is why our guide also sings during the tour. We will discuss topics like Fado and Salazar, it’s downfall after the 25th of April, what is a genuine Casa de Fado (Fado House). We will explain some Fado lyrics, debate its origins and go into Fado’s resurrection with new performers like Ana Moura, Carminho or Camané. But in those moments during the tour when you listen to Fado we want you to feel it.  This is definitely the city’s most original walking tour and as you can see we will go over 200 hundred years of Fado while walking around the old neighborhoods of Lisbon. We will finish near the Museum of Fado and at the end you will also be rewarded by our guide’s advises to list to the best Fado in Lisbon. Take our Fado Free Tour and feel the Lisbon soul inside you forever.