Drones Over Portugal's Grande Lisbon Region

In this video, top contributor Justin Poore used a drone to give us an unforgettable look at the amazing city of Lisbon, Portugal.  The video captures many of the top sights in the Portuguese capital, including an epic shot of its iconic 25 de Abril Bridge at around the 1:40 mark.  The red-colored bridge spanning the Tagus River between Lisbon and Almada has been a filming location for numerous movies, notably the 1969 James Bond movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the seventh movie in the series.

Eminorcks created this epic drone video of Sintra, a culturally important Portuguese town in the Greater Lisbon area.  An ancient city that has long been one of the most important in Portugal, Sintra was "discovered" again beginning in the late 18th century, when many new structures were built in the Romanticist style.  It continues to be one of the biggest tourist destinations in Portugal, and its travel indistry helps to propel the entire Greater Lisbon region of Portugal.  

Francisco Rodriguez created this amazing drone video of the surfing scene at Praia Grande Beach.  It's located in the Sintra province of the Greater Lisbon region, just a bit west-northwest of the capital city.  It's part of the area sometimes known as the Portuguese Riviera, a stretch of Atlantic coastline that includes famed beaches such as Cabo de Roca and Cascais, which are more popular with swimmers (as opposed to surfers) and lie to its south.  

Cascais is a town lying on the Portuguese Atlantic coast immediately to the west of Portugal's capital city Lisbon, near the middle of the country's Atlantic coastline.  It is the most popular beach area in Portugal and one of the finest on the European continent.  Contributor Deardrone used a DJI Mavic Pro drone to fly over this spectacular resort area, and the aerial views of the colorful umbrellas, happy beach goers, and  refreshing waters is not to be missed!

Contributor guydrory created this magnificent aerial view of Pena Palace, one of the great cultural treasures of Portugal and widely considered one of the world's top 4-5 castles.  It's located in the hills of the Sintra province, northeast of Lisbon.  Completed on the site of a ruined medieval monastery in 1854, it was built as a summer residence for the Portuguese Royal Family.  Its design represents one of the more prominent architectural expressions of 19th century Romanticist thought.  

Cabo de Roca in southwestern Portugal enjoys the distinction of being the westernmost location in mainland Europe.  It is part of the Sintra district, which lies to the north and west of Lisbon.  The lanscape of Cabo de Roca is one of white sand beaches and spectacular cliffs overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.  Contributor Flying Visions flew a drone over this amazing spot on the western Iberian Peninsula, and the resulting aerial perspective is amazing.

Portugal's Romanesque Revival style Pena Palace is considered one of the greatest of the European castles.  It's located at the top of Sintra Mountain overlookling the town of the same name, near the Portuguese capital city Lisbon.  Completed in 1854, it is regarded as one of the country's greatest national treasures.  Contributor Francisco Rodriguez, one of the top drone pilots in Portugal, created this amazing aerial view of this hilltop place of almost surreal beauty as it glimmers in the mist.  

Setúbal is a medium sized port city on the estuary of the Sado River, in the Greater Lisbon region of Portugal.  Its calm waters stand in stark contrast to the much rougher Atlantic waters of the cities along the country's Atlantic coast.  The city was once the center of Portugal's fishing industry, one of the largest in the world at one point.  Jorge Novo Murias used a DJI Mavic Pro drone to create a bird's eye view of the waterfront of Setúbal at sunset.  

Contributor Goncaloafranco used a DJI Mavic Pro drone to create this amazing aerial tour of Ericeira, an idyllic seaside town in the Greater Lisboa region of central Portugal.  It's considered to be one of the best surfing spots in Europe, and is the center of Portuguese surfing culture.  The town, which has a population of about 10,000, lies about a half hour drive to the northwest of the capital city Lisbon.  Enjoy the views of Portugal's uniquely blue Atlantic Ocean waters and stunning coastline.  

During the 16th century, the then-mighty Kingdom of Portugal constructed a series of fortresses along the banks of the Tagus River estuary to protect its capital city Lisbon from its main vulnerability - seaborne invasion.  The most important of these was the Fort of São Julião da Barra, which is located on a promontory on the northern bank of the river's final outlet.  DroneCascais used a DJI Mavic Pro drone to create a spectacular bird's eye view great fort, which was completed in 1568.

Throughout its history (including a time as one of the world's most important cities), Portugal's Lisbon has been vulnerable to seaborne invasion.  To cover the approaches to the city from the sea, various fortresses have been built in the Tagus River estuary to protect the city from such an eventuality.  In this video by contributor Flyingbydaniel, you'll get a bird's eye look at one of these forts: Fort of São Lourenço. Built in the 16th-17th centuries, it now functions as a lighthouse.

Get a bird's eye view of one of Portugal's most famous lighthouses in this drone video. Cape Espichel Lighthouse lies at the tip of the cape of the same name in Portugal's Setúbal District, which lies just to the south of the capital city and is part of the Grande Lisboa (Greater Lisbon) region.  Built in 1790, the lighthouse provides critical navigation to an area which was known as the Black Coast to British sailors because of its danger to ships headed in and out of Lisbon Harbor.

Contributor RickKengan used a DJI Phantom 3 drone to create this beautiful aerial capture of Almada, Portugal. Almada sits across the Tagus River from the capital Lisbon, with which its relationship resembles the relationship between San Francisco and Oakland, California: the two cities are connected by a bridge of fairly recent vintage.   In the case of Almada, the connection was provided through the 25 de Abril Bridge, which opened for auto traffic in 1966.

Drone-Cascais used a DJI Mavic Pro 2 drone to create this spectacular aerial video of the lighthouse of Cabo de Roca, one of the most well known such structures in Portugal.  The lighthouse has a modest height of 22 meters (72 ft.), but the height of the cliff gives it a focal height of 165 meters (about 540 ft.).  It's situated on the cape of the same name, at (more or less) the western extremity of Portugal in its Sintra privince, part of the Greater Lisbon region.  It was built in 1772 and continues to operate.

Located a bit to the northwest of the capital city Lisbon, Sintra is home to some of the greatest natural and cultural treasures of Portugal.  The natural treasures include its spectacular rocky beaches (Ursa being the most well known) as well as the Sintra Mountains which overlook the ocean.  Cultural treasures include Pena Palace, one of the finest Baroque style palaces in Europe.  All are on display here from a bird's eye point of view in this drone video by Francisco Rodriguez.    

Guincho Beach (Praia do Guincho) is on Portugals's Estoril Coast, an area near Lisbon which is sometimes known as the Portuguese Riviera.   The area is one of the beach destinations that benefitted immeasurably from being used in a James Bond film:  Guincho Beach was the filming location for the opening scene of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the seventh film in the series.  Contributor Mig_Moura brings us this beautiful bird's eye view of the famous beach.

Contributor Flybyzion used a DJI Phantom 3 Professional to create this beautiful aerial of Santuário da Peninha, a well known Portuguese monastery.  It's situated in the mountains of the Sintra province, which is part of the Greater Lisbon region and just a bit to the north and west of the capital city.  The site has been used for monastic purposes since Portugal first converted to Christianity.  The chapel which currently sits atop the hill dates to the early 18th century.

YanivLahav created this spectacular view of one of the natural wonders of Portugal: the famous caves of Boca Inferno near Lisbon.  They lie near the beach city of Cascais, just west of the mouth of the Tagus River.  A short distance from Lisbon, the caves are a popular tourist attraction.  The famed beaches of Cascais, some of the most popular in Portugal, lie just to the east of the caves.  The entire area is considered part of the Grande Lisboa region.

One of the reasons why the coast of Portugal has become such a big attraction is the visually compelling interplay between the cliffs and the beaches.  In some spots, the spectacular rocky cliffs plunge straight down to the ocean, in others they sit behind a protected beach, and in still others they are absent entirely.  You can see this phenomenon for yourself in this drone video by VGVideos.  It was shot around Cascais and Estoril, on the so-called Portuguese Riviers just west of Lisbon.

Contributor Jorge Novo Murias created this aerial view of a castle in Portugal's Grande Lisboa region.  It's called Castelo de Sesimbra, and it's located in the province of Setúbal, south of the capital city Lisbon.  The medieval area castle is built on a cliff in a strategic location, overlooking one of the rivers that feed into the area.  It's located just a few miles from Cabo Espichel, a peninsula which extends into the Atlantic Ocean off of the Setúbal Peninsula.

Contributor guydrory created this awesome aerial view of one of Portugal's most famous rock formations.  It's called the Boca do Inferno, which translates to "Hell's Mouth".  It's essentially a seaside cave in the cliffs here where the action of the ocean causes water to shoot out of a mouth-like opening.  It's located near Cascasis, a town in the stretch of the coast known as the Portuguese Riviera, west of Lisbon.  It has the distinction of being the first cave to have appeared in a movie, a 1896 British silent.  

Here's a terrific aerial view of one of the landmarks of the Greater Lisbon region of Portugal: it's a lighthouse atop a small island at the mouth of the Tagus River called Bugio's Lighthouse.  It's situated within the Forte de São Lourenço do Bugio, a 16th century fortress which was built at the mouth of the river to protect Lisbon from seaborne invasion.   The original lighthouse was destroyed in the 1755 earthquake but its replacement continues to be operational.

The Portuguese capital city of Lisbon is closely tied to the city of Almada, which sits on the far (south) side of the River Tagus, over the 25 de Abril Bridge.   The south bank city which lies closest to Lisbon by boat though is actually Cacilhas.  This small town occupies the eastern tip of the strip of land which narrows the Tagus before it ends its journey to the Atlantic; it's directly east of Almada.  Check out this beautiful little town from above in this drone video by contributor deardrone.

Check out this stunning drone video of the Portuguese capital city Lisbon, compliments of contributor Madeirexx.  The video opens with a magnificent aerial shot of the Christ the King statue overlooking the 25 de Abril Bridge on the Tagus River.  From there it's on to other top spots in the city such as Jerónimos Monastery and Rossio Square, the Praça do Comércio, Torre de Belem, and Sao Jorge Castle.  It also includes some footage of Greater Lisbon, including Pena Palace and Cascais Beach.