- 18 hours at Expo
Find out how to visit Expo in one day, from 9am to 3pm. Without wasting time
Spending a single day at Expo'98 is a feat that requires a lot of energy, legs and resignation. It's best to enter the site as soon as the doors open (9 a.m.) and prepare for an 18-hour walking marathon (closing time 3 a.m.). Above all, don't be under any illusions: it's impossible to try and visit everything. The secret is to choose the right gate, visit two or three large pavilions, add a few countries and concentrate on what's going on outside.
The most spectacular way to get there is by boat, which docks at Porta do Tejo, next to Doca dos Olivais. But there are other options: the best is Porta do Sol, served by Oriente Station, an intermodal station offering train, metro and bus services. You can also leave your car in the large car park and take a bus to Porta do Norte. Before setting foot on land, those arriving by boat can spot some key landmarks by reproducing the layout of the site live. On the left, the boats of the Boat Show, the old refinery tower (Porta do Mar), the International South Zone (on the facades, stylised flags and names of countries that have a pavilion there; the project was designed by Manuel Salgado, Marino Fei and Pierluigi Cerri), the deep blue of the Camões Theatre/Júlio Verne Hall (also by Manuel Salgado) and the Oceanarium. At the end of the quay are the exhibition pavilion and the Portugal pavilion, while to the right stands out the round shape of the Utopia pavilion. A glance further to the right reveals the Garcia de Orta gardens by the river, with the undulating roof of the International Zone North (other country pavilions designed by António Barreiros Ferreira and Alberto França Dória) and the Vasco da Gama Tower as a backdrop. In the distance, you can see the new bridge over the Tagus.
Once inside, the Olharapos appear. But before midday, when the pavilions open, it might be a good idea to book a ticket for the final Oceanos e Utopias show, at 9pm, in the Utopia pavilion.
The first few hours of the day can be spent in the Pavilion of the Future, in the Alameda dos Oceanos. There are 60 minutes left to watch the three-dimensional film and descend into the abyss to discover the threats that the future poses to the seas. It's a two-hour wait, with water games in the Alameda.
On your way to the oceanarium, you can take the opportunity to see what the participating countries have brought to Lisbon. You can visit a pavilion from each continent, starting with Japan (Asia) and Mexico (America), in the International South Zone. All the pavilions have a direct exit to the outside. Expect queues (the street entertainment promises to be entertaining), snacks and shopping - each pavilion may have 20% of its space taken up by shops. If you're feeling peckish, the choice is difficult between restaurants, kiosks, terraces, self-service outlets and takeaways. Better to opt for a quick lunch.
It's a project of unexpected sounds, designed to 'move' visitors. As well as the sound of the sea and water, the footsteps of people walking or running (and other surprises), it includes a series of useful pointers to the site.
Next up is the Oceanarium, a must-see for anyone living far from Lisbon. The visit lasts around 30 minutes, at a steady pace to allow 5,000 people to see it every hour, but you have to reckon with the waiting time.
The sun is already up. Buying catalogues of the major pavilions makes up for the sadness of not having time to see everything, and the cable car ride gets you quickly to the other end of the site. Although the queue is long (the cable car stops frequently as some people are reluctant to get off even though it is moving slowly), the coastal path (a sort of footbridge over the water linking the boat show area to the north end of the dock) is also very beautiful.
Just next door, there's a temptation: the Boat Show. Here you can visit a Japanese research submarine capable of diving to a depth of 6,500 metres (only from 20 July, Japan's bank holidays), and the frigate D. Fernando e Glória, which, during Expo'98, is the pavilion of the Portuguese Communities. The sound of a ship's siren does not mean that a ship is entering the basin, but rather that it is one of the noises that make up the megaphony.
Right next to the cable car is the Vasco da Gama tower - the ascent (over 120 metres high) is via three outdoor glass lifts and the view over the park and the Sea of Straw is panoramic. The $500 ticket (deductible if you go to the restaurant) is well worth it. Nearby are the pavilions of the Netherlands (Europe) and Algeria (Africa), already in the International Zone North - make the most of them.
Between visits to the pavilions, you'll have the chance to see the caravan of Algerian dromedaries, the only boat in the world to sail without a crew, or the World Balloon Award (on 4, 5 and 7 June, next to Place Sony, you can take a ride in a balloon). But you only have to walk through the streets to feel that Expo'98 is a permanent party. On every street corner, there's a TV screen (with news bulletins, live reports, summaries of shows), an Olharapo watching outside, a show taking place on a stage. In hot weather, there are always the fountains of the Water Gardens or the shade of the Garcia de Orta Gardens. And for the more extreme, Expo Adrenalina is the place to conquer your fear of heights or, more simply, rollerblade.
At sunset (around 7pm), it's impossible to escape the Pilgrimage to get to dinner, which has to be done at speed as the Utopia pavilion closes 10 minutes before the start of the show.
In the evening, it's a good idea to check out what's going on on the stages dotted around the site (from 9.30pm, depending on which country is celebrating its bank holidays) and wait on the quayside for the Acqua Matrix show before midnight.
To finish the night dancing in a gigantic open-air disco, buses will take you to Sony Square, where the party promises to be enormous. At 3am - with "the help of the Olharapos. who start an hour earlier to direct people to the exits - residents of the south bank of the Tagus can return home by bus (Porta do Sol), crossing the Vasco da Gama bridge. To finish on a high note.