Fado Free Tour

Understand the soul of Lisbon and, eventually, of Portugal. Hear fado’s true sound and dive into the essence of this music with a true fado singer!

}  Time:  16:30
  Duration: 2 hours 30 min
  Price: Free

The tour starts in Rossio, next to the statue of King Pedro IV, first emperor of Brazil, where we learn about a disruptive thesis stating that fado was born in Brazil and comes from the song lundum. Then, as we stard climbing the Mouraria, we talk about the Portuguese sailors and how they mourned their distant homes. Did you know the word fado comes from ther word fatum, Latin for fate?

Here, the alleys and patiosare the perfect scenery to introduce to you the rituals of fado, its many different genres, and the first fado singer Maria Severa. Once in Alfama we see how a marginal song from the poor climbed to the status of National Song and a dictator cleverly took advantage of it.

We discover the origin of the Portuguese guitar and how a simple, poor girl called Amália Rodrigues became the Queen of Fado: “all that matters is to feel. Because fado is not sung. It happens. Fado is felt, not understood, not explained”, she said. We could not agree more. This is why our guide also sings during the tour. When you listen to fado, we want you to feel it. Come and be marveled.

N  Listen to live fado directly from your guide
N  Learn about the origins of this music and what influenced it
N  Understand what it meant and what it still means
N  Discover how fado was used during Salazar’s dictatorship
N  Get to know the best fadistas in history, and the emerging ones

If you want more flexibility and a dedicated guide for you and your group, you can book this tour as a private tour totally in English, Spanish or Portuguese.