Closed to traffic, this street has all sorts of international shops for all sorts of tastes, flower peddlars, hot chestnuts sellers, street cafés, independent street Artists like the "statue man" or the familiar harmonica player and many, many more. Immigrants from Africa and South America offer items of wood, metal, or leather, while other vendors sell books, souvenirs, sunglasses, paintings, t-shirts, temporary tattoos and anything else to attract the crowds passing by.

Curious thing in this area is the name of the streets that run parallel to Rua Augusta. They all come from the occupations or the materials once existent and worked on here: Rua dos Sapateiros (shoemakers), Rua da Prata (silver), Rua do Ouro (gold), etc.

The old architectural style, originally from the reconstruction of Lisbon made by Marques do Pombal after the 1755 earthquake, is still intact, so you can see many of the buildings as they originally were.