Catching up on review drafts a while back!…read more Had the pleasure of enjoying a few hours here in April 2022. Portugal being famous for their decorative ceramic tiles, this museum displays an extensive collection of both classical ceramic wall tile and modern art, housed in a 16th century monastery building. From the outside the building doesn't look super impressive though inside there's a good amount to see. Ticket price last I checked was €8, we arrived shortly after 10am on a Saturday and there was a line of about 20 people at the entrance and ticket counter though the line moved quickly. Upon entry first stop was the cafe for a quick breakfast, they took about 20ish minutes to open after the museum building opened, as we waited the staff was setting out chairs and readying some foodstuffs. Not wanting to wait too long, I went with a pastel de nata, a mini croissant and an espresso. The pastries were nothing special though not inedible. The espresso was solid. That being said, I came for the tiles and not the food, so getting to that... The exhibits start from the ground floor encircling a small courtyard and you make your way up a few more stories. The first two levels have more traditional tiles used for building ornamentation, some purely decorative motifs, others with elaborate scenes painted on them. The exhibit progresses in chronological order with upper floors featuring modern art. Since the museum sits in a historic monastery, the chapel, antechamber, auditorium and surrounding rooms part of the original church floor plan showcase elaborate wall and ceiling ceramic embellishments. Really gorgeous! Overall certainly recommend checking out this museum--there was a fair variety and what stood out to me was both the functionality and humor of some of the more classical pieces, and the creativity of the modern pieces. Worth it to spend a couple hours here if you're visiting Lisbon.

This was a great museum and we also really enjoyed the café and gift shop. The museum showcases…read moretiles from the 15th century through today. It was cool to see how the tradition has evolved over the years. Many signs are in both Portuguese and English. All the staff we spoke with were also very fluent in English. This was also the first place I saw a people love us on Yelp sign (in Portuguese) which was super cool. The café serves coffee, beer and wine as well as sandwiches and pasties in a beautiful setting. Part of the café is indoors and part is in a garden courtyard. Beautiful sculptures and flowers. We got here on the bus but you could also Uber. Bus stop is very close but it's a bit out of the way from the main touristic areas. I would budget about two to three hours here depending on how interested you are in the tiles. Definitely have a drink and a snack and enjoy the courtyard garden area. Shop was well stocked, reasonably priced and featured some work by local artisans.

The ruins of the 14th-century Carmo Convent are quite photogenic to walk through once you pay the…read more7€ admission fee (Photo). Towering Gothic arches frame the open sky. It's a remnant of the 1755 earthquake that destroyed much of Lisbon and leads the visitor to the Carmo Archaeological Museum where artifacts have been gathered from the prehistoric through medieval eras. There are items like Peruvian mummies & shrunken heads as well as Roman sarcophagi including the Sarcophagus of the Muses which details nine Greek muses (Photo 10). My favorite piece is actually outside, a bright red statue entitled "Encontro" by Franz Weissman (Photo 2) standing in stark contrast to the heraldic items. The museum is around the corner from the popular Santa Justa Lift. RELATED - Exploring Lisbon? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://yelp.to/btGN-VGvo8

Beautiful, outdoor museum! My tour guide in Porto actually suggested it for when I was traveling to…read moreLisbon. I'm so glad he did. The open air was refreshing and the artifacts themselves were so unique. Great museum that you can go as quick or slowly through as you want.

Sintra is where the royals went to rough it in their vacation castle. The Sintra Palace, complete…read morewith those two giant inverted ice cream cones on top, is basically a royal Airbnb with views to die for and tiles for days. Their of the medieval town is adorable. This is a popular day trip from Lisbon. There are several castles and palaces to explore. Views for days.

This is such an underrated spot in Sintra. Folks come here for the bigger castles, and honestly, we…read morewould've skipped this too if it weren't for the big storm that had come through a few days earlier and closed the larger castles down. Palacio Nacional de Sintra is full of rich history. It was so fun to see the way people used to do things hundreds of years ago -- where they slept, how they entertained, etc. The grounds were beautiful and each room had a distinct theme and vibe, but for me the coolest part were the giant chimneys in the kitchen. Back in the day, it would signal that the king and his court were home when they were really going. If you have time, I would stop in and see the sights. There are guided tour options, but there were plenty of written notes throughout to explain what you were seeing so that you really didn't need it. A cool experience for sure.

Amazing collection of art from all over the world!…read moreGulbenkian, who was born in Turkey, collected pieces from so many cultures. Here's a list: Egypt Mesopotamia Iran Turkey Egypt China Japan Dutch Europe Highlights: coins from Mesopotamia Ceramics from Iran & Turkey Renaissance medals This is a must see museum in Lisbon. Worth the admission price. Free on Sunday afternoons.

A welcome quiet and peaceful experience to escape the noise, crowds and chaos of Lisbon…read more Eclectic museum. Collection has a little bit of everything from 5,000 year old artifacts to modern abstract paintings and sculptures. For a complete overview plan to spend about 3 hours here.. If you are lodging downtown, take an uber to get here instead of changing buses several times. You'll save an hour commute.

If you plan to spend a full day in Belem like Jamie W and I did, then I suggest visiting this…read morecontemporary museum but only if you have time after the essential stops like the Jerónimos Monastery. I just don't view the collection here as indispensable for modern art lovers. You can tell by the one-off nature of the exhibits that it started as a private collection, this one from a self-made billionaire businessman named José "Joe" Berardo. In fact, the museum was named after him when it first opened in 2007, but now it's officially called Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC/CCB). The museum is housed inside a massive concrete complex called Centro Cultural de Belém. On the upper floor, there are singular pieces from the likes of Warhol, Picasso, Dalí, Miró, and Lichtenstein. Less interesting to us were the lower floors where they dive deep into highly abstract, conceptual, and minimalist art. The labyrinthine layout is confusing to navigate, but you can skip sections entirely if you're not engaged with the exhibits you see like Jeff Koons' "Poodle" (Photo 9). That happened a lot with us. Admission is 15€, and there's a combo bookstore and cafeteria where we sat a spell and had the 2,5€ Iced Lattes (Photo 8). Frankly, a half-hour is enough for a visit, and it was pretty easy to pick up an Uber from the front of the complex to get back to central Lisbon. RELATED - Exploring Lisbon? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://yelp.to/6RJs_afSDR

Even if you're not a fan of cubism, surrealism, etc., a visit is worthwhile for the beauty of the…read morebuilding itself and the views, which you can enjoy from either the second floor restaurant or the comfy outdoor chairs provided so you can sit and relax. Bonus: was not crowded on a beautiful Sunday in late May when downtown Lisbon was jammed with tourists.

A feast for the eyes! I love and respect great design from clothing to furniture to advertising…read moreposters. This museum has it all. Such a pleasure to walk through and soak it all in. There's also a rooftop terrace with beautiful views and flowers to enjoy. It's conveniently located in the heart of Lisbon, so don't miss it.

Nice to enter for free in a museum, and particularly when it's not a very good exhibition. It's an…read moreold bank which became a museum of modern art. So a great building. Quite interesting ground floor : objects, furnitures and clothes from all the times. Not many explanations on the walls, too bad that they don't propose a short visit with a guide, even with a student in art. We went to see the exhition at the 1st floor but we didn't enjoy it. It was about researches necesary to organise an exhibition. A lot of papers to read, not very ludic or interactive. At the end a video on an old TV but just in portuguese, with no subtutiles ! We couldn' understand what it was about...

Often, contemporary art goes right over my head. Contemporary art is usually topical and current…read moreand political. And yes, they did have some of that here and yes, I did miss those messages. Much of the art was a bit more "modern" and this is the sort of art I like. Abstracts and impressionist and cubist. Pretty imagery and depth of color and quality of painting. Júlio Pomar (1926-2018) "Procissão", 1962. A stunning impressionist-styled painting of some sort of march or protest. Beautiful work of art. Joao Hogan (1914-1988) "Untitled", 1966. A beautiful and simple painting of a bridge that looked almost like the Western USA. Rene Bertholo (1935-2005) "Untitled", 1958. Fabulous browns and oranges and yellows. The museum has many great galleries and rooms for exhibits. The spaces are open, bright and perfect for art displays. I would only say that I wish there were more of these pieces for sale in prints or cards so that I could take them home with me. [Review 19034 overall - 229 in Portugal - 3 of 2023.]

Very interesting collection. Someone I know compared it to the MoMA but I don't like that…read morecomparison. One of the top floors had a large exhibit on photography and art. It was interesting. Then there were some small galleries of modern art, cubists and such. Then we came to Pinheiro and some contemporaries- my favorite part! We got in free because our hotel comped us but I think it's worth the ticket price if you like the art ( look at the Yelp pictures). Bathrooms are great. Spotless and comfortable.

The biggest palace I have visited. This palace is build in rectangular shape with wide length that…read morecreates the long corridor to walk from one corner to the other. The first level is convent with all the living quarters. The cathedral also located on center of the palace. The second level is the living space for the royal. This dual use palace is the first I have visited. The visit will take minimum 1.5 hours to complete if you walk fast. The first floor cathedral has a lot of relic that to be use for the festival on the street. The cathedral is actually the Basilica of Our Lady and St. Anthony of Mafra. I like marble construction. It connected to the convent and living quarters of the nun. You can see the each quarter has the fire metal bowl. At very interesting is the first time I see the hospital in the convent for the sick people. The second floor is huge. The royal quarter, painted ceiling, games room, throne room, trophies room, royal prince room, music room, and more. The most spectacular is the library. The collection is by section. This library is very similar to the University of Coimbra library. The collection includes monster, magic, science and more for the books. Love it.

I enjoyed my visit here. I drove from Lisbon planning only to see the library, which is…read morehistorically important, if you're a big fan of libraries like me. But, I ended up pleasantly surprised by the added parts which included a museum and a "birds of prey" exhibit. The bird exhibit (and photo op) alone was 5 stars--I'm easily impressed by birds, I guess. The library, which I came for, was visually impressive. Yet, I was SUPER DISAPPOINTED that visitors couldn't actually go into the library. You can only take photos from one end and only about 3 meters into the space. So. Disappointed. Even so, it was a gorgeous space and seeing the rest of the palace sort of helped assuage my disappointment. If you're in the area (or an old library fan girl, I'd recommend it.