What a lovely respite in the middle of Belém. Quiet. Huge. Interesting collection of trees and…read moreplants. Inexpensive. And the biggest flock of peacocks either of us has ever seen. Dozens of them. If there was a small restaurant or even a coffee shop, the aJardim Botânico Tropical would be heaven. Note: you can reenter with same ticket.

We didn't plan to visit this tropical garden in the Belem area because we had limited time and…read morethere are so many nice places to go. But we couldn't resist it because the garden staff was so warm and welcoming. I am not only talking about the regular staff at the ticket kiosk who answered our questions patiently, but also the animal staff. When we passed by the entrance, several bird staff came up and walked around us cheerfully and kept talking. I couldn't understand their language but by the way they spoke, I felt very welcomed and would feel bad if not following them to enter. Soon in the garden, the kitty staff ran a long way towards me enthusiastically and offer himself for touching. He also accompanied us to walk around for a long way until he had to stop to poo. No worries, we understand that you have your own business to mind and thanks for your company! It's a very beautiful garden with a variety of tropical plants and the garden map illustrates where they are. This garden is also very big and if you have limited time in this neighborhood, the Ajuda garden up to the hill is also a great choice as it has a lot of exotic plants especially with a variety of smells and the garden is specially designed for blind people to enjoy.

Sightseeing in Lisbon isn't easy. Lisbon is one of the hilliest cities I've ever been to. It's not…read morequite San Francisco but it's in the running. After a long day of walking around, my legs and feet felt like spaghetti. That's why it's nice to take a break throughout the day and relax a little bit. That's exactly what I did at Jardim de Estrela. This is a large park with plenty of trails, vegetation, and benches. I took advantage of the beauty and meditated here. Beyond the sights, there are several statues throughout the park to check out and learn some history. There are also a bunch of ducks and geese that hang out by the lake. The geese are huge! I'm not sure what they feed them in Portugal but we're talking mutant geese. If you're willing to hang out with mutant geese, this is a relaxing spot to spend some time at.

We loved this place! We were going to the Estrela church but mass was just beginning so we walked…read moreacross the street and found this charming park. It was raining, so it was just us, the ducks and geese and a few dog walkers. It was so peaceful and beautiful. The trees here are enormous and beautiful. It's a lovely place to sit and relax. Plenty of places to stop for coffee and plenty of sculptures to admire.

This aquarium was fantastic! I loved the flow of it, where there's one naturtal pathway that leads…read moreyou from the start to the finish. We started at the top floor through a special exhibit which was beautiful, and then worked our way down. You'll pass penguins and waterfalls, you can go over a wooden bridge through a little tropical feeling forest, and onto the playful otters. Then you'll continue around passing the giant central tank. As you descend, you'll get additional looks at the tank and different viewpoints like watching the penguins dive below the water. This is the first aquarium to capture my son's delight, but I also think he's just turned the corner on appreciating animals (or at least sea life). Our toddler daughter also enjoyed it very much! We all did. We don't typically book into zoos or aquariums unless they are top in the world, and this aquarium was very highly rated, so I was very happy we came. It was a perfect attraction for our family, but I also would have been happy I came even if this was a trip without kids. With kids? A slam dunk. You can add a gondola ride onto your aquarium ticket which we did. We booked the roundtrip gondola and our kids enjoyed the experience. I wouldn't say it's a must do, but it's not terribly expensive and if you have kids, they'll like this experience too. If you're up for a packed day, you can do the science museum which is next door as well. I read it's a very interactive hands on museum but we had to get back that day. The aquarium is a half day experience. I think we there for 2.5 hours.

Rainy day in Lisbon so decided to take in what was billed as largest Aquarium in Portugal…read more I recommend buying tickets before hand as tgey have entry time periods and it will greatly reduce waiting around ona busy day. We pre-purchased tickets so had a designated slot time making entry smooth. Ticket takers were nice, and able to speak enough english to be helpful. Once inside, we walked thru a display of prehistoric sea monsters with placards in multiple languages(including English) with names and descriptions. You then proceed down an enclosed raised walkway to the main Aquarium. Once inside, familiar Aquarium setup with a one way path navigating various habitats and tanks for penguins, sea otters, all circling the huge main central tank . Daughter was disappointed that there was no tank where she could touch a manta or sting ray. All in all, a pleasant way to spend a few hours to learn of the local sea life.

Definitely a castle you should visit when you're visiting Lisbon. If you're staying in Lisbon,…read moreyou'll see it when you are in the downtown area. Do you see it? Seeing a piece of Portuguese history in person is something I've always wanted to do. Since this castle is atop the city, it offers some of the best views of this bustling town. You probably just need a couple of hours to tour the grounds.

A must visit! The views, the peacocks, the open air. Can't suggest enough! Glad this was…read morerecommended to me. A must!

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.

Everyone and their mother told me to come to the tile museum on my recent trip to Lisbon. Honestly,…read moreit was cool to see, but I didn't spend anywhere near the 1-1.5 hours people recommend spending here. It was a 30 minute max type of museum unless you're going to stop and read every single thing about every single tile in this place...which I guess people must do. One thing that was incredibly cool is the panoramic view of what Lisbon used to look like before the big earthquake they had. It's interesting to see what monuments survived, which ones didn't and what stands there today. Overall, if you have extra time during your trip this isn't a bad way to spend it - I just wouldn't plan on being here for hours and hours (unless you really, really want to).

This had to be one of the highlights of our visit to Portugal. Ironically, this was not on our…read moreoriginal itinerary. We planned to see a castle farther north, but there were wildfires that had the roads closed to get there. The Palace is extraordinary and so well kept up. The grounds were extraordinary. The gardens were lovely. But the interior was magnificent. The palace was built in the 17th century and was spared from the earthquake that destroyed much of this area of the county. So much is still original, and what needed to be has been restored. I particularly liked the ballroom and the various bedrooms. The ceilings were very nice in some of the palace. Overall, it was an awesome experience.

Ever felt catfish by online photos? I felt that. I really enjoyed the outdoors but felt like the…read moretime spent here could have gone to another site. I would skip it and would have spent more time inside Quinta

Instead of taking the tram directly to Belem Tower, Jamie W and I got off at the Calvario stop…read more(where the LX Factory is) and walked the rest of the way along the Tagus River. It took about an hour extra to get to the tower, but it was a good step day and well worth the additional sights. Chief among them was the striking architecture of this wave-shaped building overlooking the river. Housed in both a futuristic building and a vintage industrial power station, the museum itself was closed, but the undulating rooftop was open and free to enjoy panoramic views of the Tagus River, the 25 de Abril Bridge, and the waterfront promenade. It reminded me of the similarly conceived Opera House in Oslo also dominated visually by its walkable roof (review: https://yelp.to/sdji5rX0Cu). RELATED - Exploring Lisbon? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://yelp.to/XS5EvqaG1J

The best part of this experience was walking alongside the water as a cool breeze was blowing and…read moretaking in the beautiful architecture of the building and gazing at the bridge and surrounding landmarks. Once inside I was bewildered by the scarcity of the "Art". And it somehow got much worse when I visited the galleries. I'm baffled that there is any cost to this attraction let alone 15 Euros and the cafe was no better. Wish I had read the reviews first. Definitely left completely bummed out. However the persons working the front desk were super kind and helpful and for that, they deserve all the stars.

Jardim do Torel has three entrances, all of which are easy to pass right by. It's locked at night,…read moreexcept when they have special events there on summer weekends. The view is nice, although not as clear as at some other miradouros. It's also not as crowded. There are shady spots up top, as well as lots of space for sunbathing on the large lower (middle?) level patio. Unfortunately, the quiosque at Torel, which is tucked out of the way in the middle level, has been closed for quite some time now. Last summer they set up a food truck on weekends, but usually you need to bring your own food and drinks. The lack of a quiosque also means there is no bathroom. While I've seen plenty of people go in the bushes, I prefer the Goethe Institute bathrooms (which also has a garden with a cafe). It would be nice if the freguesia opened the public bathrooms in the park attached to their building. There was some viral post claiming that the lower fountain, which is pretty big, is a swimming pool. It is not a swimming pool. It's a fountain. It's like two feet deep. No one is going to stop you from going in either fountain, and I've seen plenty of kids playing in both, but neither is large enough to swim in. Nor is there any sort of filtration system like a public pool would have. And, quite often, one or both fountains has no water at all. While they don't have swimming pool, beer, or toilets, Torel has a nice view, lots of benches, and ping pong.

Atop one of the smaller hills of Lisbon, this garden has a great view of the city. At sunset, it…read morefaces almost entirely to the west. Is it the best view? Not quite. But is it pretty darned awesome? Yes. Take the Elevador do Lavra https://www.yelp.com/biz/elevado-do-lavra-lisboa?hrid=olfsX3u9AAq6V4iNiiW-Sw (free if you have a daily Viagem card) to the peak or climb the short hill. At the top, there is a small park that has benches, a small playground and shade. There is a pretty fountain, too. If you only have time for one hilltop sunset, go to the Miradouro da Senhora do Monte https://www.yelp.com/biz/miradouro-da-senhora-do-monte-lisboa. But if you have more time, this one is worth it. [Review 19018 overall - 214 in Portugal - 2542 of 2022.]