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.

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 Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga is one of the leading, if not the best, museum in Lisbon. The…read moremuseum houses a wide variety of art ranging from Portuguese art to European art, Asian art, African art, and much more. Since it's a large museum, I used my guide book, as well as the museum brochure, to visit the highlights. I'm a big fan of European art so this is where I spent the most time. My favorite piece of art was a large painting by Bosch. They also have a nice gift shop where you guessed it, I bought a Bosch figurine.

I spent three hours wondering through this beautiful museum. The artwork alone is beautiful but…read morethere is so much more. I loved the furniture, the china, textiles and silver exhibits. A bargain at 10 Euros. Very highly recommended Slainte

More than just a place to take the kids. I really enjoyed the visit. Very few other visitors while…read moreI was there, practically had the entire place to myself. As you'd expect, this is a whimsical collection of puppets of every kind. A few dozen rooms where the puppets are sorted by categories such as Balinese shadow puppets, Indonesian masks, European political parodies, Theater puppets, stop motion movie puppets, etc... All displays have explanation posters in Portuguese and English. A few TV screens with video loops of the puppets in action. Small gift shop. Admission price is a mere 5 Euros. A slow walk through takes 75 minutes. I visited 5 museums during my stay in Lisbon, honestly this was my favorite.

What a great, interesting and fun place! Beautiful marionettes and puppets, and very informative…read more I'm very happy to have found it, and spent an afternoon learning so much! Obrigado!!

Was walking in Alfama and stumbled across this FREE museum. On entry, you do need to go through a…read moremetal detector and bags and all items through X-ray like at the airport because I think this is a working bank? Not really sure why, but makes you feel safe. Go to get a ticket because the displays with change based on language. This museum really focuses on 1974 and the change in banking in Portugal due to the revolution. There are some interact displays for kids and why you need a ticket because you put the ticket in the machine to get it to interact in your language. This museum gets 5 stars because it is FREE, super clean, has great working very cold AC, clean bathrooms, WIFI, free drinking water machine near the bathrooms with super cold water, comfortable seats at entry to sit and relax and refresh, and great views of Alfama from 2nd floor. Bathroom: super clean

It took me three years to go to the Museu do Dinheiro because, while it's free and right downtown,…read moreI've been to a lot of similar museums that were super boring. Lots of coins and bills in glass cases. I finally went because I had someone visiting and it was raining. I figured we'd go here and to the other free archaeology site downtown and still have time to get a coffee. Nope. The space is big: three levels of exhibits about money, plus the basement archeological finds. All of the exhibits are in English and Portuguese. If you're a history nerd and actually interact with the exhibits, you can easily spend three plus hours there like we did. If you're not a nerd, you can touch a gold bar, get a (picture of a) coin with your face on it, and use the bathrooms for free before going to drink at the quiosque outside. The interactive exhibits were kind of confusing, but trying to figure them out was part of the fun. My friend and I are both trying to learn Portuguese history, so it was particularly cool to see artifacts and piece things together. While there are coins and bills in glass cases, they worked really hard to explain why each item is interesting and present it in an engaging way.

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.

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.