Lisbon Sights

  1. Jardim Botânico

    Near Príncipe Real is the venerable, 19th-century Jardim Botânico. Its diversity of international flora is a tribute to Portugal's worldwide tendrils at the time. It is a marvellous, exotic escape, shaded by magnificent old trees.

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  2. Jardim da Estrela

    The Jardim da Estrela, is an attractive public park with a children's playground. Estrela is a wealthy district with a discreet, moneyed look.

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  3. Jardim Zoológico

    Two metro stops north of Parque Eduardo VII is the kid-pleasing but somewhat cooped-up Jardim Zoológico, in attractive gardens with more than 2000 animals. There's also a dolphin show and row boats.

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  4. Mãe d'Água

    The king laid the aqueduct's final stone at Mãe d'Água, the city's massive, 5500-cu-metre main reservoir. The reservoir's cool, echoing chamber (check out the start of the narrow aqueduct passage), completed in 1834, now hosts art exhibitions.

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  5. Miradouro de Santa Catarina

    At the end of Rua Marechal Saldanha, on another of Lisbon's seven hills, is the Miradouro de Santa Catarina with a popular outdoor café, offering exhilarating views across the river and the Ponte 25 de Abril.

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  6. Mosteiro dos Jerónimos

    Vasco da Gama's discovery of a sea route to India inspired the glorious Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, a Unesco World Heritage site with an architectural exuberance that trumpets 'navigational triumph'. It later became a pantheon for Manuel I and his royal descendants (many now entombed in its chancel and side chapels). Huge sums were funnelled into the project, including pepper money, a 5% tax on income from the spice trade with African and Far Eastern colonies.

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  7. Museu Arqueológico do Carmo

    The Museu Arqueológico do Carmo was set up to safeguard religious treasures after the abolition of religious orders in 1834. It has an outstanding collection of 14th-century carved tombs, some prehistoric implements and a dishevelled trio of mummies - one battered Egyptian and two gruesome 16th-century Peruvians.

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  8. Museu Calouste Gulbenkian

    Chief must-see is the eclectic, brilliant collection of the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian. One of Europe's unsung treasures, this museum, set in a sleek 1960s building, houses more than 6000 pieces (with 1500 on permanent display) spanning major epochs of Western and Eastern art. Idyllic gardens surround the space, and there are bilingual touch-screens with information on some of the museum's most exceptional works.

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  9. Museu da Água

    The Aqueduto das Águas Livres and Mãe d'Água reservoir are part of the Museu da Água, in a restored 19th-century pump station. The museum explains the complex watering system and is run by Empresa Portuguesa das Águas Livres (EPAL), the municipal water company.

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  10. Museu da Carris

    For something entirely different, head to charming Museu da Carris, housed in the Carris headquarters, which tells the history of Lisbon's most endearing means of transport using the models-in-glass-cases method. Tram 15 passes right by so you can have a holistic experience.

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  12. Museu da Cidade

    The Museu da Cidade, careers through Lisbon's amazing roller-coaster history with an enormous model of the pre-earthquake city and an excellent collection of tiles. The nearest metro station is Campo Grande.

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  13. Museu da Marioneta

    Museu da Marioneta houses a bewitching collection of puppets in the splendid Convento das Bernardas. A surprisingly grand restaurant adjoins the space.

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  14. Museu de Arte Popular

    The Museu de Arte Popular should house a regional folk art collection. As of 2006, the main museum was still closed for long-term renovations.

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  15. Museu de Artes Decorativas Portuguesas

    This brilliant museum and school of decorative arts, operated by the Fundação Ricardo do Espírito Santo Silva, displays 15th- to 19th-century furniture, textiles, jewellery, silverware and porcelain in an aristocratic 18th-century palace. Call ahead about the workshops where artisans practise traditional wood carving, metalwork, decorative painting and more.

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  16. Museu de Marinha

    The Among the armadas of model boats, this museum has gems such as Vasco da Gama's portable wooden altar and the rich, polished private quarters of the 1900 UK-built royal yacht Amélia . There are also ornate royal barges, the biggest a 1780 neo-Viking number. On weekends a children's museum offers brightly coloured creative activities.

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  17. Museu do Chiado

    In the strikingly converted Convento de São Francisco, is the Museu do Chiado, beautifully lit and laid out with contemporary art exhibitions plus a permanent display of 19th- and 20th-century Portuguese and foreign art, including works by Rodin and Maillol. Highlights are the marvellous panels (1927-32) by José de Almada Negreiros from San Carlos Cinema.

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  18. Museu do Design

    This superlative design museum, in the Centro Cultural de Bel�m, displays furniture and product design from the 1930s to the present. This very cool collection features the masters - Capelo, Panton, Gehry, Starck, Newson and the Eames - and there are frequent temporary shows, as well as a decent bookshop.

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  19. Museu do Palácio Nacional da Ajuda

    This grand neoclassical museum of the Royal Palace building replaced the original, which was destroyed by fire in 1795. It was used until the royal family went into exile in Brazil in 1807, and then not again until King Luis I married an Italian princess in 1861 and lavished it with the riches that can be seen today. The Winter Garden is wonderful!

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  20. Museu do Teatro Romano

    The Museu do Teatro Romano, displaying the city's ruined Roman theatre. Built during Emperor Augustus' time, it was extended in AD 57 to seat up to 5000. The theatre was abandoned in the 4th century, and its stones were appropriated to build the city. Not much is left but the museum cleverly recreates the scene.

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  21. Museu Militar

    West of Santa Apolónia train station, in a suitably florid building, is the Museu Militar, with the biggest collection of artillery in the world. It's a mind-blowing, if fusty, display of ways to do damage. One for Charlton Heston types.

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  23. Museu Nacional de Arqueologia

    Opened in 1893, the Museu Nacional de Arqueologia, in the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos' western wing, has exhibits from prehistory to Moorish times, including reverentially lit Graeco-Roman antiquities, such as funerary masks, mummies, tiny mummified crocodiles, sandals and combs. The other highlight is the Treasures Room, with a great haul of gleaming, burnished antique gold jewellery, from massive Bronze Age torques to a delicate Roman snake bracelet.

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  24. Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga

    Housed in a grand 17th-century palace, the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga has an amazing European art collection, bursting with Portuguese works, including painting, sculpture, ceramics, textiles and furniture. There is also a superb collection of decorative art from Africa, India, China and Japan. You can buy a guide in Portuguese or English.

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  25. Museu Nacional do Azulejo

    About 1km northeast of Santa Apolónia train station is Lisbon's most beautiful museum, the Museu Nacional do Azulejo. It's housed in the 16th-century convent of Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Madre de Deus, with lovely small tiled courtyards, Manueline cloister and gold-smothered baroque chapel, set off with more blue-and-white tiles.

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  26. Museu Nacional do Teatro

    You won't need to know anything about Portuguese drama to find the National Theatre Museum fascinating. It houses a beguiling collection of 300,000 pieces - wonderful theatrical costumes, props, models of sets, drawings, posters, programmes, postcards, scripts, scores and photos. It's located in the lush Parque de Monteiro Mór.

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  27. Museu Nacional dos Coches

    This amazing museum, housed in the Royal Riding Arena of Belem Palace, has one of the world's best collections of royal, aristocratic and ecclesiastical coaches from the 17th to 19th centuries. Apart from anything else the exhibits clearly illustrate the ostentation and staggering wealth of the old Portuguese elite.

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