DK Travel : Lisbon : Museums & Galleries

Centro Cultural de Belém CCB

Controversial when it opened in 1992, this starkly modern fortress of culture is now well liked for the breadth of its programme and the relevance of its exhibitions. Formerly home to the Museu do Design, from 2007 CCB hosts the Berardo Collection (see Art Migration ).
Culturgest

The arts-patronage arm of a bank is one of Lisbon’s most active cultural centres, focusing on modern music, dance, cinema, theatre and art.
Fundação/Museu Arpad Szenes-Vieira da Silva

This museum is devoted to the work of Portuguese Modernist Maria Helena Vieira da Silva and her Hungarian husband, Arpad Szenes.
Galeria 111

With over 40 years in the business to its credit, this uptown gallery shows such artists as Paula Rego, Júlio Pomar and Joana Vasconcelos.
Museu Calouste Gulbenkian

The Armenian oil baron and art collector Calouste Gulbenkian is arguably the single most important person in Portuguese post-war cultural life. His museum is a rare treat because it covers so much in such a manageable way – and also because it has pleasant gardens and a good contemporary arts centre (see Museu Calouste Gulbenkian ).
Museu do Chiado

Guardian of Portuguese modernity in art, this museum has a collection beginning with Romanticism in the mid-19th century and extending throughout the 20th century, though the latter half is less fully covered. There are also temporary exhibitions and a pleasant courtyard café-restaurant (see Museu do Chiado ).
Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga

Portugal’s national museum provides a home for some priceless national and international icons. As of late it does so in an innovative and unstuffy way. Director Dalila Rodrigues has succeeded in upping visitor numbers by almost a third by unorthodox measures such as throwing parties, staging fashion shows and opening late into the night (see Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga ).
Museu Nacional do Azulejo

Lisbon’s tile museum is a tourist favourite, for good reason. It is housed in a stunning convent and church, covers tiles and tile-making comprehensively, and has the bonus of a pleasant café-restaurant (see Museu Nacional do Azulejo ).
Museu Nacional dos Coches

A coach museum is the sort of place you might not go to if you didn’t have a special interest in the subject. In this case, that would be a mistake. This is one of Lisbon’s most highly regarded and popular museums, for its collection of 45 horse-drawn coaches and the connections they create with the past.
Zé dos Bois

ZDB, as it is also known, has consistently been Lisbon’s most surprising, inspirational and genuinely “alternative“ gallery. It is also a Bairro Alto bar.