Lisbon’s riverside neighbourhood, Belém, brings unique historic buildings and top class modern art.
What makes Belém unique?
In a gorgeously sunny spot by the riverside, Belém is where Lisbon’s historic side shines through the most. The 1755 earthquake that left much of the city in ruins barely touched Belém, and left behind are some of the grandest monuments from Portugal’s golden age of discovery.
It also hoards the highlights of Lisbon’s cultural collection – an impressive number of museums are concentrated in the area. And, as such, it’s full of daytrippers coming from the city centre, then disappearing again in the evening.
This could, in theory, give Belém a rather soulless, empty feel. But recent, defiantly modern additions have brought contemporary energy. There is now life between the big attractions, and the beauty has recovered its heartbeat.
Why book the Belém walking tour with Jerónimos Monastery?
- 🏛️ Visit Jerónimos Monastery with a knowledgeable local guide
- 🧭 Learn about Portugal’s Age of Discoveries in the place it began
- 🌊 Walk along the riverside past the Monument to the Discoveries
- 🥐 Includes a tasting of the famous Pastel de Belém
- 📚 Small-group format with fascinating historical storytelling
A walk through Belém’s top attractions
The unmissable star of Belém is the 16th century Jeronimos Monastery, which is the high point of the Manueline gothic architectural style. The cloisters are visually sumptuous and packed with little detail, while there are several art and history exhibits in the rooms surrounding them.
Inside the monastery, but with a separate entrance, is the Maritime Museum. The phenomenally dull part of the museum is brimming with military costumes, model ships and parts of old ships. Mercifully, before that, there’s the really interesting section on Portuguese exploration and how it changed the world. It charts the voyages of 15th and 16th century sailors, and the goods they brought home with them from Asia, Africa and South America. It also has some rather brilliant old maps, drawn when half the world was still a mystery.
From there, saunter over to the Torre de Belém, the Manueline fortress from 1515 guards the river while looking rather like a giant chess piece. The views from the top are fab.
Belém tours and activities
Experiences available in Belém include walking tours, guided e-bike adventures and food tours.
5 great things to do in Lisbon 🇵🇹
- 🏰 Combine nearby highlights on a small group tour – to Sintra, Pena Palace and Cascais.
- 🍷 Eat your way through lesser-visited neighbourhoods – on a food and wine tour.
- 🛺 Get a local’s eye view of Lisbon – on a tuk-tuk tour.
- 🥐 Take a bakery masterclass – and make your own pastel de nata.
- ⛵ Enjoy wine at sunset – on a river sailing cruise.
Live sport in Belém
Lisbon’s two great football clubs are Sporting and Benfica, but down in Belém the support goes to neither. Plucky, perennially hopeless Belenenses play just up the hill from the waterfront at the Estadio do Restelo, where the atmosphere is passionate but grounded.
Custard tarts in Belém
There seems to be some sort of tourist law that states you have to eat a traditional custard tart from the Confeitaria Nacional. And it would be churlish to suggest that these tarts are anything other than quite good. But are they worth lining up in a ridiculously long queue for? Of course not.
Shopper’s Paradise
The Cultural Centre of Belém was built for Portugal’s hosting of the European Union presidency in 1992, and is primarily an art and theatre space. But the humungous complex also hosts some excellent shops and galleries too.
Towards the rear, Hangar is largely a home décor store, but does a lovely range of colourful bags, trinket boxes, shawls and high end locally-made toiletries.
The shopping star here, though, is Margarida Pimentel’s jewellery. Deliberately billed as “where jewellery meets art”, everything on display is exquisitely curvaceous and memorably non-generic. None of it comes cheap, but every piece is a statement piece.
Belém’s best art museum
The Cultural Centre of Belém’s highlight is the Museu Coleção Berardo, which houses business mogul José Berardo’s top drawer collection of modern and contemporary art. Warhol, Man Ray, Pollock, Vasarely and Picasso are all represented, but what makes it so good for the uninitiated is the way the works are broken down into artistic movements. This makes it a lot easier to tell the differences between, for example, pop art, op art, abstract impressionism and cubism.
Where to stay in Belém
The best address in the area is the riverside Altis Belém, an ambitiously sleek and blocky modern building which houses a well-regarded spa and Michelin-starred restaurant. Rooms come with big, bold, individually-designed murals, plus balconies either overlooking the gardens or the river.
The Jeronimos 8 has design leanings, with furniture that makes self-conscious statements, black leather headboards and a sprawling open-plan lobby. It’s the sort of place that shows signs of wear, but asserts a modern character without feeling generic.
More Portugal travel
Other Portugal travel articles on Planet Whitley include:
- Where can I go snorkelling with seahorses on the Algarve?
- A Tavira travel guide for first time visitors.
- A Faro travel guide for first time visitors.
- A Lagos travel guide for first time visitors.
- Why the Algarve’s Benagil Cave is best seen on a kayak tour.
- A first-time visitor’s guide to Porto.
- Is World of Discoveries worth the ticket price?
