If you ever find yourselves exploring Western Europe, then you must not forget to include Portugal on your list. Its capital and largest city, Lisbon, is a fantastic place to visit and boasts of extensive activities and attractions that would make your traveling experience worthwhile.
One of the top things to do here is visiting the city's collection of museums. But for a first timer, it's kind of tricky to figure out where to start. So here are some of the top museums you should not miss when you're in Portugal:
Museu Nacional dos Coches. You won't find any paintings here. In the National Coach Museum, you'll get to see the most extensive display of ancient to royal coaches and carriages used by kings and queens of the past. Every kind of any horse-drawn vehicle can be found there- from the simplest coach to the most ostentatious carriage.
Museo Nacional De Arte Antiga. Explore the Portuguese talent in art from the Middle Ages to the 19th century in the National Gallery of Portugal. It houses the country's most abundant display of Portuguese paintings, and other beautiful works of applied art. The museum is built in a 17th-century palace, on a site where the St. Albert Carmelite Monastery was destroyed by an earthquake in 1755. If you're ever looking for a touch of Portuguese culture, then you came to right place.
Museu do Oriente. Everyone knows that the Portuguese were one of the first civilizations to explore Asia, and this museum is a tribute for every exploration the Portuguese did. On display are ancient artifacts brought home to Portugal from the early explorers who went to China, Japan, etc. Time your visit on a Sunday before lunch because the museum offers brunch to its visitors featuring some excellent Asian dishes.
Calouste Gulbenkian Museum. If you're a traveler/art geek, then you would surely love this museum. Featuring some of the best artworks in all of Europe, this gallery has over 6000 pieces on display. These priceless artifacts were not collected over time. They used to belong to a multi-millionaire, who, on his death in 1960, donated all his collection to Portugal. Now, visitors can marvel over Egyptian artifacts, 6th-century illustrated manuscripts from Armenia, 16th-century paintings, and other fascinating ancient subjects open for display.
Museu Nacional do Azulejo. If you want to see decorative tiles on display then head on to Museu Nacional do Azulejo. A one-of-a-kind museum in Lisbon, all the collections is displayed chronologically, to visually illustrate the history of tile-making in Portugal which started from as early as 1508. One of the most famous displays here is a 35-metre tiled panorama, where all the decorations described Lisbon before the 1755 earthquake.
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