Featuring about 600 types of plants, flowers and trees from several continents, the Tropical Botanical Garden is situated in the Belém area. It is a great place to relax, get away from the crowds, and cool down during Lisbon’s hot summer months.
Explore Lisbon’s finest monuments and museums, including the iconic Belém Tower and Jerónimos Monastery, with this self-guided tour. You can pick the sights that most interest you and see them in any order. Use our suggestions for eats and drinks.
Belém is a good area to stay if you want to be near monuments, lush gardens and the River Tejo. It’s also quieter and less crowded than the city centre, but with easy access to public transport.
Get to know Lisbon’s Belém and its top tourist attractions. Follow our guide to the riverside Belém in Lisbon: a popular destination with must-see attractions such as the Unesco World Heritage–listed Jerónimos Monsatery and Belém Tower.
The Museu Berardo of modern and contemporary art is among the best museums in Lisbon. Don’t miss it if you’re in the Belém area. Admission is free on Saturday all day.
Set on the River Tejo’s edge in Belém, MAAT deals with contemporary art, while the next door Power Station is one of Portugal’s most prominent examples of industrial architecture from the beginning of the 20th century. The views from the undulating rooftop are amazing.
Lisbon’s Belém Tower sits at the side of the river Tejo, not far from the Jerónimos Monastery. This iconic tower was built in the sixteenth century to guard the entrance to the city’s harbour.
Alongside history and tradition, Pastéis de Belém is widely recognised as the patisserie in Lisbon to sample the authentic pastel de nata (custard tart).
One of the largest collections of vehicles in the world can be seen at Lisbon’s Coach Museum in Belém. Beautifully painted carriages and coaches dating from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries are housed in a minimalist building.
The Mosteiro dos Jerónimos is Belém’s ex-libris, a Unesco-listed monastery commissioned by King Dom Manuel I, the Portuguese monarch at the time of Vasco da Gama’s pioneering sea voyage to India in 1498.
Belém is a riverside district, home to Lisbon’s finest monuments and museums, some of which, such as the Unesco-listed Mosteiro dos Jerónimos and the peculiar Torre de Belém, are testimony of Portugal’s maritime history.