Mosteiro de São Vicente de Fora — Attraction in Lisbon

The São Vicente de Fora Monastery is one of my favourite attractions in Lisbon. Entry is €5 per adult through the side monastery courtyard to the right of the Church of São Vicente de Fora entrance. Visiting hours are 10am to 6pm daily.

I recommend taking the brochure when you enter the monastery. It provides layout and map which helps you understand where you are and what you are looking at. Various locations also include information panels for more detailed information.

Historical Note: While the monastery was founded in the 12th century, the building that you can see today only dates back to the 16th-17th centuries. it is the work of Italian Jesuit and architect Filippo Terzi.

Within the monastery there are 17 different exhibition rooms and highlight stops. You can conveniently see them all in 30-45 minutes but definitely stay longer if you are enjoying what you see.

My favourite parts are the immaculate and decorative (#2) Entrance Hall and (#6) Sacristy as well as the charming and endless series of of azulejo panels found throughout the (#4) cloisters and elsewhere within the monastery.

Other highlights include the back of the (#5) church, (#9) Royal Pantheon of the Braganca and the (#12) "Fables of La Fontaine" azulejo panels scenes. I also very much enjoy the church and monastery rooftop (#17) where you find sweeping panoramic views of Alfama & surrounding districts of Lisbon. Views are outstanding when...

This place was one of the top places I visited in Lisbon. Every part of it was interesting, from the 360s views of the city on the roof of this place, to the panels after panels of scenes made out of tiles on every wall of the courtyards and others rooms, to the many exhibitions they had going on, which I don’t know if they were permanent or not. They had an exhibitions on shells from Portuguese beaches which included tiny tiny shells, old ceramics found within the monastery walls or nearby with some dating back to the 2nd century AD, and a very interesting exhibition showing a famous poets’ poems depicted in tile form, which was well worth the time to read every single one. I read somewhere before coming here that this should definitely be on your Lisbon to do list if you are not visiting Lisbon for very long, and I could not agree more. Also, skip the Church if you don’t have the time. It’s better than missing anything else in this...

NOT HANDICAP/STROLLER ACCESSIBLE, RUDE STAFF. Horrible experience here but great views. We came to buy tickets with 4 adults and a stroller and the worker sold us tickets. Then we tried to go through the turnstile but the stroller wouldn’t fit. We asked if there was a handicapped or alternate entrance - there wasn’t. She then told us to leave the stroller there but we weren’t able to because my child was sleeping. We then asked for a refund because she clearly saw us come with a stroller and she refused any accommodation. One of us had to stay behind, forfeiting our ticket.

After the turnstile the ground floor was pretty flat and had ramps everywhere so a stroller/wheelchair would have been fine if they didn’t have the turnstile at the entrance. On our way out, there was another turnstile blocking the toilets. You were supposed to scan your ticket to enter but no one’s ticket was working forcing everyone to jump or duck under...