Belém it on the Boogie: Following the Footsteps of the Explorers

Just a short distance from the centre of Lisbon, Belém is a historic neighbourhood, home to UNESCO World Heritage sites and birthplace of the classic Portuguese pastry. We were planning a visit to Belém during our March trip to Lisbon, but, well, rain stopped play and left us sheltering halfway in a bar in LX Factory. Poor us. On our return visit we made sure Belém was on our itinerary. If only so I could use that pun in a blog title. Here’s my guide to visiting Belém from Lisbon.

We’ve racked up a few other UNESCO World Heritage sites on our travels – including Cinque Terre, Brussels and Matera!

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Getting to Belém from Lisbon

The quickest way of visiting Belém from Lisbon is by train from Cais do Sodre station. The train (bound for Cascais) takes just 7-9 minutes and runs every 20 minutes. A single ticket is €1.35 (+€0.50 for the rechargeable Navegante travel card if it’s your first time riding the train) or free with the Lisboa Card. You can get the metro to Cais do Sodre and change to the train.

Instead of the train, we caught Tram E15 from Praça do Comercio. The E15 is a modern tram rather than one of Lisbon’s iconic vintage trams. The route runs alongside the riverfront and train line, getting you to Belém in about half an hour. This is a VERY busy route, and tourists share the ride with commuters and residents – be prepared to stand! We got off at Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, or you can stay on another stop to Largo da Princesa for the Belem Tower

If you don’t have a Navegante or Lisboa Card, you can purchase tickets from the onboard ticket machine. A single ticket is €3.10.

If you prefer, Bus 714 departs from Praca da Figueira. You can purchase tickets from the driver (€1,80 for a single journey) or tap in with your pre-loaded Navegante Card (€1,61). Bus journeys are free with a Lisboa Card. Other bus routes to Belem include the 727, 728, 729 and 751. If you prefer visiting Belém from Lisbon by cab, both Uber and Bolt are relatively inexpensive in Lisbon.

Unlike hilly Lisbon, Belém is wonderfully flat and one of our favourite parts of the day was simply strolling along the waterfront. You shouldn’t need to catch public transport once you’ve arrived in Belém but the main attractions are quite spread out.

Planning your Belém visit

Belém can be super busy. Plan your day carefully so you don’t spend hours queuing. Readers, I did not take my own advice. (Belém it on me. Mr Fletche certainly did). When we got off the tram at Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, I saw the long queue for the monastery. And I panicked. Plagued by FOMO, I insisted we join the queue. In the sunshine. With no shade. With little water. And a little bit hungover from the previous night’s birthday celebrations.

My top advice for visiting Belém from Lisbon is to get to the attractions AT LEAST half an hour before opening time, or wait until later in the day. The queue for the Jeronimos Monastery was gone by lunchtime, although the queue for Belém Tower remained long into the afternoon, under a beating sun with no shade. If I was to plan our day again I’d head straight to the tower first thing, leaving the monastery until a little later. In the end we decided not to go inside Belém Tower or the Monument to the Discoveries, preferring instead to admire them from the outside.

Top tip: DON’T VISIT BELEM ON A MONDAY – MANY OF THE SITES ARE CLOSED. Make sure you consider this when planning a visit, particularly if you’re purchasing the Lisboa Card.

Our Belém itinerary

This was our Belém itinerary in a nutshell:

• Jeronimos Monastery
• Pasteis de Belém
• Belém Tower (exterior only)
• Wine with a View 🍷
• Monument to the Discoveries (exterior only)
• Stroll along waterfront to Ponte 25 de Abril, Alcantara and LX Factory

Jerónimos Monastery

Our first stop is the aforementioned Jerónimos Monastery. During the Age of Discovery, the Jerónimos Monastery served as a place of spiritual protection for sailors. Restoration began on the original Ermido do Restelo chapel in 1502 to celebrate the return of Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama from India. Now, his tomb lies inside The Church of Santa Maria, and the Monastery is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is one of the only buildings to survive the 1755 earthquake that devastated much of Lisbon.

We finally entered the monastery after queuing for about an hour. But the opportunity to spend time in this beautiful space made it worth the wait. The monastery features a stunning two-storey cloister, with intricate patterns sculpted into the stonework. Sunshine lit up the sand-coloured pillars with a warm creamy glow, and created spectacular shadows along the walkways. We didn’t spend a long time here – and certainly not as much as as we had spent queuing – but we lingered in some spots to catch the changing light.

The Church of Santa Maria is free to enter, and is the final resting place of explorer Vasco De Gama and Luís de Camões, Portugal’s national poet. If there are two lines outside the Monastery, the one on the right is for the church. The line was still quite long when we exited the Monastery so we gave the church a miss.

The details:

The Jerónimos Monastery is free with the Lisboa Card. You don’t need to pre-book a time, or exchange anything for a ticket. If you don’t have a Lisboa Card, there is a ticket kiosk in the park (Jardim da Praça do Império) opposite the entrance to the Monastery. If you get off the tram at Mosteiro dos Jeronimos you’ll be right next to it. Tickets are €12.75pp (£10.50) or €18.90 (£15.60) with an audioguide.

To avoid additional queuing on the day, I highly recommend purchasing your Jeronimos Monastery Entry Ticket in advance. From October to April, Jerónimos Monastery is open from 10 AM to 5:30 PM while from May to September, it’s open from 10 AM to 6:30 PM. The Monastery is closed on Mondays.

Sadly, there’s no skip-the-line option unless you enter with a tour guide. This tour offers Skip-the-Line Entry to the Jerónimos Monastery plus admission to the Coach Museum.

Pasteis de Belém

It’s time for a sweet treat. Legend has it that the monks from Jerónimos Monastery used egg whites to starch their robes. They combined the leftover yolks with sugar, made a pastry, and boom, Portugal’s favourite tart, the pastéis de Belém was born. The recipe is a closely guarded secret. Of course, you can find pastéis de nata all over Portgual, but these are the OG.

The queues under the blue awning of the historic Antiga Confeitaria de Belém can be as long as the monastery queues. There are two kiosks for takeaway service, and an entrance for the inside table service area. We must have arrived at the same time as a number of tour groups though as hordes of people were being herded inside. We decided to take our chances with the queues at the kiosk. Once we got to the counter, we made our selection quickly and left clutching our paper bags with pasteis de Belém and the accompanying packets of powdered sugar to sprinkle over the top.

We sat under the shade of the trees in the tranquil Jardim da Praça do Império to enjoy our sugary delight. The verdict? Deliciously flaky with a pleasing crack to the crisp crust and filled with sumptuously silky custard. But in truth, if you’ve tasted one pastél de nata, you’ve tasted them all.

If you miss out on pastéis de Belém, make sure you pick up a pasteis de nata from Manteigaria during your trip to Lisbon! They were our go-to seller during our first trip 😉

Torre de Belém

We continue through the park, high on sugar and cinnamon. There’s an underpass (right opposite the Monument to the Discoveries) which takes us beyond the railway line (past a talented violinist – the buskers are a step above in Belém). We emerge along the riverside, and stroll 10 minutes, past the marina to the Torre de Belém.

🚻 You can find public toilets along this stretch. They are 50c, and you must have the correct change. There’s an ATM and a little kiosk if you need to get change.

Located on the banks of the River Tagus, Torre de Belém was originally built in 1515 as a fortress to protect Lisbon’s harbour, and served as the starting point of many of Portuguese voyages. The tower is built in the elaborate Manueline style with lots of balconies, arched windows and domes – look out for the rhino carved at the base! Inside, narrow winding stairs lead to a panoramic viewpoint. As I mentioned above, the queue was still VERY long when we arrived at 1pm so we skipped the inside preferring to take photos with the tower as the focus.

The details

You can pre-book your Torre de Belém Entry Ticket here. The tower is open Tuesday to Sunday (closed Mondays) from 10:00 to 18:30 PM (17:30 October-May). Entrance is free with the Lisboa Card; you’ll need to show your card at the kiosk near the Tower and they will give you an admission ticket.

If you haven’t pre-booked tickets, and you’re taking a chance on an on-the-day ticket, I suggest you purchase the combined Jerónimos Monastery and Belém Tower admission ticket to save time and a little money.

Wine Time

The absolute best way to take in views of the Torre de Belém is with a glass of local wine in hand. Which is why Wine With A View is perfect. After all, drinking chilled wine is much preferable to queuing for tower entrance. The repurposed 1960’s motor tricycle carries a wide range of Portuguese wines, served in a souvenir glass. Despite promises that the plastic glass is robust enough to withstand a plane journey home our “free-hand-luggage-only” restrictions mean that we can’t fit in anything but the flattest of trinkets.

Padrao dos Descobrimentos (Monument to the Discoveries)

As much fun as it is drinking wine in the afternoon sunshine it’s time to retrace our steps along the riverside. Looming before us is the Padrao dos Descobrimentos (Monument to the Discoveries), a 170ft tall monument commemorating 500 years of Portuguese voyages. 33 of Portugal’s most famous historical figures adorn the monument, shaped like a three-sail ship. It’s like a who’s-who of the Age of Discovery, with stars such as Vasco da Gama (you hear his name A LOT in Belém), Ferdinand Magellan and Prince Henry the Navigator. Look carefully and you can spot the single female representative, Queen Filipa de Lencastre.

NOT SO FUN FACT: Whilst Henry the Navigator is celebrated greatly here, he is also credited with starting European colonization and the transatlantic slave trade

Inside the monument there’s a small exhibition centre, and access to a rooftop terrace for views of the river and across the Tagus. There weren’t any queues but we decided not to enter the exhibition, instead admiring the monument’s exterior. After all, Lisbon is full of panoramic viewpoints, many of which are free.

Entrance is €10 or free with the Lisboa Card. You can pre-book your Padrao dos Descobrimentos Entry Ticket here. The monument is open every day from 10:00 to 19:00 (18:00 October-February).

Other attractions to consider whilst visiting Belém

From the Padrao dos Descobrimentos we decided to continue walking along the riverside, back towards the city. But that doesn’t mean we had seen everything that Belém had to offer. If the weather isn’t kind, there are plenty of indoor cultural activities to visit!

• National Museum of Coaches: This quirky museum has one of the world’s most spectacular collections of horse-drawn vehicles, many of which have been used by the Portuguese Royal Family. Admission is free with the Lisboa Card; the museum is closed on Mondays
• Maritime Museum (Museu de Marinha): A naval museum dedicated to the Portuguese history of exploration and maritime navigation. There’s 20% discount on admission with the Lisboa Card, and is free entry on the first Sunday of every month. This museum is open on Mondays
• Museum of Contemporary Art (Museu de Arte Contemporânea) (MAC/CCB) – only opened in 2023, this acclaimed modern art museum houses works by Picasso, Dali, Mondrian, Warhol and Miró, to name just a few. There is a 20% discount on admission with the Lisboa Card; the museum is closed on Mondays
• MAAT (Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology) – This multi-disciplinary museum is located across two buildings, a repurposed power station and a new beautifully designed modern wing with a grassy hill for a roof. It presents ever-changing exhibitions from contemporary artists, designers and thinkers. MAAT is closed every Tuesday. Lisboa Card holders get a 15% discount.

Tours in Belém

Belém is easy to discover independently but if you do prefer a tour there are some options!

Ponte 25 de Abril

Not technically in Belém, but some of the best views of Lisbon’s steel suspension bridge are from the riverside walk between Belém and Alcantara. The bridge is named in honour of the Carnation Revolution which took place on – yes, you guessed it – 25th April in 1974. If you want to find out more about the bridge you can visit the Pilar 7 Bridge Experience. Entry is free with the Lisboa Card.

LX Factory, Alcantara

Another place to get great views of the Ponte 25 de Abril is LX Factory. We did manage to get out to this converted industrial hotspot on our previous visit, but the rain prevented us from exploring too much! This time we took a more leisurely – and drier – stroll around the area, taking in the street art and popping into the quirky boutiques. Naturally we also re-visited Beers, to drink Sagres Preta and reminisce about our previous visit when we had sheltered from the torrential rain. We even sat at almost the same table!

Visiting Belém from Lisbon: Final thoughts

I highly recommend you fit Belém into your Lisbon itinerary, whether it’s your first, second or fiftieth visit. The top attractions can all be seen in one day, and with a bit of careful planning you can get great value out of your Lisboa Card. Visiting Belém from Lisbon is super easy by train or tram, and is the perfect place to follow in the footsteps of some of the great Portuguese explorers.