The Algarve has a long list of museums that you can visit during your stay. Some bigger, some smaller, some more interesting and some less so.
Algarve Fun had made a list of the best museums in the Algarve for you.
Besides enjoying your time here you will definitely return home more cultured and will better understand local cultures!
From West to East, follow this guide or choose the place closest to your holiday stay.
For each museum we’ve also included a ‘duration’ as a suggestion for how long you should expect to spend there, however you can of course spend as long as you wish; it’s your holiday!
Museu do Mar e da Terra – Bordeira
Museum of the Land and the Sea – Bordeira
Close to the town of Sagres, a 20 minute drive away, is a good opportunity to learn more about the local village and their sea and agricultural customs.
Why is it worth visiting?
It has a permanent exhibition called “The Ocean, our land” that has a very special motto “by all and for everyone”, and this is because the whole town donated the objects, the testimonies and the pictures used that are connected to the customs of Carrapateira, to help pass on the culture and its habits to those who want to learn more about them.
Jonas, the whale, is the character that tells the history throughout this recent and pretty museum.
Location:
Rua do Pescador Carrapateira | 8670-230 Bordeira.
GPS: 37.184006, -8.893417
Timetable:
Monday to Friday, 10h00 to 16h30. Last entry at 16h00
Price:
Children under 12 free
Young people between 13 and 17- 1,10 €
Adults between the ages of 18 and 65- 2,70 €
Adults over 65- 1,60 €
Duration:
1hr30
Parking:
There is free parking on the same street or on parallel streets.
Aljezur Museums
The museums in the town of Aljezur are a part of the cultural, historical and environmental circuit of Aljezur, a 4km long, signalled pedestrian route, in both rural and urban areas.
The urban section has a historical-cultural character and several places of interest amongst which are the Municipal Museum, the Museum of Religious Art, the Church of Mercy, Antonian Museum and House-museum of painter José Cercas.
Why is it worth visiting?
The Municipal Museum, at the Town Hall, has three areas: archaeological area where it shows human presence in the region over 10.000 years ago; the Islamic area as the Arab presence marked Aljezur greatly and the ethnographic area from the late 19th century till the 70’s, highlighting old tools used in agricultural, farming and fishing activities, typical of lives connected to the land and sea.
In this area, there is also a recreation of traditional rural spaces such as a bedroom and a typical Algarvian kitchen, decorated with daily use utensils.
The Antonian Museum, built in the 17th century Santo António chapel, has objects and paintings allusive to this well loved saint.
The House-museum of painter Jose Cercas is a valuable collection of crockery, sculptures, religious art, paintings and drawings. José Cercas, was a painter who died in 1992 and left both his home and his collections to Aljezur’s City Council so that his work could be perpetuated.
The Monsignor Manuel Francisco Pardal Religious Art Museum is in the building annexed to the Mercy Church, included in the pedestrian itinerary and is in the place of the old Mercy Hospital built at the end of the 18th century.
Location:
Rua João Dias Mendes, 48 | 8670-086 Aljezur. GPS: 37.318673, -8.803167.
Timetable:
June to September: Tuesday to Saturday, from 09.00h till 13.00h and 14.00h till 18.00h
October to May: Tuesday to Saturday, from 09:00h till 13:00h and 14:00h till 17:00h.
Closed: Sundays, Mondays and bank holidays.
Price:
Pass to all museological nuclei in Aljezur’s historical centre (Municipal Museum, Religious Art Museum, Antonian Museum and House Museum Jose Cercas) which may be purchased in any of the museums above.
Individual ticket- €2.20
Individual ticket for organized groups of more than 10 people- €1.10
Youth cardholders- 50% discount
Children under 12, people with disability, students, guides and teachers while in a group- Free entry
Duration:
2 hours
Parking:
There are free parking spaces right in front of the museum as well as on the perpendicular streets.
Attractions close by:
Town of Aljezur and Sagres, tours of Vincentian coast, surf lessons and beaches.
Museu Municipal Dr. José Formosinho
Dr. José Formosinho Municipal Museum
The Dr. Jose Formosinho Municipal Museum was created in 1930 and is connected to the history of museology in the beginning of the 20th century and its founder, a scholar and collector that upraised the city of Lagos with the creation of this museum, an important legacy of the defence of patrimony: Dr. Jose Formosinho.
It is a spectacular large museum that has several areas.
Why is it worth visiting?
This museum’s excellent collection is the result of immense collection works in archaeological and ethnographic interventions, donations and monetary donations of both private citizens and local institutions in the last decades of the 19th century that assisted in the emergence of municipal museums that held archaeological, artistic and natural history collections.
Visitors can learn more about the life and customs in the Algarve, paintings and religious art.
Touring the museum should include a visit to Santo António Church, a national monument of the 18th century, carved in gold, whose central figure is the world known and adored saint, adored here too as protector of the military.
The growth of the collections lead to the museum growing into different buildings such as the Slave Market, a museological nucleus dedicated to the historical process of slavery in Portugal and in the world; Fort of Ponta da Bandeira, 17th-century building, perfectly conserved, that evokes the importance of military presence in Lagos with Praça de Guerra or Armazém do Espingardeiro.
Location:
Rua General Alberto da Silveira, 8600 – 594 Lagos. GPS: N 37° 5’ 57.86’’ | W 008° 40’ 16.37’’
Timetable:
Tuesday to Sunday from 10h00 to 13h00 and 14h00 to 18h00 (ticket office closes at 17h30)
Closed on Mondays and the following bank holidays: 1st January; Easter Sunday; 25th April; 1st May; 1st December; 24th and 25th December.
Price:
€3.00- general public;
€1.50- teachers, students, retired and young people (13-26 years old), tour groups accompanied by an interpreter guide.
Free Entry- Children 12 and under.
Free entry for all days: 18th April- International Day of Monuments and Sites; 18th May- International Museum Day; 23rd August- Birthday of the creation of the museum; 27th September- World Tourism Day; 27th October – City Day.
Duration:
3 hours
Parking:
These facilities are all located in the middle of the historical centre or by the riverfront, where there is an underground paid car park and are close to bus stops that serve both tourist buses and the urban networks.
Attractions close by:
Lagos Marina, boat tours, Ponta da Piedade and the town of Alvor.
Portimão Museum
Raised in the old canning factory “Feu Hermanos”, dating back to the end of the 19th century, located on the right riverbank of River Arade, Portimão Museum is a place that emanates culture and has a permanent social observatory with exhibitions of the origins and evolution of Portimão’s community, its territory and the most noticeable aspects of its maritime and industrial history.
It is a very attractive modern museum.
Why is it worth visiting?
It has an exhibition called “Portimão, territory and identity” which is the museum’s main exhibition and it represents the historical social-economic and cultural path of the local population. It is divided into three parts:
- Origins and destination of the Community
- Industrial life and the challenges of the sea
- From the depths of water
Portimão’s Museum has a very special room: The headlessness room. Here you will find real size human representation of an industrial area in which the first phase of preparation of the fish and canning process started, that you can now visit, after intense recovery and restoration processes of its interior.
In this room, you can observe the original objects used before it was closed down, the busy workers such as the fish carrier and working tables.
Location:
Antiga Fábrica Feu Rua D. Carlos I, 8500 – 607 Portimão. GPS: N 37° 7’ 50.42” | W 008° 32’ 3.04’’
Timetable:
Wednesday to Sunday 10h00 – 18h00; Tuesday 14h30-1800, closes on Mondays, Christmas and New Year
01 – 31/08:
Wednesday to Sunday 15h00-23h00; Tuesday 19h00-23h00, Closes on Mondays, Christmas and New Year
Price:
€3.00 general public
€2.00 groups over 15 members
€1.50 young people between 16 and 25 years old and retirees
€4.50 family ticket (50% discount off an adult ticket)
Free entry for children under 15 and every last Saturday of the month.
Duration:
2hr30
Parking:
There is paid organized parking in front of the museum (parking meter) and also on Rua Sidónio Pais, a 2-minute walk.
Attractions close by:
Portimão Marina walks in the Arade, Praia da Rocha, São Francisco Convent and picturesque town of Ferragudo.
Museu Municipal de Arqueologia de Silves
Silves’ Municipal Archeology Museum
In the ’80s of the 20th century a structure was discovered in the historical area of town which later was found out to be an old cistern well. The house where it was found was requalified and the Silves’ Archeology Museum was born, which opened in 1990.
Why is it worth visiting?
The main exhibition starts with the prehistoric era where a collection of menhirs (large standing stones) is highlighted. From the Roman period, there are objects that were found throughout the town proving their occupation in Silves. And from the Islamic period, the one that is best represented and is one of the biggest collections in the country, you can observe ceramic objects, produced locally or elsewhere, carved metals and bones.
The ex libris is in the Cristian medieval sector, in a dug up hill and ceramics from Valencia, Italy and China, that bear witness that Silves was a part of commercial rotas in past times. This cistern well collected water from the groundwater, supplying the higher part of town. It is an 18-meter deep structure! The central space is surrounded by a spiral gallery in a staircase that allowed access to the water.
Inside the museum, you can observe a part of the Almedina wall that defended the city in the Islamic period and from the museum you can follow the route of the patrol rounds and light a watchtower.
Location:
Rua da Porta de Loulé, 8300 – 139 Silves. GPS: N 37º 11’ 20,33” | W 008º 26’ 19,95”
Timetable:
Open everyday from 10h00 to 18h00, last entry at 17h30.
Closes on 25th December and 1st January.
Price:
General public: €2.10
50% discount: Students and over 65.
Free entry: municipal residents, children under 10.
Museum and castle joint ticket: €3.90
Duration:
2 hours
Parking:
There is parking close to Silves’ centre, by Pelourinho and the town hall, free and organized, a 3 minute walk from the museum.
Attractions close by:
Silves’ Castle, Roman Bridge, Lagoa, Slide & Splash Waterpark, Carvoeiro and beaches.
Museu Municipal de Arqueologia de Albufeira
Albufeira Municipal Archeological Museum
This museum in the heart of the tourist zone is located in the old nucleus of the city of Albufeira, in Praça da República.
The building is from the 19th century but it sits on the ruins of the Islamic period and has a lot of history to tell.
Why is it worth visiting?
Look closely at the building and you will see characteristics that you will find only in southern Portuguese urban architecture. On its facade is the Azevedo Coat of Arms, who governed the Castle of Albufeira in the middle ages. This space operated as the town hall until 1989 and was then recovered to become a museum in 1999.
Location:
Praça da República 1, 8200-081 Albufeira. GPS: N 37º 5’ 13,35” | W 008º 15’ 7, 45’’
Timetable:
09h30 to 17h30, Tuesday to Sunday
Closes on Mondays
Price:
General public: €1
Free entry: International Museum Day; Bank holidays; Children under 14; Retirees, Students/ Teachers and in the Winter- Sundays between 10h30 and 12h30.
Duration:
1hr30
Parking:
On the street where the museum is, there are organized parking but there aren’t many places and it is very busy during the summer as it is so close to the beach. There is also covered parking on Avenida 5 de Outubro,(37.088394, -8.250167), a 5 minute walk away.
Attractions close by:
Horse riding, Aquashow Waterpark, water sports, boat tours and snorkelling.
Museu Municipal de Loulé
Loulé Municipal Museum
In its several building around town, Loulé’s Municipality Museum invites its visitors to learn about the past, observe present scenery and imagine the future of the population and their traditions.
In the city of Loule you will find, in the main building, testimonies of the communities that lived in this territory in the Paleolithic and Modern Ages.
Why is it worth visiting?
The museum has a traditional kitchen that shows how they used to be and has activities that show the products used and the objects that livened up families evenings around the fire.
It is close to Loule’s Castle and Church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição, the visit is unmissable!
Location:
Rua D. Paio Peres Correia, n.º 19, 8100-564 Loulé. GPS: N 37º 8’ 22,59” | W 008º 1’ 24,80”
Timetable:
Winter (October to May)- Tuesday to Friday: 9h30 – 17h30 / Saturday: 9h30 – 16h00
Summer (June to September)-Tuesday to Friday:10h00 – 18h00 / Saturday: 10h00 – 16h30
Closed on Sundays, Mondays and the following bank holidays: 25th December, 1st January and 1st May.
Price:
General public: 1,62€
Free entry: children under 12, students with ID cards, over 65.
Duration:
2 hours
Parking:
Loulé has organized parking around town, with parking meters but few places. There is covered parking with several places next to the courthouse on Rua José Afonso (37.138398, -8.018340), a 10-minute walk from the museum.
Attractions close by:
Loule market, Vilamoura’s Marina, boat tours, Aquashow Water park, Vilamoura’s Casino, fishing village of Quarteira and beaches.
Museu Municipal de Faro
Faro Municipal Museum
The museum is located in the ‘old ladies’ convent of Nossa Senhora da Assunção and is one of the best examples of Algarve’s renaissance architecture.
Until the extinction of religious orders in 1834, this space was occupied by Poor Clare nuns/clarisse nuns, having been sold and adapted to be a cork factory later on.
It is a building with a fantastic history, cosy environment, a garden in its centre and recently renovated rooms.
Why is it worth visiting?
True archaeological treasures of the old roman city of Ossónoba (Faro’s old name) and Islamic periods are kept in this museum alongside Algarvian, national and international artists’ paintings from between the 16th and 19th centuries.
Famous painter Carlos Porfirio also has some paintings here in this museum, portraying Algarvian legends. Take a guided tour and find out about these stories!
Location:
Largo D. Afonso III, 14, 8000-167 Faro. GPS: N 37º 0’ 46.71” | W 007º 56’ 1.79”
Timetable:
Winter (1st October to 31st May) Tuesday to Friday-10.00h-18.00h
Saturday and Sunday- 10.30h – 17.00h
Free entry on Sundays for all visiting before 14.30h
Summer (1st June to 30th September)
Tuesday to Friday- 10.00h – 19.00h
Last entry at 18.30h
Saturday and Sunday – 11.30h – 18.00h
Free entry on Sundays to all visiting before 15.30h
Closes on Mondays
Price:
Permanent exhibitions: Adults 2€
Retirees/Teachers/Students/Young persons (13 to 26): 1€
Children (0 to 12) free entry
Duration:
2hr30
Parking:
Parking in front of the building is prohibited but you can find Largo de São Francisco a 5 minute walk away and it has hundreds of free organized parking places (37.012582, -7.931810).
Attractions close by:
Faro Historical centre, Main Church, Faro’s Marina, Ria Formosa walks and its Islands.
Museu Regional do Algarve
Algarve Regional Museum
Algarve’s Regional Museum, located in the city centre by Pontinha where you can find traditional shops. It was inaugurated in 1962 and owes its creation to Carlos Porfirio, known local artist and painter.
Why is it worth visiting?
The exhibition rooms show the Algarve region, its old habits and traditions. The rural environment, wagon and farming utensils are in highlight. The real size figurines mimic daily activities in the bedrooms, kitchen and tavern, traditional dancing attire and fishermen clothes but also architectural details such as chimneys, roof terraces and decorated doors.
Location:
Rua do Pé da Cruz, n.º 4 8000-404 Faro. GPS: N 37° 00’ 58.4” | W 007° 55’ 53.1”
Timetable:
Tuesday to Friday from 10h00 to 18h00
Saturday from 10h00 to 16h30
Closes on Mondays, Sundays and bank holidays.
Price:
Adults: 1,5€
Retirees/Teachers/Students/Young persons (13 to 26): 1€
Children (0 to12) free
Municipal Museum + Regional Museum ticket: 2,5€
Duration:
1hr30
Parking:
Close to the museum, there is underground paid parking. On parallel streets there is parking with parking meters but few places. A 10 minute walk away is Largo de São Francisco with hundreds of free organized places (37.012582, -7.931810).
Attractions close by:
Faro Historical Centre, Main Church, Faro’s Marina, Ria Formosa walks and its Islands.
Museu do Traje São Brás de Alportel
São Brás de Alportel Costume Museum
In a building that looks like a palace, with agricultural houses and garden, built in romantic style in the end of 19th century, is the home of Costume Museum.
Why is it worth visiting?
This palace-museum has 18 rooms, home to a range of temporary exhibitions. The interior maintains its original decorations, highlighting the ceilings that are decorated in detail, walls painted to look like marble, the house’s old kitchen, the semi-interior terrace and the office where the painting are.
In the main building, you can find the exhibition of typical Algarvian clothes and costumes, urban, indoor, work and ceremony attire.
The old vegetable garden is now the museums garden. There you will find the necessary equipment to run a rich house: porch and its animal powered vehicles, windmill, well, cistern, watering tanks and ducts.
In the side building, you can still see the old horse stables, the place for the carriage and farming utensils. Here there is also an exhibition that shows the importance of cork in the development of the city in the last century.
In the museum’s grand hall you will find the Old Gallery, which used to be a barn and is now the auditorium where concerts and conferences are held.
Location:
Rua Dr. José Dias Sancho, 61, 8150-141 São Brás de Alportel. GPS: N 37° 9’ 11.76” | W 007° 53’ 7.71”
Timetable:
Mondays to Fridays: 10-13h 14-17h
Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays: 14h-17h
Price:
Adults 2€
Free entry for children under 12.
Duration:
2hr30
Parking:
There is parking on Rua 1º de Maio, the street lateral to the museum, with organized free parking.
Attractions close by:
Chalybeate well, pedestrian walks, São Brás de Alportel market, Estoi village and Faro historical centre.
Museu Municipal de Olhão
Olhão Municipal Museum
The museum is in the old House of Maritime Commitment, a building of great architectural importance to the city, from the end of 18th century, built to support the fishermen of the region.
After restoration works, it was inaugurated in 2001.
Why is it worth visiting?
This museum in the centre of Olhao, by the main church. The ground floor, in the so called “pharmacy room”, is a set of pieces and statues that refer to the roman presence in the county and date back to II A.C. It is a military piece and unique to the whole region!
Trivia:
The miliary mark ( =1000 steps) where placed on Roman roads in intervals of about 1480 meters, were engraved with the miles relative to that road and the distance to the Roman forum, amongst other information about its construction.
On the first floor of the museum is the Sala dos Despachos/ dispatch room, a room where the those in charge of the space used to meet. It has fantastic ceiling paintings where Portugal’s Coat of Arms is highlighted amongst paintings and other objects.
Location:
Praça da Restauração, Edifício do Compromisso Marítimo de Olhão 8700-Olhão. GPS: N 37° 01’ 33.6” | W 007° 50’ 27.6”
Timetable:
Tuesday to Saturday
10h00 – 12h30
13h30 – 17h00
Sundays and Mondays
Closed
Price:
Adults: 1€
Free entry: children under 12 as long as accompanied by an adult, retirees and seniors citizens over 65 and all those visiting on 18th April and 16th June.
Duration:
1 hour
Parking:
On the avenue where the museum also is, Avenida da Républica there is organized parking with parking meters. It is a 2-minute walk away.
Attractions close by:
Tours of Ria Formosa’s Islands, by ferry or private boat. Olhão’s market. Route of the legends in the historical area of Olhão.
Museu Municipal de Tavira
Tavira’s Municipal Museum
This museum is located in the fishing village of Tavira and it is a museum about the land around the town. It is spread over several buildings and themes.
It tells the history of the city through* the civilizations that passed through it.
The nucleus/nuclei of Tavira’s Municipal Museum are Gallery Palace, Islamic Museological nucleus, Cachopo Museological nucleus, Bairro Almóada Archaeological Nucleus, São Sebastião Hermitage, Santa Ana Hermitage, São Pedro Gonçalves Church, Wave Church and Tavira Water Supply Interpretation Centre.
It is well worth visiting all the places to get to know the town and its culture.
Why is it worth visiting?
The different places dedicated to Tavira’s Museum all have one common objective and mission: investigation and preservation of material and immaterial patrimony (legends, habits, etc).
There are regularly contemporary artistic exhibitions in these spaces to include new generations in these old spaces and attract all generations.
The main building is in the Gallery Palace, one of the noblest buildings of the city that was remodelled in the 18th and 19th centuries. Its name is due to its peculiar renaissance gallery in the indoor garden. Stunning!
The Islamic Museological Nucleus exhibits Tavira’s Islamic collection which holds an important 11th-12th century ceramic known as the “vase of Tavira”, which was discovered in archaeological excavations in the city centre. This piece is one of the most fascinating Al-Andaluz Islamic medieval archaeological pieces for it’s detail from such an old time.
The church and other spaces are places where you can learn a bit about several themes: the importance of religion to the fishing community, how the city supplied water and local artists.
Location:
Convento do Carmo, 8800-311 Tavira. GPS: N 37° 7’ 45.17” | W 007° 38’ 47.19”
Timetable:
Tuesday to Saturday from 09h15 to 16h30. The Islamic Nucleus close for lunch between 12h30 and 13h30.
Closed on Sundays, Mondays and bank holidays.
Price:
General public: 2€
Students:1€
Seniors (65+): 1€
Young persons (8-18 years old): 1€
Children (under 8): free
Duration: If you aim to only visit the main building, the ideal time would be 1hr30. As the city has other places of museological interest and a day of touring and stopping for lunch is a lot more interesting
Parking:
All over town, there are streets where you can park for free or paid parking by the museum. There is also a big free car park a 5-minute walk away (37.125932, -7.653109).
Attractions close by:
Tavira Island, Gilão river, boat tours, Tavira’s Roman bridge and municipal market.
Museu Municipal de Alcoutim
Alcoutim’s Municipal Museum
Alcoutim’s Municipal Museum’s mission is to investigate, inventory, preserve and divulge the legacy of its population and rural ways, by the river. So that there is a sustainable development of the village, which has around 900 residents.
Why is it worth visiting?
Alcoutim is one of Algarve’s most beautiful villages and is located by the river in rich fields. The typical houses and delicious restaurants are already good enough reason to visit. The museum adds value to your trip and you can learn about how the population here lives, in a place that seems so distant from the rest of the Algarve.
Alcoutim’s City Council opened the first building of the Municipal Museum to the public in 1995: the River Museum. Later it created and opened to the public other exhibition places, geographically spread that connect the several cultural and environmental sides of Alcoutim.
The Municipal Museum has ten exhibitions areas, six museological nuclei, three archaeological stations and an exterior exhibition. So much!
The exterior exhibition is “Alcountim, frontier land” border* (N 37º 28’ 16.9’’ | W 007º 28’ 18.4’’), installed in the historical centre of Alcoutim’s village and is made of 6 panels, 10 monument identification boards and guidance leaflet, supported by directional plates.
The surrounding landscape is its scenery, with Guadiana river, the amphitheatre shaped village and its neighbour Sanlúcar of the Guadiana (Spain).
Don’t miss this route!
Location:
Rua do Município, 12, 8970-055 Alcoutim. GPS: N 37° 28’ 17.3” | W 007° 28’ 18’’
Timetable:
River Museum
Open from Tuesday to Saturday
Winter: 09h00 -13h00 and 14h00 -17h00
Summer: 10h30 -13h00 and 14h00 -18h30
Alcoutim Castle
Open everyday
Winter: 09h00-17h00
Summer: 09h00-19h00
Price:
The ticket allows entry into every place, for a week:
Normal ticket-2,5€
Youth Card holders, 65+- 1,5€
Duration:
2hrs30 for the Museum and the Castle. A whole day to visit Alcoutim is recommended so that you can visit all places of museological interest.
Parking:
Throughout the village, there is free parking. At the entrance of the castle, there are several places. You can walk around the whole village by foot so you can park anywhere and you will not walk more than 10 minutes to any destination.
Attractions close by:
River beaches, tour of Guadiana, pedestrian walks, Vila Real de Santo António and Altura beach.
