Strolling through the Museum Quarter in Cascais

The sunny days in Cascais are a common denominator that illuminates the village all year round. There are those who enjoy the afternoons on the terrace, the beach days whatever the season, and there are also those who can’t resist visiting the museums in Cascais. In fact, the most refined village of royalty that once walked here is fruitful in cultural offer for all tastes. Whichever plan you choose, it is always a good idea to define the itinerary. At that moment, the terrace of Hotel Baía, cocktails and snacks, socializing, are the best start to prepare a cultural afternoon.

Which museums in Cascais should you visit first? Even if you have already visited some of the ones we suggest here today, there is an inherent beauty in each one that is always worth remembering. Before we go to the list of suggestions, do you want to guess the first one? Leave comments you’ve visited and liked the most!

Take the trip to the Museum Quarter in Cascais

This is a neighborhood with high-profile inhabitants, it is a real culture shock for the positive, especially for those who only see Cascais by the sea and nature. If Sintra has a microclimate characteristic of the proximity of the sea to the mountains, Cascais has created a microclimate in its image. The Museum Quarter in Cascais is the cultural epicenter of the village, which brings together, in a short distance, the Cascais Cultural Center, the Casa Sommer, the Conde Castro Guimarães Museum, the Paula Rego House of Stories and the Casa de Santa Maria. And these are just a few highlights of this museum tour in Cascais.

Check schedules and purchase tickets online to avoid those queues that no one appreciates to have the best experience at museums in Cascais. Be it a visit with or without a guide, for one or more places, the important thing is to fill the day with beauty and cultural knowledge. Let’s do it?

Next stop: Cascais Cultural Center

It would be impossible to write an article about museums in Cascais without mentioning the Cultural Center of this seaside village. Result of the rehabilitation of the old Nossa Senhora da Piedade Convent, which was transformed from 1977, when it was in charge of the Cascais Town Hall. It could have been the first Portuguese College of Philosophy (in the 17th century), but in 2000, this piece of history was inaugurated to bring exhibitions, spread over the three floors, but also concerts and events in the courtyard. One thing is certain: you have to be attentive to new exhibitions to make more than a visit to one of the always innovative museums in Cascais.

Paint the culture in the Citadel Art District

Moving from the historical register to a more artistic one, the Museum Quarter in Cascais gives you the opportunity to discover the Cidadela Art District. There are galleries, studios, shops and a project room where several artists exhibit their work. A place of choice to meet new artists and contrast with the old stories of museums in Cascais. And since you are in this area of ​​the village, take the opportunity to take a little jump to the Cascais Citadel Palace.

It is a historic building, as it was in the distant year of 1870 that the direction of the fishing village changed. Do you know what the role of this palace is in this story? King D. Luís, who frequented a cafe full of aristocracy at the time and where today we find Hotel Baía, decided to transform the Citadel Palace into a summer residence until the end of the monarchy, in 1910. Later, it served as a residence for several presidents and, today, already deactivated, it is a place of worship, full of refinement, history and undiscovered wealth. It is one of the museums in Cascais that best represents the Portuguese grandeur of other times.

From the fishing village to the Museu da Vila

It is one of the museums in Cascais with more history, as it tells everything that has happened in the village since its beginning. It is one of the museums in Cascais with free entry, where you can even discover what was done in the village before it was. It all starts with the people who occupied this piece of land by the sea planted, long before it was called Portugal.
The museums in Cascais don’t stop there, but we are sure that if you visit all of them in one day, it will be a happy day. While thinking about which will be the first, the second or the third, count on the terrace of the Hotel Baía to be the meeting point. More precisely in Cascais Bay, in front of the beach where Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa likes to dive. Also immerse yourself in a bath of culture, art and history and challenge friends and family to a different itinerary. Tell us in the comments which of these options you have not yet visited and which museums in Cascais you most want to visit.