4 Best Sights in Lisbon, Portugal

This family-friendly museum uses multimedia exhibits to bring Lisbon's history to life. Over the course of an hour, the story is broken down into chapters, with a focus on the country's golden age of maritime adventures. A multilingual audio guide takes visitors through a series of exhibits. Midway through, a small cinema shows a short but dramatic reenactment of the 1755 earthquake and the fiery aftermath.

Within an old palace, the Museum of Pharmacy takes a playful approach to more than 5,000 years of pharmaceutical history, from prehistoric cures to the fantastic world of Harry Potter–style fictive potions. Ancient objects related to pharmaceutical science and art—from Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Roman, and Incan civilizations—are on display, as are those from Europe. Whole pharmacies have been transported here intact from other parts of Portugal, even a traditional 19th-century Chinese drugstore from Portugal's former territory of Macau. A smart bar and restaurant, Pharmacia Felicidade, serves lunch and dinner as well as afternoon petiscos (small plates for sharing).

One of Lisbon's oldest museums (it was founded in 1853), the Maritime Museum showcases the importance of the seafaring tradition in Portugal. With its thousands of maps and maritime codes, navigational equipment, model ships, uniforms, and weapons, the museum appeals to visitors young and old.

This small museum close to the cathedral displays some of the few visible traces of Roman Lisbon. The space was once a Roman amphitheater with capacity for 5,000 spectators and was built by Emperor Augustus in the 1st century BC. It fell into disrepair during the Middle Ages and lay buried and forgotten until reconstruction of the area began in the 18th century. Columns and other interesting artifacts are on display here, and multilingual touch-screen kiosks explain everything.