"You wouldn’t think a 16th-century monastery would be a natural place to let kids run and explore, but then again, Lisbon keeps surprising us. Loads of parents had the same idea we did, letting their kids kick the pebbles in the oversized courtyard and march up and down the long halls of the UNESCO site while they took in the architecture (done in Manueline, or Portuguese late Gothic, style) and gorgeous chapel. There’s a timeline of Portuguese history that’s worth reading, but otherwise, you’re here to poke around the building itself, taking in its grandeur. Belém Tower is also nearby, and there’s a playground across the street for when the kids tire of all that history." - Laura Dannen Redman
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