Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art

This museum is incredible! The grounds are beautiful to walk around with all of the art installation throughout. The museum itself is also full of brilliant and varied exhibitions. Also there is a restaurant in the museum that does a delicious buffet lunch for €18, there were so many fresh salads and fruit, as well as soup, fresh rolls, hot items and deserts. This is a really lovely day out from the business of the city centre and so relaxing.

This is actually a really lovely art museum and very beautiful gardens including sculptures outside which are integrated into the garden. But there are many problems with it. For a steep entry fee (compared to other galleries we've been to) of 24 euro the staff should be super helpful from the outset to ensure you make the most of your (expensive) visit - including clearly explaining the layout of the museum and grounds because the signage is unclear or non existent. We were there over 3 hours and still only managed to find the new wing of the art museum just 15 minutes before the museum + park closed. This was a massive disappointment given the new wing is quite large and filled with (what we hurriedly saw) great modern art. The entry to the new wing is currently a temporary one through an almost hidden external door (internal door not available due to new installation underway, or if it was available it wasn't signposted). Also the art deco villa on the grounds is closed - the museum should really discount overall entry due to a key feature being inaccessible. Staff (ample) throughout the museum and grounds were keen to ask for your ticket to be shown but not helpful beyond this. This is a 3 star review for the content of this establishment but minus 2 stars for quite inadequate staff support and guidance. If you are going here, give yourself a good 3 hours to make the most of it.

The museum itself is one of the best I ever saw. Beautiful galleries, natural lighting and a beautifully sparse structure. The exhibitions when we visited were top notch and thought provoking, and the exhibition at the pink art deco structure (maurizio cattelan) was crazy and unforgettable. The museum is located within an amazing park, full IDF nature, art, and walkways. We spent most of the day in Serralves, and enjoyed it throughly.

Maybe I just picked the wrong time to visit, but I don’t think this was worth it at all. I was greeted by a sign that Serralves villa is not open to the public. Despite this, the price of the full ticket wasn’t adjusted, it was still 24€. The lady at the front desk was doing anything but selling the tickets, putting papers from one envelope to another and ignoring the line of people waiting for her. The first thing that hit me after entering the building was the noise, at least 5 different groups of little kids on a school trip yelling over each other. Part of the museum was closed as an exhibition was being put up, the remaining exhibitions were not that good (but that’s just my personal preference, someone else might love them). The museum building has great air conditioning if you want to escape the heat during summer. The gardens are lovely, the treetop walk is also there, but you don’t get any views, you only see the trees around you. While visiting the local contemporary art galleries is one of my favourite things when travelling, this I could have done without.

Agreed with other reviews and wish I had looked more closely — the very expensive entry is not worth the treatment by staff, who, as previous reviewers said, should be incredibly helpful and kind given the price of the museum. I love contemporary art and am happy to pay for a nice experience. But I’ve personally attended much nicer museums for free or less than half the price. The facilities are a bit unkempt and the exhibition guides strewn around the museum, it’s not clear where to go first or how you should experience the park. When I asked simple questions to the ticket desk like “for how many days is the ticket valid?” wondering if I could come back to complete the grounds another day, they looked at me with disgust and snapped back responses, like no, obviously it’s just for today. There was also a jazz event on the grounds today and I assumed I could stay with my ticket and enjoy, but that was an additional $15, after already paying $28 for entry 😅 I personally would strive to spend the whole day here or skip it, if I had to do it over again.

The Museum has a vast collection of contemporary art. It is covered in two buildings with multiple floors. Currently, there is a whole floor of LGBTQ focused art and photographs. The entry fee is 25 Euro. Outside the museum, on the sprawling grounds are sculptures and gardens. There is a small gift shop.

Modern art, yes...some. The garden and natur is amazing. The tree top walk is an estonoshing experience. The Art? With the help of the map you will find the sculptures. Some good ideas, but not impressive art Most intrigued us the dark walk to the "passage". Other ones are plane objects. Enjoy the walk, the nature and your impressions of the displayed objects.

In general my vist to the museum was an unpleasant experience. You pay one price (€24,-) for all the exhibitions, the park and the several museums in the park, which makes it an overall very demanding exploration. There are too many things to visit and you can’t do it all in one day unless you are running from one thing to the other the whole day. The restaurant is depressing, although you can have your selfservice lunch on the terrace. The food is no good. You can’t have a drink on the terrace. Only inside at the bar, which isn’t a good place either. The ticket office is inside the main building which you have to leave and return by the same way you entered the museum, to start the visit in the park. This is cumbersome. On the whole the visit to the museum was a deceiving experience, which is absolutely not recommended to anyone unless you love to walk around all day without any clue.

I have never thought about rating a museum as 1 star, but this really did something special (or lacked anything special) to afford this designation. The 12 Euro ticket comes with entrance into the main exhibitions as well as access to most of the gardens. Keeping in mind that this is a Contemporary Art Museum, I kind of understand the curation, but the artwork was extremely obscure and lackluster. For example, one entire exhibition was dedicated to materials sourced from Portugal, Dubai, and Greece (?) -- marble, timber, and I-beams. It was quite literally 5 pieces of each arranged into haphazard shapes and heights with speakers attached to them to mimic the audio of construction...Underwhelming is not a strong enough word. The rest of the "exhibits" mimicked this contrived art and did little to peak the interest of the observer. After agonising for an hour and trying to find a semblance of talent, you can head off into the gardens where...surprise surprise, there's a ton of construction and things are barely opened or labelled. You basically graze around woods without any direction or guidance, and try to avoid the jackhammers. If it wasn't clear, I feel strongly about advising people against this museum, especially since it's a ways away from the city centre.

This place was awesome and had a lot of different things to do. I enjoyed the art a lot but wished there was a little more in the main museum. The gardens are amazing and there are multiple outdoor sculptures. There is also some smaller exhibits in buildings around the grounds. The treetop walk was great, kids would definitely enjoy this. We brought my grandmother to the museum who struggled walking long distances. There were free wheel chair rentals near the front desk you just leave an ID. Overall a great experience, wish we had more time to enjoy everything!

I was actually not very impressed by this museum but it was probably because of the timing of when I came. I came during the beginning of March so the park surrounding the area was not in full bloom with its flowers. The inside of the museum displayed contemporary art and only had a few exhibits. There were also not many explanations next to the pieces of art either. The outside surrounding area was the best part for me. There were different sculptures outside as well as gardens and a treetop walk. It was a very refreshing walk outside and exploring the park was nice. The treetop walk is close to the fountain and you get to walk along a path that is high up so you see a nice view as well. Overall, I was more impressed by the park surrounding the museum. The ticket includes both the indoor exhibits as well as the garden outside so make sure to budget time to see everything!

They had two high quality gift shops--one mostly books/ toys, and the other more jewelry and high end stuff. The outside of the museum was white and inviting. The galleries looked much like the majority of contemporary museums--wood floors, white walls, art for the pontificating set. Looked like they had some nice sculptures in the garden--we had limited time here, so didn't get to see all of it, but if contemporary art/ architecture is your jam, I'd say it's a must if you're in Porto. Found parking in the neighborhood and there wasn't a queue to get in, so #winning.

I was visiting Porto for the first time​​ and excited to hear that the Serralves Museum had an exhibit of Olafur Eliasson, one of my favorite artists. The museum has beautiful galleries, with more of Olafur's art in the gardens. Since it was raining, I decided to have lunch in the museum restaurant. It looked really crowded, but the hostess, who was very pleasant, got me a table in less than ten minutes. The menu is a buffet. Spinach Lasagna and roasted pork were delicious. I also had a selection of tapas​ and had to try the dessert​ bar. A very good meal. With the rain clearing, I went out into the garden. Olafur's pieces were placed in specific sites, with the garden forming a beautiful backdrop. Also, works by Claus Oldenberg, Anish Kapoor, and others. My favorite pieces by Olafur were, "Human Time is Movement." A really special highlight was the "Tree Top Trail." It's like being Tarzan, with no need for vines. A solid wood trail lets you walk in the canopy of a variety of large trees.

Free on Sunday mornings - I initially took it as a quick, free stop to one of Porto's well known modern museums. Once I arrived, I was pleasantly suprised - it is not just a museum, but also includes a grand park, garden, farm and much more. Exhibits are unique and the nearby park is absolute stunning. I was blown away and ended up staying a few hours versus the one hour I allocated. I enjoyed the deep forest walk and the horses at the farm on my walk to see the exhibits and enjoyed the abundant styles of architecture all around. Amazing stop for those interested in contemporary art in Portugal!

The Joana Vasconcelos exhibit was possibly the best three hours I have ever spent in a modern art museum.

So many good memories of wonderful exhibitions and the sunny days out in the gardens. Serralves is much more than a contemporary art museum, it's a living thing and it's such an important part of the city. There's plenty of reasons to visit, the architecture and gardens on Serralves grounds are stunning, very much worth the visit alone - if you feel like it and the weather allows, a picnic is always a nice idea. One of Serralves' main events, Serralves em Festa festival, takes place during the summer, a 48h non-stop marathon of concerts, performances, special installations, family-friendly activities, you name it. The nights are the absolute best, even with overpriced drinks. I do think it's a bit unfair that their pricing structure changed and there are no longer free tickets for students and only one free entrance morning per month (the first Sunday). If you just want to enjoy a stroll outside and skip the museum, you can pay half the normal ticket price. Another pet peeve of mine is their ushers, at least one per room; while some of them make you feel welcome and are polite, others are happy to chat away with each other or "stalk" you around the room, very unnerving.

Everyone raved about this museum, but I was really disappointed with it. First, I could have sworn that I read in multiple places that it's free every Sunday morning. Lies. It's only free on the first Sunday of the month. Also, when I visited the house (aka Casa, Villa) was closed. You could peak at the outside, but you couldn't go in. Yet the admission charge was the same. I don't think it's right to charge admission for something that isn't open. (The house will be open again in Oct for a Miro exhibit.) The main museum building and park grounds were still accessible, but the exhibit in the main building was terrible. I just couldn't get into it at all. Many of the outdoor sculptures are looking worse for wear. The grounds were lush and green. I enjoyed the fresh air here, but I wished I had just stayed on the bus and gone to the beach instead. Staff were lovely and the restaurant was OK. But unless you are coming for a concert, I proclaim Serralves to be skippable.