Fado Museum

The Fado Museum in Lisbon was a fantastic experience — educational, beautifully curated, and surprisingly moving. The documentary was the highlight for me; it gave great context to the history and soul behind Fado music. After my visit, I actually cross-referenced some of the pivotal artists I learned about here with ChatGPT and built a Spotify playlist to listen to while driving around Portugal. It made the whole trip feel even more connected to the culture. Later on, I went to Fado ao Centro in Coimbra to experience a live performance, and understanding the history from the museum made it so much more meaningful. Highly recommend starting your Fado journey here! 🤌🏽🔥🇵🇹😍

A great museum to visit to learn about the long history of Fado music in Portugal, its origins and attempts at regulation, and its many locally famous artists. They have multiple displays, videos, and music recordings. You can especially enjoy the music and get to know the more famous artists by listening to the self guided tour that they provide headsets for free of charge. We spent about 2 hours wandering through this museum and enjoyed every minute. If you are interested at all in the art form of Fado, definitely take the time to visit here.

The Fado Museum is a good introduction to get acquainted with the basics of this genre’s history. Personally, I really enjoyed discovering the artists featured on the playlist installed next to the chair. The museum shop is very well stocked, and the staff are very knowledgeable. It definitely complements the landscape of Alfama and its connection to Fado.

I loved this fado museum. Not too many things to see but the interview video of Fado singers and experiences to listen to Fado music from the Portuguese legends are quite good. With the Lisboa card, the entrance is free.

Great interactive museum. I would recommend attending a Fado evening in a local Alfama restaurant before going to the museum. My husband and I did this and the museum made so much more sense. Very enjoyable and well worth the €5 entry fee.

I have never listened to Fado before but this museum was surprisingly very enjoyable! It was so unique and fun to see the singer's pictures and click their numbers on the audio guide to hear them singing. The short movie on Fado was intense, hearing the artists explain the emotion of their music. Highly Recommended to visit!

While in Lisbon for a few days waiting to join a cruise, we took a walking tour of the Alfama area. One of the highlights was the mention of Fado music. We passed by the Fado Museum but our tour did not include entrance to the museum. Maybe next time we will visit the museum to learn more about This genre of music unique to Lisbon.

A friend recommended this museum and I was glad I went. It’s a pretty small museum but they offer a lot of audio, and if you want to take time and listen, there is an amazing library of choices. If you’re not in that mood, you will likely disagree with my five star rating. The day I was there, a couple of men walk in with guitars, so I asked a staff member if there was going to be a performance, and they said yes, later. The woman took me to the front desk to find out if there were still spots available, and there were, so they put my name down. It was free. This is one of my strongest recommendations in Lisbon, to find out what night the concert is and get in on it.

I loved it. It was very educational. I even went to a Fado show at another place later on during the day.

2.5 Overall. SERVICE: 1.5. Other than one person, the staff we encountered appeared indifferent, bored, or unfriendly, or all three. For example when we made a purchase in the gift shop, the unsmiling cashier treated us as a bother. CONTENT: For a dedicated Fado fan, probably rates 4.0 or more. For me, it rated a 3.0 as it ended my Fado journey from enjoyment (after seeing a performance in Coimbra) to indifference (after seeing a performance in Lisbon) to unenjoyment. I did enjoy the display of string instruments and the video on their artisanal production process. Also interesting were the displays that allowed one to choose Fado singers and listen to their performances.

I was not familiar with Fado music prior to visiting Lisbon and decided that some education on this unique form of artistry would be good. Entrance today was €9 and I was here for an hour. On three floors, the Museu do Fado does a fabulous job of explaining this music that dates back to the 1820s. Its comings, goings, censorship, freedom and current status. Lots of audio, a film hall with looped interviews of artists, many artifacts and lots of stories. I can't say that I left the museum as a lover of Fado but I do feel a bit more aware of how and why it is. [Review 16636 overall - 152 in Portugal - 147 of 2022.]

An okay museum. If you're into different types of music, you'd like learning about fado. However, it seems that it's just a starting point, as it didn't feel comprehensive. I wish there was history about how it developed, its role in Portuguese society then and now, its impact on the people, and more. There are a few samples from the greats to listen to, along with displays of guitars and other musical instruments. I'd say it's worth the $5 if you're genuinely interested in it. Allocate 15-30 minutes for the whole museum and gift shop.

Back in 2017 my wife and I were on honeymoon in Lisboa. While there, we had the opportunity to check out the Fado Museum. My good friend and drummer is from Obidos, Portugal. He turned me on to Fado music. The King Guitar, I had to see them in person, and he highly recommended this museum while we were there. The place is a walking tour. I highly recommend you get the recording device in your native languages and take a tour throughout Portugal's timeline of Fado Music. The best way to describe Fado is like the American Blues. Fado Music has a folk-lore feel, with powerful singers and amazingly intricate music from a trio, traditionally a Fado King Guitar, Classical Guitar, and Bass. The Museu Do Fado not only provides you with a rich culture, story, and music, but it also provides you with an eye-opening experience. Every musician that can read music, you really need to check out some of the amazing charts that they have on hand. They also have a little shop, where you can buy a King Guitar, sheet music, music videos, etc. I can't thank the Museu Do Fado enough for choosing my photos for their main page on Yelp. What an honor!

Well, this museum certainly piqued my interest in Fado music, and I have enough material to go home and start streaming some of the "greats"...This was a 5 Euro museum, and it took me..at a leisurely pace, maybe 30 minutes to exhaust the place. If you do this as an add on to the amalfa district or the castle, this is worth your 5 Euros, maybe. It does certainly open your ears and mind to what Fado is all about (singing about longing from the soul....accompanied by a little round guitar)

We were new to fado music so visiting this museum seemed like a must given its huge role in the Portuguese culture. It's a simple museum that will probably only take you one hour to complete. It's also very budget-friendly. I believe it was three or four euros per visitor. There was a mini video and several art pieces showing the prominence of fado music. My only suggestion would be that they could use more interactive pieces. It's definitely a museum geared for adults and even then, I wouldn't have minded some form of hands-on experience.

Visited the Fado Museum in Lisbon. What a treat...if you like the music and all. We are BIG fans of the genre of Fado, and have attended several dinners featuring Fado musicians, so visiting here was a must. The clothing on display is beautiful, and the Portuguese guitars were simply fabulous! This is a smaller scale of a museum, but well worth the time. You can enjoy a film, some music, and get the history behind the music.

€5 for an average experience. The audio guide is included but turned it off after a few minutes and simply read the displays.

Went to the fado museum in Alfama, Lisbon, and it's kind of a mixed bag. Well, first of all, they do have reduced admission rates (three euros) for children and over-65s, unlike what the previous Portuguese-language reviewer said (maybe its a new thing...) When you go in you get (included in the admissions price), a sound device where you punch in numbers (corresponding to numbers on the wall) and listen to lectures on the aspect of fado shown in the particular exhibit. Some of the lectures go on and on, and there's not always comfortable places to stop and listen. But if one takes the time one can get a good overall picture of the genre. The worst exhibit is the long photo of many fadisto/as, some of whom are numbered. If you enter the number in your device you can hear a song by that singer. But the whole display is in a relatively narrow aisle overlooking the lower floors. You can lean on the railing and hope it doesn't give way if many people lean on it. None of these people are named except in a diagram farther along and across the aisle. In the diagram the people are also numbered, but not with the same numbers as in the photo. So you'll need to back and forth to identify anyone, by comparing location and surroundings from the big photo. In the next room are three seats with headphones and screens. One of the three headsets was broken when I was there. On the screens one can read a biography of each of many fado singers. By pressing another button on the touchscreen one can hear a song. But you can't read and listen at the same time. Some of the singers have a set of photoes attached to their records, but once again, the photos can only be observed separately - one can't listen to music (or read) while the photos are being displayed. There are many singers on the list - listening to a number of them gave me an idea of whom to check out further. To listen to all though, would take half a day. I noticed that mostly people just check out the device and go on - it didn't look like many people listened to much of the lectures either. Following this section was an exhibit of Portuguese guittaras and information about the development of the instrument and some of the luthiers who built them. I'd like to know more about this instrument, and have a chance to try one out. There are a few for sale in the museum's shop, but none of them were anything near being in tune. They also had a couple very small stringed instruments for sale - the predecessor of the ukulele, I'd guess. And the shop has lots and lots of fado CDs for sale, and some sheet music. The museum is closed on Mondays and on a few holidays. In spite of the less-than-optimal design of the museum, I'd say it's worth it to learn more about the genre of fado And to listen to the various singers so you can find one you particularly like before making a purchase.