Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art

One of the coolest museums I’ve ever been to. I went to see the MAURIZIO CATTELAN exhibition, but the permanent exhibition turned out to be just as impressive, with unique pieces and a beautifully curated layout. The garden was also lovely. We did the “walk on the treetop” in heavy rain, and still had a lot of fun.

Enjoyed almost 4-5 hours exploring the entire Foundation, strongly recommend the full General Ticket with "Access to all of the Serralves Foundation" 😍 Beautiful outdoor park and areas to stroll in, and super fascinating art installations in buildings spread around the Foundation estate. Highlight for me was the Serralves Villa - cute pink villa from the outside, very interesting and thought-provoking artworks inside. Worth a visit!!!

The museum was amazing and was definitely worth it to venture out from the main city of Porto! The exhibitions were insightful and thought provoking. But just the architecture of the museum and the interior space was just a joy to explore. The tickets were too expensive and it’s open until 7pm during weekdays and 8pm during weekends so you can visit during evening! I highly recommend that you visit if you’re at all interested in art and culture!

We didn't realise there was a charge just to walk around the park - €15! We would not have minded paying if the park was better cared for, but each water feature (lake, pond, fountain etc) was very dirty or had lots of algae. There was even a drowned Pinocchio floating in the Lake 😟! The Treetops walk was lovely though and included in that fee, hence 3 stars...! Not sure I would suggest making the effort unless you also plan to perhaps visit the museums.

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.

You need at least half day to explore both the museum and the gardens. There's no option for visiting only the museum, you have to pay 24 euros for both museum and the gardens. It's an interesting place. We enjoyed a photo exhibition and the library, but we were not excited by the rest. If you have a lot of days visiting Porto and want to spend 24 euros, (plus 20€ for Uber) go for it!

Honestly, this was one of the worst museums I’ve visited. Tickets are definitely too expensive. The exhibitions didn’t engage much. Not really worth the time unless you’re a big modern art fan. Some attractions (e.g., the villa, certain wings) were closed, yet we still had to pay the full price. Insufficient information/poor signage—it should be easy to find all parts of the museum complex.

Amazing gallery with great exhibitions. You can easily spend the whole day here. Bring your own snacks and a blanket, and enjoy a picnic in the garden. I love the herb garden.

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.

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!

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!

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.