What a beautiful, calm and unexpected building-and wonderfully cool on a very hot day. We loved the fact that we were the only English speakers there-and that there were so few of us visiting-and that we were able to explore so freely;it added to the whole experience. We printed off guides to the building beforehand and found those available at the site perfectly adequate. The staff were friendly and, despite our mutual language problem, helpful. It's worth staying overnight in Tomar, which itself is picturesque, to allow you to follow the Templar 'trail' and see Portugal's only mediaeval synagogue. Overall, we felt the visit to the convento and Tomar well worth travelling slightly off the beaten track for.