I visited the WHS in Belém on a Portuguese national holiday in April, which was obviously not the best day for sightseeing. There is a corollary of Murphy’s Law, formulated by me but surely familiar to others, which states that on a given multi-leg travel itinerary, no matter the preparation, there has to be at least one instance of logistical screw-ups or bad decisions. My visit to Belém was such an instance, comprising not one but three bad decisions in quick succession, the first of which was the pick of the day to devote to this area.

The second was the order of visits. I have read in a number of travelogues (including prior reviews in this space) that the line to enter the monastery grows much larger than the one for the tower, so I decided to start with the monastery at the opening time. What I did not account for is that the use of Lisboa Card allowed skipping the line at the monastery – but did not allow the same at the tower. When I walked up to the tower later in the day, the line to enter was long enough to herald at least 45 minutes of waiting (you may guess it from the picture). At this juncture of my life, I rarely join long lines no matter the expected gratification. So I took a couple of exterior photos and continued on to the next point of the day’s itinerary.

Since I entered the monastery earlier in the morning as literally one of the first few people, I assume I could have done the same at the tower if I had decided on the sequence correctly. And afterwards, cutting the line at the monastery with the Lisboa Card would eliminate any wait.

But hold on! I did not actually enter the monastery among the first few people. There was yet another mistake.

People who come to the Jerónimos Monastery before its opening tend to congregate near the western portal. This is where the line to buy the tickets forms. I did not need to buy the tickets – the aforementioned Lisboa Card allows free entry to many of Lisbon’s top attractions including Jerónimos Monastery. But I blithely assumed that portal to be the tourist entrance to the complex, ignoring the banners that read “National Archaeology Museum”. Even as I entered the museum among the first few people – all of whom very likely made the same mistake as me – it took at least 20 minutes before I realized that if there was a monastery to see, I was not getting there until I exited the museum. So, I found the entrance to the monastery proper - next to the entrance to the church of Santa Maria de Belém towards the eastern end of the complex - a good half-hour after the opening hours started. There was already a line, but I used the powers of the Lisboa Card to breeze through.

The monastery's main cloister is among the most lavish examples of Manueline decorative style. Among the few interior spaces around the cloister, the beautifully tiled refectory stands out. You can also look into the church of Santa Maria de Belém from a balcony accessible from the upper level of the cloister. The church, as it always happens, is the only part of the complex that can be entered for free, which on a busy day such as that one meant that it was overcrowded.

The crowds are the main reason pushing my rating for Belém down to only 3 stars. The architecture and decorations are impressive but not unique enough to outweigh the human congestion or the wait in lines that you have to endure. Your mileage may vary. 

My rules for counting WH sites as visited were satisfied by the Jerónimos Monastery cloister, but I will obviously have to find an opportunity to return to the Belém Tower in the future. If it happens on a less busy day, it is possible that my rating will go up.

Logistics: Belém is reachable on several lines of trams and buses from central Lisbon in a matter of 20-25 minutes. The monastery and the church takes a bit over an hour to see; I suspect the tower will take no more than half an hour once you get in; there is a brisk 15 minute walk between the tower and the monastery. Putting it all together in the correct sequence at the start of the day – using the Lisboa Card – means that one can fully see this WH site in roughly 2 hours. There are several other non-WH attractions around - e.g., Padrão dos Descobrimentos, or the aforementioned archaeology museum - that may extend your time in this part of Lisbon.