Tiles And Tales: Workshop And National Tile Museum Visit

The whole tour was wonderful! Nuno was absolutely amazing. He knew so much about the history of the tiles as well as the history of Portugal. He was so enjoyable to talk to and I felt like I learned so much. The day flew by. My 10 year old granddaughter didn’t want it to end. Thank you so much Nuno for an unforgettable tour of Lisbon and the tiles!

This was an excellent tour. We loved the chance to take photos along with seeing the many different tiles in the city. The tile workshop experience was wonderful as well. The tile was such a great suvenir of our time in Portugal.

Nuno was an amazing guide. He was an expert on Portuguese tiles and was so attentive! Everyone should take this tour!!

This tour was very interesting and I recommend it!

We enjoyed this personalized tour and definitely recommend it to others. Tiago, our guide, brought his warmth, extensive knowledge, even-keeled demeanor, and fluent English to our day-long exploration of the city through the lens of tiles. The tile making workshop was fun for us as a couple and we’d see it working very well for families with children; our college aged daughters would have enjoyed it also if they were with us I asked a slew of questions about things, cultural, economic, and political, and appreciated Tiago’s ability to share his perspective and glimpses of his life as appropriate. For us, this tour was a fine introduction to the city that kicked off the great days we spent in and around Lisbon; I did see tiles differently all around the city for the rest of our time here and leave with a great appreciation of this art form.

It is a wonderful tour. In such a small group, you really get to learn a lot and ask lots of questions you are curious about. The tile painting workshop was very cool if you like creative activities. Sadly the tile museum was closed but we got to see Palace Fronteira which was mind blowingly beautiful. Overall a wonderful experience

Our guide Nuno was very informative and respectful. The combination of learning about tiles, touring the city and factory and then painting tiles made for a great day!

It was a perfect day! Our guide, Nuno, was super knowledgeable, very kind and accommodating — the perfect experience Sherpa. We started with a wonderful tour of Lisbon during which Nuno pointed out the notable tiles used on the exteriors. This was followed by the visit to the artisan tile facility. Here, we were able to paint a tile and gain a better understanding about the history of tile making. From there we visited Sesimbra where we enjoyed lunch overlooking the ocean. Then back to Lisbon and a visit to the Palace - a spectacular sample of tiles for both interior and exterior decor. We couldn’t have asked for a better guide and a better itinerary. Highly recommend this experience!!

Nino was AMAZING!! Interested, interesting…and informed. He made the experience one of a kind. Such a lovely lovely day! So much fun.

Very interesting to see the craftsmanship of tiles still being made and painted by hand. My husband went into it neutral and came out an extra hour later after planning to make a custom order. Nu Nu our guide was fantastic, showed us tiles around Lisbon, history of the area, current affairs and more. He found us a great place for lunch too!

This was an amazing tour we learned about the different tile techniques, history, and even got to paint our own tiles. Our guide was amazing.

We did a full day tour of Azulejos de Azeitão and Sesimbra for a team off-site, and Oriana, our guide, was excellent! She let us take our time in the attractions, offered a few options for lunch and stopped at the Cristo Rei sanctuary before dropping us off back at the hotel.

This was everything it claimed it would be. We toured Lisbon, had a relaxing drive out to the tile factory. We created our own tiles that will be shipped to our home in the USA. We had a wonderful lunch by the river then went to the tile museum. My husband an avid tile enthusiast was overwhelmed with fascination. Our guide was very knowledgeable and throughout the tour the two discussed their love of this art form. The day was incredible! We both highly recommend.

Must do. Hands on. Drove through Lisbon to see tile designs from different eras and artists then 40 minute drive to a workshop to see how made then made our own tiles which are shipped home. One of best tours we did and our guide Nunu was great! We chose to skip museum. Tour ran 930-330pm

Our guide was amazing — very flexible on our schedule and would recommend the tour to anyone with a love of crafts . Perfect for families

Our tour guide Ariana was knowledgeable and excited about the history of tiles and painting tiles. We enjoyed our day with her.

My wife had booked a tile tour in Lisbon. I was skeptical, tiles not being something I am that enthusiastic over, since am not a crafty person. My wife and kids loved the tour, but I was won over as well. Our guide, Nuno, was fantastic. He was extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic and I learned a lot of information from him which I loved. Going to the tile workshop and making your own tile was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed seeing the different types of tile around lisbon. Loved the tile museum at the end too, some of the contemporary tiles had amazing/bizarre art on them. I know I went in with a closed mind but am glad I was wrong about it.

Fantastic day tour for Tiles in Lisbon. Our guide was so knowledgeable and we had a blast making our own tiles. What a hidden gem

Terrific tour with a very knowledgable and fun guide (Tiago). Tile manufacturing site very interesting; tile museum amazing. I’ve taken many tours in Lisbon and this one was the best.

Our guide Oriana was personable and very knowledgeable. After meeting and being picked up at our hotel, we headed out for a drive around Lisbon to view the tiles on homes and businesses. It was great start to the day as it showed the diversity of color, size and pattern and helped get us focused as we drove into the country side for our factory tour. Oriana was extremely pleasant, knowledgeable, and appeared to have passion for the whole topic of tile. She thoroughly answered all our questions, specific to tile and our general questions about living and working in Portugal itself, with tips on additional things to see during our trip. We were very impressed with the tile workshop. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming. Being able to actually paint our own tile was a fascinating experience. Then to have them fire our tiles and deliver them to our home after our trip was truly wonderful. The quality of the tiles we were able to buy at the workshop were nice too and extremely affordable to be shipped as well. The National Tile Museum was simply amazing and Oriana was able to explain and direct with great expertise. Enough time was allowed for us to explore and take in the history. We also had time for a visit to a small fishing village for lunch and a stop to view Lisbon from high on hill at the Cristo Rei monument was worth the time too. A full day and we'll worth it if you like tile!! My wife and I would highly recommend this trip and Oriana made it special!

Our tour guide Nuno was incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about the tiles. I came out of the tour with a good vocabulary and appreciation for tiles, alongside with a few “huh, if that’s the technique, how did they do THAT?” moments. It was great being able to paint our own tiles before going into the museum, but it was also really cool to get to drive around Lisbon and see specific tiles that we would recognize later. 10/10 experience, highly recommended for anyone with the time to do a deep dive on one of Lisbon’s most unique pastimes.

Our tour guide Nuno was incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about the tiles. I came out of the tour with a good vocabulary and appreciation for tiles, alongside with a few “huh, if that’s the technique, how did they do THAT?” moments. It was great being able to paint our own tiles before going into the museum, but it was also really cool to get to drive around Lisbon and see specific tiles that we would recognize later. 10/10 experience, highly recommended for anyone with the time to do a deep dive on one of Lisbon’s most unique pastimes.

Nuno was kind, professional, and informative. He provided us safe travel to every location, and gave us so much history and information about the art.

Nuno was a great guide. He taught me so much. He was kind enough to have lunch with me, as I was by myself. I got the impression that we were making a tile from scratch, which would’ve been fun. We only painted a tile. The price of this day was crazy expensive. When I clicked on it originally it was $145. It was over $300!!

The van was extremely comfortable and the drive around Lisbon to view the tiles on homes and businesses was great as it showed the diversity of colour, size and pattern. The drive into the country side was delightful. Our guide, NN was extremely pleasant, knowledgeable, and appeared to have passion for the whole topic of tile. He thoroughly answered all our questions, specific to tile and our general questions about living and working in Portugal itself. We were very impressed with the tile workshop. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming. Being able to actually glaze our own tile was a fascinating experience. Then to have them fire our tiles and deliver them to our vacation abode was truly wonderful. The quality of the tiles we were able to buy at the workshop were first-rate but extremely affordable. The Museum of Tile was truly astonishing and once again NN was able to explain and direct with great expertise. Enough time was allowed for us to explore. NN also recommended we try cuddle fish for lunch - a really great choice

This was a fantastic excursion. Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable about the history of the area and of tile making. Going to the workshop and watching how tiles are made gave us a whole new appreciation for the work and craftsmanship that go into making tile - one by one. Getting to make our own tile was a lot of fun too. I highly recommend this tour.

The museum, which is connected to an old church, is breathtakingly beautiful and well curated. The museum includes tiles that are over 500 years old and shows the process of tile-making, even including several stations for people with moderate to severe vision impairments. Most of the signage is in both Portuguese and English. The museum takes viewers from the early days of tile-making to the present and includes a whole section of 20th- and 21st-century artists. There is even a huge mural depicting Lisbon from before the 1755 earthquake. The cafe is large and has indoor and outdoor seating as well as plenty of dining options, from tea and snacks to larger lunch ideas. I'm not sure there's much for children to do or see; I didn't spot any kids during my visit.

We absolutely loved our tour. We couldn’t have asked for a more informed and fabulous guide. Nuno took us around Lisbon showing the various tiled facades, he never rushed us at the factory when we were painting our tiles and gave us a fabulous recommendation for lunch. We had a fantastic experience and recommend this tour…even if you don’t feel as comfortable painting as I did starting out.

We had a wonderful time learning about the history of the Portuguese tiles. Our guide Philip was very knowledgeable and kind. Every question was answered. He was so helpful and fun to learn from. The National Tile Museum was amazing.

Nuno was very knowledgeable and flexible with our private tour. The tile factory was very informative and lots of fun! My painted tile turned out much better than I thought it would! Really enjoyed the conversation, the knowledge and flexibility! Thank you!

Amazing tour! Nuno was a great tour guide! Enthusiastic and knowledgeable. Customized the tour to our interests and was happy to answer any questions. The tile museum was cool to see (and we painted our own tiles) and the museum was a great way to end the day. If you have any interest in the history of Portugal (and it’s art) please take this tour!

We did the Tiles tour with Phillipe He was very professional and went above and beyond for us ..Highly recommend! He was super knowledgeable.

Best day of my life!!! Nuno was an amazing guide who made sure to tailor the experience to my interests. He showed me around so many buildings in Lisbon to spit amazing tile work. And the visit of the studio was just amazing!!!! Of course the museum was also stunning but going alone would have been so-so, having my guides special knowledge made it amazing

Nuno did a great job of personalizing our trip and making sure my husband, who has health issues, had a great time without being overtaxed. His tour was very knowledgeable, too. Our favorite part was seeing how hand-made tiles are still produced.

Nuno was a fabulous tour guide! He tailored the tour to our personal preferences where we especially wanted to learn more about the Portuguese tiles. He was very knowledgeable and took us to a quaint fishing village for lunch after the tile workshop. We enjoyed this experience very much!

Nono was an incredible guide! Extremely knowledgeable, patient, courteous and entertaining! Visit to the small tile shop and having the opportunity to paint our own tile brought it all home. I highly recommend this tour if you have any interest in the beauty of Portugal’s tile industry.

Nunu, our guide, spoke impeccable English. He was very flexible as was the tile worship. When I saw a tile design that was larger and more intricate than the one included with the package, everyone fell over themselves to help me. The experience was fantastic. Highly recommend.

I went with my 9 year old daughter - it was a fun day! She got a bit tired at the museum at the end but I really enjoyed the museum a lot. The guide was really well informed, the van was comfortable, the tile making was really fun, and Sesimbra was beautiful - we had a lovely lunch there. I would recommend this adventure. We got picked up at our hotel at 9:30am and returned around 5:30pm.

Our favorite part of the tour was the guide Nono. His friendliness and knowledge of Portugal was enlightening. The tour was very organized. Hands on experience of tile making prior to the visit to the Tile museum was also very beneficial . We highly recommend this tour to anyone who’s interested in ceramics.

We thoroughly enjoyed this tour. Our guide was very knowledgeable, easy to talk with, professional and quickly clued in to items of interest to us and made sure to point out similar items throughout the day. We had a great experience at the tile studio, enjoyed learning about the process and seeing the artisans at work. Painting our own tiles was a fun experience. We stopped in a small fishing village on our way back to Lisbon and had some time to explore and eat lunch before concluding our day with a tour of the National Tile Museum. We would recommend this tour to anyone wanting to experience something a little more unique than the standard tour.

Our guide has a strategic approach to teaching you about Lisbon's azulejos. First, you'll tour the city to see how they are used and how their use has changed over the centuries. Next, you'll drive out to the rural areas to visit a tile workshop to learn first hand how they are made and beautifully painted. You'll see historical tiles and projects in progress. By the end it will be your turn to paint your own. Pro tip: Do this tour during the early part of your trip so you can get your tile to your hotel before you leave. Finally, you'll make your way back to the city and into the Nation Museum where the guide will add more details to information provided by the museum. All the previous parts of the tour will give you greater appreciation for the museum and its exhibits.

Our guide was wonderful and communicative. We drove around Lisbon to see examples of the some of the oldest tiles while learning about the history. We also saw contemporary art pieces and installations of exterior tiles on new buildings while discussing the evolution of the medium. Then, it was off to the factory and we saw the whole process! The team was very cool with having people watching them work and it was a blast to paint our own tiles! Lunch at the village is highly recommended (you can walk along the ocean and enjoy that vista after) and then the museum was very cool. I felt a tad rushed through the oldest parts of the museum with our guide, but we had ample time after to explore at our own pace. A small detail that wasn't clear on the posting was that if you want your tiles shipped to you, it means that they'll ship them to somewhere in Lisbon that has a front desk you can leave things at. They won't deliver to other types of rentals. The turn around time is at least 3 days as well, and we were leaving the country before that time. We ended up paying an additional fee to have the tiles shipped via FedEx to our home in the US. Overall, still worth it, but just a heads up!

We so enjoyed this experience! We had a wonderful time learning about Portuguese tiles and have come to appreciate how much work and time goes into creating them. We stopped in Sesimbra for lunch and it was a beautiful place! I would highly recommend this place and go with Nuno! He was fabulous and an excellent guide!

Our guide did a spectacular job. He was very knowledgeable about tiles and the history/culture of Portugal. The artisans in the workshop we're very kind and professional.

Hidden away but on a bus route and easy taxi ride this is worth a visit as a change from armour and stuffed artifacts. Well displayed with plenty of information you can still pick up a lot of historical information. Not all the tiles are old and the modern ones show the manufacture has developed over the years.

We decided on this tour as it was a break from the normal thing. We had found that Portugal was famous for tiles and wanted to enjoy a private tour and workshop. Our tour guide and driver, Phillip, was late to our hotel by over 15 minutes. We were told after a phone call was made for a status update that the he had gotten lost due to a GPS/SatNav issue. After meeting Phillip and him explaining that Lisbon was his home town we found it hard to believe that as a tour operator/driver that he was not familiar with the city layout. This was just the beginning of our "lost adventure". As we departed the city and traveled towards the workshop area in the countryside some 45 minutes away, Phillip got lost. He said he'd done the tour before, but had become reliant on GPS/SatNav technology that as the system was broken he was very turned around. We knew we were lost where on multiple occasions we passed the same area (3) three times. Phillip thoroughly explained the history of tiles in Portugal. Our concentration was limited as we worried that Phillip kept getting lost on the way to the workshop. We arrived at the tile workshop. The old building is not very welcoming and does not really seem fit for attendance by visitors. It seemed more like a working area than an exploration area. The gentleman who greeted us was very informative. We were showed varying styles of tiles and what it took exactly to create them. We were then offered the opportunity to paint our own tiles. Beyond "here's the pattern, paint, and brush, precious little instruction or attention was paid to us by either Phillip or the workshop staff. We happily finished our individual tiles and paid for the shipping of the tiles as they would not be fired in time for us to receive them at our hotel (Easter Holiday complications - be aware). We departed the workshop and made our way to a lovely fishing village for more exploration and lunch. The weather did not cooperate very well but we made the best of it as Phillip haphazardly navigated the roads. The fishing village was very quaint and Phillip explained the full history. We had lunch and departed the village to return to Lisbon. Phillip had not timed the tour very well and the amount of time we spend we spent in the museum was abbreviated as the place was in the process of closing. We were very disappointed in this tour overall and would not recommend it.

This was a favourite tour! Racquel was so well-informed and shared her wealth of information easily an conversationally. The midday trip to Sesimbra to see the small church had a wonderful impact on us. In the days following our tour, we were able to wander the streets of Lisbon and noted some of the tile techniques and history we had learned on our tour. The perfect mix of introductory knowledge and local history.

This was one of my absolute favorite tours we took while in Lisbon. We were delighted to visit the working studio in a nearby town, then sit and paint our own tiles to really see how the process is done. Afterwards we went back to the city to the absolutely magnificent Tile Museum, and we were so very pleased to have our guide there to explain what we were seeing. I highly recommend this tour so you can better understand the omnipresent tile work you will encounter throughout Lisbon and Portugal. You will learn to identify which part of history corresponds to the different styles. Thank you Claudia for being such a fun guide to spend a day with.

<p>Raquel from Around Lisbon is a wonderful and knowledgeable guide with a degree in fine arts. Be sure to take the tour early in order to bring home your tiles and honestly get the most from your vacation in Portugal. Enjoy!</p>