National Coach Museum Lisbon: Hours, Price and What to See

Opening Hours and Last Entry

The doors open at 10:00 and close at 18:00, Tuesday to Sunday. The last admission is at 17:30, so arrive before then or you will be turned away at the door. Monday is the full closing day.

There are also five fixed closing days a year on top of Mondays: 1 January, Easter Sunday, 1 May, 13 June and 25 December. The museum's own visit page lists these five and no others, so 24 December is treated as an opening day unless the museum says otherwise. Some third-party listings still add 24 December. The museum's own page wins.

One Building, Not Two

Plan your route around a single building. The Picadeiro Real, the 1787 riding school that housed the collection for a century, has been closed for works since 29 September 2025. Under the museum's own 'Moving Carriages 2025' programme, eight National Treasures and more than 170 objects were moved from the riding school into the main Mendes da Rocha building during the refurbishment.

Some sources, including Wikipedia, still describe the collection as split across two buildings. That is out of date for a visitor today. Everything you will see on a standard visit is inside the main building on Avenida da Índia, and the architecture section below explains what changed.

The Entry Ticket With Audio Guide

The entry ticket and audio guide costs €20 ($22.30) per person and carries a 4.5 rating from 55 reviews. It includes adult admission plus a self-guided audio tour that runs on your own smartphone, on Android and iOS, with offline content you can use before or after the visit. Duration is given as 1 to 1.5 hours. Free cancellation applies up to 24 hours before.

Check the fine print before you buy. You need your own smartphone and headphones. The app needs 100 to 150 MB of storage and does not run on Windows phones or several older iPhone and iPad models. Book per device you plan to use, not per participant.

Who Needs the Desk Ticket Instead

Reduced and free tickets are sold only at the ticket booth on site, so visitors aged 65+, visitors aged 13 to 24, families and children under 12 buy at the door. Bring ID where a reduction applies.

The listing also warns that long queues at the entrance are possible. The audio guide content works offline.

Lisboa Card

The Lisboa Card includes the Coach Museum on its free-entry list, alongside the Royal Treasure Museum, the Fado Museum and the Puppet Museum, among 50 or more sites. The card starts at €31 ($34.57) for 24 hours and adds unlimited public transport, which matters in Belém since the museum sits a bus or tram ride from the centre.

One caveat. The card list is the source for the free entry, and the museum's own visit page does not mention the card. The card also needs a booked time slot for Belém Tower and Jerónimos Monastery, so redeem the voucher early on a Belém day.

Reductions and Free Entry at the Door

The reduced ticket is €7.50 ($8.36) for three groups: visitors aged 65 and over, visitors aged 13 to 24, and families of one adult with a minor. Children under 12 enter free.

Free entry with proof also applies to unemployed EU residents, disabled visitors plus one companion, accredited guides and press, and ICOM and ICOMOS members.

The Voucher 52 (Acesso 52) scheme gives residents of Portugal 52 free days a year at national museums, any weekday, on showing a Cartão de Cidadão. It replaced free Sundays and holidays. Tourists do not qualify, so older guides still promising a free Sunday at national museums are out of date.

The Coach of Philip II

The oldest coach in the collection is the Coach of Philip II, built around 1620 for the Spanish king who also ruled Portugal.

The museum holds more than 70 vehicles in total, which makes it the richest royal carriage collection in the world by the museum's own description.

The Coaches of the Oceans

The Coaches of the Oceans date from the Portuguese embassy to Pope Clement XI in 1716.

Look too for the Berlinda of Lisbon. With the annex shut, all eight National Treasures and over 170 relocated objects now sit in the main building.

The New Building

The main building opened on 23 May 2015, exactly 110 years after the museum was founded. Paulo Mendes da Rocha, the Brazilian architect who won the Pritzker Prize in 2006, designed it with Ricardo Bak Gordon.

The Riding School and Why It Is Not on Your Route

The Picadeiro Real was built in 1787 as a royal riding school, with a hall about 50 metres long and 17 metres wide, big enough to exercise horses indoors and, from 1905, to park royal coaches. That hall served as the museum's home for a century.

It is now closed for works. The closure started on 29 September 2025, and the museum's 'Moving Carriages 2025' programme moved eight National Treasures and more than 170 objects from the riding school into the main building while the refurbishment runs. No reopening date is stated. So do not budget time for a second building, and treat any map or article that shows coaches in the riding school as describing the museum before the works.

By Bus, Tram, Train or Ferry

The address is Av. da Índia 136, 1300-300 Lisboa. Five bus lines stop nearby: 728, 714, 727, 729 and 751. Tram 15 also runs here.

The CP Cascais line stops at Belém station, and the Belém ferry is another way in.

• Bus: 728, 714, 727, 729, 751
• Tram: 15
• Train: CP Cascais line to Belém
• Ferry: Belém station

Walking the Belém Strip

The Museu de Marinha and the MAAT are the other museums in Belém.

The Lisboa Card covers public transport, including the tram and train out to Belém.

The Verdict

Budget 1 to 1.5 hours for the main building. The audio guide ticket lists a duration of 1 to 1.5 hours.

Under-12s enter free, and the whole visit is indoors.

Accessibility and Photos

The 2015 building is accessible throughout, with lifts to all public areas and ramps. Reception keeps six free wheelchairs, and assistance dogs are allowed.

Photography rules are clear: no flash, no tripods, no selfie sticks, and no commercial or professional filming. Ordinary handheld photos are fine, so bring the phone and leave the stick at the hotel.

A Belém Day in Order

The Coach Museum and the MAAT are in Belém, along with the Museu de Marinha, Jerónimos Monastery and Belém Tower. Belém Tower and Jerónimos need an advance slot with the Lisboa Card.

Closed days shape the plan. The Coach Museum is closed on Mondays and the MAAT on Tuesdays. The Museu de Marinha opens at 13:00 on Mondays from October to May. The Ajuda National Palace is closed on Wednesdays, and the Royal Treasure Museum is open daily. For a Monday, see the Monday alternatives.

Combined Tickets

There is no official combined ticket for the Coach Museum on the museum's own page. The single entry ticket with audio guide is the online option.

If you want one pass instead, the Lisboa Card covers this museum, the Royal Treasure Museum, the Ajuda palace and Belém Tower access with a booked slot.

Queen Amelia and the Riding School

Queen Amelia founded the museum on 23 May 1905, installing the royal carriages in the 1787 riding school beside the Tagus. The riding school hall served as the exhibition space for the museum's first 110 years.

The museum describes the collection as the richest royal carriage collection in the world, with more than 70 vehicles.

The 2015 Move and the Current Works

On 23 May 2015, 110 years to the day after the founding, the collection moved into the new building by Paulo Mendes da Rocha and Ricardo Bak Gordon. The old riding school stayed in use as an annex.

Since 29 September 2025 the Picadeiro Real has been closed for refurbishment, and the 'Moving Carriages 2025' programme transferred eight National Treasures and over 170 objects into the main building. No reopening date is stated, so a visit today means the Mendes da Rocha building alone.