The National Tile Museum and the Azulejo Story

The Museu Nacional do Azulejo in a former convent spans six centuries of Portugal's most distinctive art form. The masterpiece: a 36-meter panoramic tile panel of Lisbon before the 1755 earthquake -- the only visual record of the city that was destroyed.

What visitors miss: The convent cloister where the tile work traces the art form's evolution room by room, and the cafe serves coffee in tiled surroundings.