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Art or Festival Advice

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My family and I will be in Portugal from 2-9 August, reuniting with some former European exchange students. Thanks to this excellent site and books, we have a good idea on what to see and do to fill that week.

My 16yr old daughter and I, however, will stick around a few more days in Europe and I’m wondering what people would recommend as far as “off the beaten path” in the Iberian peninsula. She loves art and I’d love to find an interesting art or cultural festival to go see and participate in together. Our dates are roughly 9-12 August and we will fly back to the States from Lisbon, so don’t want to venture too far from there. I’m happy to easyjet it to Madrid, for instance, for our little adventure.

ideas?

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11294 posts

I don't know about festivals.

If she's interested in art, she may want to go to Madrid. It not only has the "big three" of the Prado, the Reina Sofia, and the Thyssen, but also smaller collections like the Museo Sorolla (his former house with lots of his artworks - lovely). The Prado has one of the greatest collections in the world, and as always, seeing the reproductions is no substitute for seeing the real thing.

If you want to fly to Barcelona, there's also multiple top art museums, such as the Picasso, the Mares, and MNAC (this one is so big your ticket is good for two days!).

Or she may want to stay in Portugal. The Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon is often highly recommended (I didn't get to go when I was there). In Porto, the Museu Serralves has modern art (I saw a great temporary exhibit) and lovely grounds, and the Museu Nacional de Soares dos Reis has very nice art by Portuguese painters you've never heard of or seen before, as well as great sculptures by its namesake (if she likes Bernini, she'll like these).

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