10 Things to Do in Lisbon for Children

For many people, Lisbon may be a city for couples or groups of friends. However, the Portuguese capital has a multitude of museums, excursions and activities designed for children to have a great time.

Lisbon is a city full of churches, monuments and neighbourhoods that can be the delight of any adult on holiday. However, from a child's point of view, these activities may not be all that fun. In this article I will tell you about the best things to do with the little ones and some basic tips to keep in mind.

The Lisbon Oceanarium is designed for both children and adults to spend a fun and enjoyable day visiting up to 16,000 marine species. This place is considered to be one of the largest ocean centres in Europe and it is also designed to make your children's visit as fun as possible thanks to Vasco the diver, who will welcome you when you enter and will be your guide through the Oceanarium.

Your little ones will have the opportunity to see impressive animals such as sharks, otters, turtles, clown fish and many more just a few steps away. You can also book a guided tour or even go to exhibitions where you can learn more. And if you book a bus tour of Lisbon with free stops that includes tickets to the Oceanarium, you'll have a great day out!

Interesting facts

• How to get there: the Lisbon Oceanarium is located at Esplanada Dom Carlos I, s/n, 1990-005.
• Price: between 10 € and 20 €.
• Opening hours: from 10 am to 7 pm in winter and until 8 pm in summer.

Lisbon is a beautiful river city crowned by the Tagus River, which flows through the city into the ocean. For many couples, one of the most idyllic plans is to take a romantic boat trip during their visit to the city. However, this plan can also be adapted to entertain the little ones on board one of the boats that organise cruises on the Tagus River:

• Hippotrip, the amphibious boat: One of the attractions on the Tagus that can motivate the little ones the most is to get on board an amphibious bus that can go from moving on land to enter the water directly. Without a doubt, an incredible experience for the whole family.
• Traditional boat trip: A trip along the Tagus River, contemplating Lisbon aboard a traditional Portuguese boat from 1947, full of colours and handmade drawings of flowers, is a plan that will be enjoyed by young and old alike.
• Sunset sailboat ride: By late afternoon, the little ones may be tired after a day of sightseeing in Lisbon, so relaxing on board a sailboat is definitely a great option for everyone.
• Sunset sailboat ride with wine: If we add to the sailboat ride a Portuguese wine tasting while the kids enjoy the view of Lisbon from the Tagus, the plan will be perfect.

Interesting facts

• How to get there: from the port area you can find different companies and boat tours on the Tagus.
• Price: between 25 € and 50 €.
• Timetable: there are usually several tours during the day and the duration is approximately 2 hours.

One of the must-do excursions if you travel with children to Lisbon is to Sintra, a town just 25 kilometres from Lisbon.

There is alot to see and do in Sintra. The town has been declared a World Heritage Site as it looks like something out of a fairy tale. You don't have to worry about the kids being bored here because while the adults enjoy the sights, the little ones will be overshadowed by the colourful houses and structures that look like something out of a movie.

To get to Sintra from Lisbon, just take one of the trains or buses and in less than 30 minutes you'll be there, so it's not a very tiring trip to make with children. However, if you are travelling with your family, I recommend you to book an excursion: the trip is much more comfortable and you will only have to worry about enjoying yourselves.

Interesting facts

• How to get there: you can take a bus or train from the centre of Lisbon and get there in less than 40 minutes.
• Price: the approximate price of the trip is €5, although if you book an organised tour it can cost around €60 including the whole day.
• Timetable: This is a tour that is worth doing all day.

Lisbon is a city that looks like a coastal city because of the huge mouth of the Tagus. However, the real beaches that attract the attention of all tourists are only 30 kilometres away, in the Cascais area. This beautiful urban beach is lovely to go with children.

In summer, you can spend a great day on the beach and sand enjoying the peninsular climate that the whole Lisbon area boasts and, if you come in cooler months, there's always the option of renting a bike and going for a ride along the promenade.

Interesting facts

• How to get there: several buses and trains leave every day and arrive in Cascais in less than 40 minutes.
• Price: the bus or train costs approximately €5 and bike hire costs around €15 for the whole day.
• Timetable: Going to Cascais can be a good way to spend the whole day and make the most of the beach.

You can also rent bikes in Lisbon or go directly to the city with these bike tours around the capital or on an electric bike, with which you will get to know the historic centre in a more entertaining and relaxed way. This option is ideal for the little ones as it even has child seats, which you will need to request when booking.

If you want to tour Lisbon's historic centre and prevent the little ones from getting bored, don't miss a visit to St. George's Castle, located between the Alfama and Baixa neighbourhoods. It is one of the oldest buildings in the whole city and dates back to the Islamic period on the peninsula.

For adults it can be of enormous cultural and historical importance and, in addition, the little ones will be amazed as they walk through its towers, passages and walls and can see the old cannons up close and listen to the anecdotes that seem to have come out of a war movie.

Interesting facts

• How to get there: the Castle is located at Rua de Santa Cruz, 1100-250.
• Price: Admission is around €10.
• Opening hours: in winter it is open from 9 am to 6 pm and in summer until 9 pm.

One of the must-visits for all families who come to Lisbon with children is the zoo. This place has more than 2,000 animals of all species and is the largest in the country. What's more, it has an extra that will give the kids a great time: a cable car that crosses it from the heights.

I can't think of a better plan to go with the little ones than to go to the zoo in its spectacular cable car and spend the day getting to know all kinds of animals. And not only that, the park has an interactive farm where children can come into contact with the animals and, if you come to visit on Saturdays, you can enjoy the "Wild Saturdays" experience where a keeper will give you a guided tour and tell you all the interesting facts.

Interesting facts

• How to get there: the zoo is at Praça Marechal Humberto Delgado, 1549-004.
• Price: between 15 € and 25 €.
• Opening hours: from 10 am to 6 pm in winter and until 8 pm in summer.

If you are looking for a museum in Lisbon that is suitable for the whole family and where children can spend hours and hours without getting bored, you should definitely take them to the Pavilhao do Conhecimiento Ciencia Viva. This place is designed so that children can understand in an interactive way how some of the most interesting aspects of science work.

From riding a bicycle on a rope to feeling static electricity. In this interactive museum children will feel like the real protagonists and it will be one of the best plans to make up for the rest of the sightseeing in the centre of Lisbon.

Interesting facts

• How to get there: Ciencia Viva is located at Largo José Mariano Gago, nº1 Parque das Nações, 1990-073.
• Price: between 5 € and 10 €.
• Opening hours: open daily from 10 am to 6 pm and weekends until 7 pm.

One of the museums not to be missed if you want to visit Lisbon but you are travelling with children is the Electricity Museum. The little ones can go inside an old factory that, years ago, was responsible for bringing electricity to the whole city.

After several renovations, the museum reopened its doors in 2006 and has now become a huge life-size exhibition where visitors can go through all parts of the factory as if they were former workers and see the original machinery up close.

Interesting facts

• How to get there: the Electricity Museum is located at Av. de Brasília, Central Tejo, 1300-598.
• Price: Admission to the museum is free, but if you want to enter the old building, you will have to pay approximately €5.
• Opening hours: The museum is open from Monday to Wednesday from 12 noon to 8pm.

Many children, when you ask them what they want to be when they grow up, say astronauts. The world of the stars and galaxies tends to attract the attention of the little ones and that is why, when you visit Lisbon with children, you cannot miss the opportunity to visit its enormous planetarium.

As well as seeing all the exhibitions and temporary projections about space, you can also take the little ones on a tour of the surface of the moon and look through an enormous projector that simulates the entire known firmament with more than 90,000 stars. It is also very close to the Jerónimos Monastery, so the visit could be the perfect excuse for adults to do a bit of sightseeing too.

Interesting facts

• How to get there: the Lisbon Planetarium is located at Praça do Império, 1400-206.
• Price: approximately €5.
• Opening hours: Tuesday to Friday from 9.30 am to 12 noon and from 1.30 pm to 4 pm. Saturdays from 1.30 pm to 5 pm and Sundays from 10.30 am to 12 noon and from 1.30 pm to 5 pm. Closed on Mondays.

Can you imagine your kids discovering what they want to be like growing up in the city of Lisbon? It can all happen thanks to one of its most emblematic theme parks; KidZania. This park is made to scale so that the youngest members of the family can feel like adults for a day, living the reality of professions and daily life as if they were grown up.

On arrival, they will be given an entrance ticket that they will have to manage throughout the visit, choosing what they want to spend it on. Will they want to be a vet? A cook? A doctor? Anything is possible at KidZania, a place that will leave them with unforgettable memories while the adults relax with a drink in the vicinity of the shopping centre where it is located.

Interesting facts

• How to get there: it is inside the Dolce Vita Tejo Shopping Centre. Avenida Cruzeiro Seixas N.7.
• Price: admission is free for children up to 2 years of age and after that it can cost around 25 €.
• Opening times: open at weekends from 10am to 2pm and from 3pm to 7pm.

As soon as you arrive in Lisbon you will realise that it is a city where both children and adults can enjoy themselves and have a great time. The wide range of activities on offer make it a perfect destination. Even so, here are some general recommendations to keep in mind when travelling with children:

• Most of the entrances to tourist attractions in Lisbon have a reduced price for children. In some cases they may even get in for free but, at the very least, you will see a considerable discount.
• The best time to travel with children to Lisbon may be in autumn or spring, when temperatures are stable and you don't get to experience the heat waves that can occur in the summer months. However, if you're travelling from June to September, don't forget to pack a good sunscreen for the whole family.
• Lisbon's old town has a lot of ups and downs and the ground is usually made of cobblestones. This is something to bear in mind if you're travelling with a pushchair. If your children are older, try to wear comfortable shoes and, in any case, a great option for the whole family is to book a tram ride to rest your feet while you take in Lisbon's architectural and natural wonders.
• Accommodation in Lisbon is a little cheaper than in Spain, so if you're travelling with children and family, a good option would be to rent an aparthotel for more freedom.
• One of the few disadvantages of Lisbon for travelling with children is that the establishments are not yet 100% adapted, so some bathrooms may not have a changing table. Make sure you always carry everything you need in your bag to avoid surprises.

As you can see, Lisbon is a city suitable for all ages and tastes. Your children may love this space, science, animals or film sets. Everything has a place in this amazing city that awaits you with open arms.