Conímbriga, Museu Nacional

Conímbriga is the site of a Roman town on a plateau near Condeixa-a-Velha, a short drive south of Coimbra. People lived on this spot for about 2,000 years, from the late Bronze Age to the Middle Ages, but what you see today is mostly the Roman town: streets, houses, baths and a forum, with mosaic floors still lying where they were made.

The ruins have been known since the 16th century. The first big surveys and mosaic studies were done in 1899, systematic digging started in 1929, and the state bought most of the land in 1930. The site became a national monument in 1910 and the museum opened in 1962. It’s now the Museu Nacional de Conímbriga, and the ticket covers both the ruins and the museum.

About three hectares of the old town are open to visitors, and you can follow real Roman streets, step through doorways and see how big a rich family’s house was. The standout is the Casa dos Repuxos, the “house of the fountains”. The national museums body describes a mosaic-paved area, important traces of wall paintings, and a central garden courtyard (a peristyle) with a pool and water jets. Children who like water will want to spot the jets.

Around it are other Roman houses, bath buildings and the remains of the forum, with mosaic floors preserved in place across the site. Only part of the old town has been dug up. The rest is kept as an archaeological reserve, which is a good thing to point out to children: there is still more buried under the fields, and the museum is still researching the site.

The museum’s children’s pages, Conimbriga em Quadrículas, use two characters, Alia and Rufus, to explain everyday Roman things found here: garum (the fermented fish sauce Romans loved), how people lit their homes, blocks of flats called insulae, the amphitheatre, slaves, public latrines and the triclinium, where Romans ate lying down. Reading a few before you go gives children things to hunt for.

The permanent exhibition has about 1,500 objects found at Conímbriga, and it’s arranged so children can connect them to the ruins outside. There are four rooms:

• Everyday life: coins and buried treasure, metalwork and glass, pottery, carpentry and stonework, spinning and weaving, farming and fishing, building, tableware, lamps, writing and games, health and personal care, jewellery, weights and measures, and military equipment.
• The forum, the town’s main square for markets, meetings and temples.
• Decorative arts: plasterwork, sculpture and wall painting from the houses.
• Beliefs and superstitions: Roman and local gods, tombstones, superstitions and early Christianity, including the later Suevi and Visigoth period.

The collection is mostly fragments rather than big showpieces, but it’s clearly explained. Each room has QR codes for a free audio guide on your phone, with a PDF to read alongside, so bring headphones and a charged phone.

When checked in September 2026, adult entry cost €10. Children up to and including 12 go free. Families with at least one adult and one child under 18 get 50% off the adult ticket, as do 13 to 24 year olds and over-65s, which makes this one of the cheaper big days out in the region. Residents of Portugal can use the Acesso 52 scheme, which gives 52 free days a year across the 37 museums, monuments and palaces of the national network; bring your Portuguese ID card (Cartão de Cidadão). You can buy tickets online or at the desk.

Conímbriga is open every day from 10:00 to 18:00, but the ticket office closes at 17:15, so don’t arrive late in the afternoon. It’s closed on 1 January, Easter Sunday, 1 May and 25 December.

The ruins are outdoors, so hats, sun cream and water matter on hot days, and summer afternoons can be tiring for small children. The ruins are not yet suitable for wheelchairs, and a buggy will struggle on the old paving and uneven ground, so a carrier is easier for toddlers. The museum building, by contrast, is step-free, with adapted toilets next to the shop and ticket office and wheelchairs to borrow.

There’s a restaurant on site, and the shop is open until 17:30. The museum also has a library and an auditorium.

Families can book a personalised guided visit through the education service (se.mnconimbriga@conimbriga.pt). Hands-on pottery, restoration and mosaic-making activities are offered to school groups and must be booked at least two weeks ahead. Home-education groups could ask about joining one. School groups get in free with a letter from their school.

By car, leave the A1 or IC2 at Condeixa-a-Nova and follow the signs for Conímbriga. By public transport, SIT-RC buses run from Coimbra, or take the train to Coimbra-B and continue by bus or taxi via Condeixa-a-Nova.

Conímbriga pairs well with a day in Coimbra. The University’s Museu da Ciência and the hands-on UC Exploratório are a short drive north, and Portugal dos Pequenitos, the miniature village park, is on the south bank of the Mondego. For another side of Roman Portugal, the Roman gold mines at Tresminas in Trás-os-Montes show where some of the empire’s gold came from.

Is Conímbriga free for children?

Yes, for children up to and including 12. Families with at least one child also get 50% off the €10 adult ticket.

How long do you need at Conímbriga?

Allow two to three hours for the ruins and the museum. Arrive before 17:15, when the ticket office closes.

Can you take a buggy?

Into the museum, yes: it’s step-free. The ruins aren’t suitable for wheelchairs, and a buggy will be hard work there, so bring a carrier for small children.

Is there somewhere to eat?

Yes, there’s a restaurant on site.

Is it too hot in summer?

The ruins are outdoors, so go in the morning, bring hats and water, and save the indoor museum for the hottest part of the day.