Oceanário de Lisboa

The Oceanário de Lisboa sits on the water at Doca dos Olivais in Parque das Nações, the riverside district built for Expo 98. Its permanent exhibition, One Planet, One Ocean, holds 5 million litres of water, four ocean habitats and about 8,000 animals. The idea behind it is one children can grasp straight away: every sea on Earth is connected, so there is really only one global ocean.

It’s one of the easiest big outings in Lisbon with children. The metro stops a few minutes away, the whole route is indoors with ramps and lifts, and the Oceanário itself puts an average visit at an hour and a half to two hours.

The whole building is arranged around one enormous central tank. It holds sharks, rays, shoals of silvery fish and the ocean sunfish, the heaviest bony fish in the world, which can grow to more than 3 metres long and weigh over 2 tonnes. You walk round it twice, first at the surface and then down at the windows below, so small children see the same animals from different angles and keep spotting new ones.

Around the edges are four habitats, one for each ocean:

• The Atlantic, from the Portuguese coast out to the world’s largest mountain range, most of it hidden under the sea.
• The Pacific, with its kelp forests. This is where the sea otters float on their backs, groom their fur and crack shells open with stones.
• The Indian Ocean, warm, colourful and the most biodiverse of the four.
• The Southern Ocean, the coldest, whose habitat is closed while it is rebuilt (see below).

Look out for the zebra shark, which rests on the sea floor facing into the current so it can breathe without swimming. Young zebra sharks have stripes like a zebra and only get their spots as adults, which is a good fact to save for the moment you find one.

The jellyfish tanks are dim and quiet. Species pages name the white-spotted jellyfish from the Pacific, whose bell can reach 50 centimetres across, and the sea nettle, whose body is about 90% water. There’s no octopus on the Oceanário’s species list, so don’t promise one.

The sea otters are many children’s favourite. The Oceanário’s page explains that they have no layer of blubber, so they keep warm with the thickest fur of any animal, about 155,000 hairs per square centimetre, and have to eat about 30% of their body weight every day. The page compares that to a grown-up eating 100 hamburgers a day.

After 25 years, the rockwork in the penguins’ Antarctic habitat was worn out and is being rebuilt. While the work goes on, the Magellanic penguins live in a specially designed enclosure away from the public, still cared for daily by the biologists. The Oceanário hasn’t given a reopening date, so a penguin-mad child may be disappointed. In the meantime, the space where the Antarctic habitat used to be holds Submerged Universe, an immersive room of light, sound and projection about how everything from plankton to whales is connected. It has bright, flashing lights that may affect people with photosensitive epilepsy.

All exhibitions are included in the ticket. When we checked:

• Sea Monsters, in the main atrium until 1 November 2026, has life-size models of prehistoric ocean predators covering 400 million years of marine life. It was made with Dino Parque Lourinhã, so it’s a neat crossover for dinosaur fans.
• Forests Underwater, Takashi Amano’s 40-metre freshwater “nature aquarium” with more than 10,000 tropical fish, closes for good on 30 September 2026 after ten years.

Ticket prices depend on when you arrive. When checked in September 2026:

• 10:00 to 11:30: adults €29.90, ages 3 to 12 €17.70, over-65s €19.90
• 12:00 to 15:30: adults €27.70, ages 3 to 12 €16.60, over-65s €18.80
• 16:00 to 18:30: adults €25.50, ages 3 to 12 €15.50, over-65s €17.70

Children up to 2 go free, and under-12s must be with an adult. Buying online with the code ONLINE5 takes off another 5%. A Flexiticket (€41 per adult) lets you come any time within seven days. Visitors with a certified disability of 60% or more go free, and one companion gets 60% off, at the ticket office on the day.

The Oceanário is open every day from 10:00 to 20:00, with last entry at 19:00, and shorter hours on 24 and 31 December and a later start on 25 December and 1 January.

Sleeping with Sharks is the Oceanário’s famous night-time experience, from 20:00 to 10:00 the next morning, with a morning in the building before it opens. It isn’t sold as individual family tickets. It’s available to school groups aged 4 to 17 (€50 per pupil), to private groups of 5 to 12 people including children from 4 (from €500 for five), and as a birthday party for ages 6 to 12 (from €720 for 12 children). Homeschool groups big enough to fill a booking could look into the group option.

Daytime birthday parties run at weekends and on public holidays: Shark Party or Sea Party for ages 4 to 7, and detective-style parties called Operation Penguin and Mission Shark for ages 8 to 12, at €19 per child plus optional snack and cake.

The Oceanário also runs concerts for babies up to 3, Fado for Kids for under-4s, a 90-minute guided tour (daily, in Portuguese and English, from €30.50) and a two-hour behind-the-scenes tour (€40) through the feeding areas and the saltwater production plant. The backstage tour isn’t recommended for people with reduced mobility. For older children, the Oceanário and Terra Incógnita run dolphin-watching boat trips on the Tagus from Doca de Santo Amaro, from age 6 (€42 for ages 6 to 12, €52 from 13).

This is one of Lisbon’s most popular attractions, so weekends, school holidays and rainy days get busy. The inside is dim, which some children find calming and others find unsettling. If yours doesn’t like crowds, aim for a weekday or the late-afternoon slot, which is also the cheapest.

The route has ramps and lifts, so a buggy is fine. There are baby-changing tables in the toilets, but no dedicated room for feeding babies. You can’t eat or bring food onto the visit route, so plan snacks for before or after; the #SeaTheFuture restaurant has a children’s menu with mini pancakes, soup, breaded bites and burgers. Scooters, bikes and balloons aren’t allowed inside, and neither are dogs, including guide dogs.

Parque das Nações is flat and full of space to run, with the riverside promenade and gardens right outside. The Lisbon cable car runs along the river nearby, and the Oceanário sells a combined ticket. The Pavilhão do Conhecimento science centre is a short walk away if you still have energy. For a smaller, older aquarium, try the Aquário Vasco da Gama in Dafundo.

How long does the Oceanário take?

The Oceanário says an average visit is 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours. With a slow-looking child and a meal, allow half a day.

When is the cheapest time to visit?

The 16:00 to 18:30 slot, when adults paid €25.50 and children €15.50 in September 2026. Add the ONLINE5 code for 5% off.

Can you take a buggy into the Oceanário?

Yes. The route has ramps and lifts throughout. There are lockers for bags on floor 0.

Are the penguins there?

Not on show at the moment. The Antarctic habitat is being rebuilt, and the penguins are living in a temporary enclosure away from visitors. No reopening date was given when we checked.

Can you bring food?

Not onto the visit route. There are three places to eat on the ground floor, and plenty more along the riverside.