Parque Aquático de Fafe

The Parque Aquático de Fafe is a privately run summer water park on the Monte das Freiras, a hill on the edge of Fafe, in the Braga district east of Guimarães. Its site describes the view over the town from the pools, and it’s popular enough that the park says it keeps expanding, with new pools, slides, food outlets and bungalows planned.

It’s a full-day outing. The park opens at 10:00 and the slides run until 18:00, which is long enough for children to wear themselves out and still have time for lunch and a rest in the shade.

According to the park:

• 17 slide lanes (pistas de escorregas) in different sizes and shapes, from gentle ones for younger children to fast drops for teenagers.
• Four pools, for swimming, playing or lying back and looking at the view. One is the panoramic pool (piscina panorâmica).
• Children’s areas built for the youngest, where they can splash and go down small slides.
• Entertainment, with costumed characters visiting through the day for hugs and high fives.
• Rest areas in the sun and in the shade, with loungers and parasols to hire.
• Bars and a restaurant with a terrace, selling snacks, meals and cold drinks.
• Changing rooms and lockers.

Lifeguards (nadadores-salvadores) and support staff are spread around the park, and each slide has a monitor who sends riders down one at a time.

The park doesn’t publish slide heights, minimum ages or height limits online. Staff at each slide tell children which ones they can use, so tell smaller children before you arrive that not every slide will be open to them.

The park charges more in July and August, and at weekends in June and September. From the official price table when checked in September 2026:

June and September

• Under 4: free
• Ages 4 to 11: €9.50 on weekdays (€8.50 for a half day), €11 at weekends and on holidays
• Ages 12 to 64: €16 on weekdays (€15 for a half day), €18 at weekends and on holidays
• 65 and over: €9.50 on weekdays, €11 at weekends

July and August

• Under 4: free
• Ages 4 to 11: €12 (€11 for a half day on weekdays)
• Ages 12 to 64: €20 (€19 for a half day on weekdays)
• 65 and over: €12 (€11 for a half day on weekdays)

A family of two adults and two children aged 5 and 9 would pay €51 for a June weekday, or €64 on any day in July or August.

Under-4s must show their citizen card (cartão de cidadão) at the entrance to get in free. Tickets can’t be refunded or moved to another date, including when the weather changes. You can buy them online from the park’s ticket office.

Extras cost €4 for a locker, €4 for a parasol and €6 for a sun lounger.

The park’s rules are firm, and some catch families out at the gate:

• Children under 12 can’t come in without an adult who is responsible for watching them and for their behaviour.
• You can’t bring your own parasols, tents, chairs, balls, airbeds or rubber rings. The fixed loungers and parasols belong to the park.
• No glass and no animals except guide dogs.
• No eating, drinking or smoking in the water areas. Eat at the bars and terraces.
• Everyone showers before getting into a pool or on a slide, and no oily creams or lotions on the skin before swimming.
• Only proper swimwear. No clothes with metal studs or buttons.
• No running, pushing or diving.

On the slides:

• Go down sitting, feet first, with your hands inside the slide.
• One person at a time: no “trains” or riding on someone’s lap.
• Take off jewellery, glasses and anything that could scratch the slide.
• Leave the landing pool straight away and don’t dive in at the bottom.
• The rules advise against the slides for pregnant women and people with heart problems.

The park can close a slide or activity without notice, and it opens slides in rotation on quieter days.

This is a summer-only park, and on hot weekends in July and August it’s busy. Weekday tickets in June and September are the cheapest and quietest. The half-day ticket on weekdays saves €1 a head, so it’s only worth it if you’re planning an afternoon.

Since you can’t bring a parasol, shade is whatever the park provides and what you rent. Pack sun cream that isn’t oily, and apply it well before swimming.

Fafe is about 25 minutes by car from Guimarães. On a cooler day, the Teleférico da Penha runs up to the Penha hill above Guimarães, and the town’s public Scorpio pools have a smaller slide and splash zone at a fraction of the price. For another day in the car-and-engine line, the Museu do Automóvel in Famalicão is about 45 minutes west.

How much is the Fafe water park for children?

Under-4s go free. Children aged 4 to 11 paid €9.50 on June and September weekdays, €11 at weekends, and €12 every day in July and August, when checked in September 2026.

When is the Parque Aquático de Fafe open?

Every day in summer from 10:00 to 19:00, with the slides closing at 18:00. In 2026 the season ran until 6 September.

Can we take a picnic?

The rules ban eating in the water areas and don’t mention picnics elsewhere, but there are bars and a restaurant on site. Ask at the entrance before you pack a cool box.

Can my child go without an adult?

Not under 12. Under-12s must be with an adult who is responsible for them.

Are there slides for small children?

Yes. The park says its 17 slide lanes range from ones for the youngest to fast ones for older children, and there are separate play areas for little ones. Staff at each slide decide who can ride.