Piscina Municipal de Alcochete

The Piscina Municipal de Alcochete opened in 1999 and is owned and run by Alcochete council. It’s on Rua da Cooperação in the riverside town of Alcochete. The council lists four changing rooms.

The pool is the home of the council’s Escola Municipal de Natação (municipal swimming school), which takes children from age 2, and it opens for free swimming (natação livre) three times on most weekdays. There are no slides or play features. It’s a place for lessons and lane swimming.

The free-swim timetable linked on the council page when we checked covers the second half of September 2025 to 30 June 2026, so expect a new version for 2026/27. That timetable had:

• Monday and Thursday: 10:00 to 12:30, 15:45 to 17:00 and 21:00 to 21:45
• Tuesday and Friday: 10:40 to 12:30, 15:45 to 17:00 and 21:00 to 21:45
• Wednesday: 14:00 to 17:00 and 21:00 to 21:45 (the pool opens late on Wednesdays)
• Saturday: 8:00 to 9:30 and 14:30 to 16:30

You must get in by the time printed on the timetable: 12:00 for the morning sessions, 16:20 on weekday afternoons, 21:15 in the evening, and 9:00 or 16:00 on Saturdays. From 16:20 to 17:00 on weekdays, and on Saturday morning and early afternoon, only one lane is free. On Saturday afternoons you need a ticket bought in advance or a free-swim card.

The council’s facility listing gives Saturday opening as 7:45 to 13:30, while the free-swim timetable has a Saturday afternoon session. Ring before going on a Saturday afternoon. There’s no Sunday opening.

The free-swim registration form quotes Article 6 of the pool’s regulations:

• Up to age 9: children may use free swimming only with another user who is an adult and takes responsibility for them. Bring the child’s ID.
• Up to age 14: children still need an adult with them, unless a parent signs the authorisation on the form.

Free swimming also requires that you can swim, and everyone fills in a declaration that they have no medical reason not to exercise.

From the council’s 2025 fees table:

Free swimming

• With a card: €21.54 to register for the calendar year, then €1.70 per hour, topped up in blocks of €8.50 (5 hours)
• Without a card: €3.26 per hour, only for over-14s

Swimming school (monthly fees)

Class	Ages	Once a week	Twice	Three times
Pais & Filhos (parent and child)	2 to 4	€16.32
Water confidence	from 5	€13.05	€22.84	€29.37
Swimming, levels A, B and C	from 7	€13.05	€22.84	€29.37

Registration for the swimming school is €21.54 plus the first month, and it includes personal-accident insurance and the magnetic access card. For a family (spouse and children under 18), the second member pays half the registration fee and the rest pay none. Paying 3, 6 or 9 months ahead saves 5%, 11% or 17%. A replacement card costs €4.

Monthly fees are due by the 8th of each month. Paying between the 9th and 11th adds 10%, from the 12th it’s 15%, and an unpaid place is cancelled at the end of the month.

Pais & Filhos (“parents and children”) is the class for ages 2 to 4, where a parent comes too. On the 2025/26 swimming-school timetable these sessions were on Saturday mornings between about 10:00 and 11:30. From 5, children join water confidence (adaptação ao meio aquático) classes, which run on weekday afternoons and evenings and on Saturdays, and from 7 they can move into swimming levels A, B and C.

When you enrol, the form asks whether the child has any health condition or learning difficulty; if so, bring any medical report you have.

The pool sells silicone caps (€4.65), latex caps (€0.80) and overshoes (€0.15) at reception. The council page doesn’t publish the full rules, so check at reception what’s required, but pack a swim cap and flip-flops as you would for any Portuguese public pool.

Across the municipal boundary in Montijo, the free Museu Agrícola da Atalaia shows how olives became oil on an old farm estate, and KartMontijo has an indoor electric-kart track for children from four.

Can a 2-year-old go to lessons?

Yes. Pais & Filhos classes are for ages 2 to 4, with a parent, for €16.32 a month once a week on the 2025 fees table.

How much is a swim?

With a free-swim card it’s €1.70 an hour after a €21.54 annual registration. Without a card, €3.26 an hour, but only for over-14s.

Can my 11-year-old swim without me?

Only if you sign the parental authorisation on the free-swim form; otherwise children up to 14 need an adult with them.

Is it open on Sunday?

No. The council lists opening hours from Monday to Saturday only.