Piscina Municipal de Campo de Ourique

The Piscina Municipal de Campo de Ourique is on Rua Correia Teles, in the grid of streets between the Prazeres cemetery and Amoreiras. It’s a Lisbon municipal pool, and under an agreement with the Campo de Ourique parish council it’s run by Ginásio Clube Português (GCP), one of the city’s oldest sports clubs. You don’t need to be a GCP member to use it. You sign up at the pool’s own reception.

It’s a lessons-and-lengths pool, with no slides or play features. What it does well for families is teaching: baby classes, four stages of water confidence for small children, levelled classes, and week-long intensive courses in the Easter, summer and Christmas holidays.

GCP lists:

• A 25-metre pool with six lanes, kept at an average of 29 °C
• A learner pool (tanque de aprendizagem) of 12 by 8 metres, kept at 30 °C
• A car park with 245 spaces
• A bar with a terrace serving light meals

The regulations say the water is treated with chlorine and a secondary UV-lamp system. GCP doesn’t publish the depths, so ask at reception whether your child can stand in the learner pool.

Public swimming (utilização livre) means swimming without a teacher. Here it’s organised by lanes of three kinds. The slow lane is for people who stop and start, and the fast lane is for confident lap swimmers. The recreational lane (pista recreativa) is the one for children with their parents and for gentle water exercise. It only opens when three or more lanes are free in the 25-metre pool or the learner pool.

The system takes some setting up:

1. Register at reception and buy a card (€1.10).
2. Load credit onto it at reception. Entries come in packs of ten, valid for a year.
3. Take the level test with one of the teachers so you’re given a lane category.
4. Book each swim in GCP’s app, from seven days ahead up to the start time. The entry is charged when you book, and you must cancel at least two hours ahead or you still pay.

Each visit lasts up to 90 minutes from turnstile to turnstile: 15 minutes before your slot, 45 minutes in the water and 30 minutes to shower and change. Stay longer and a second entry is charged.

The number of free lanes changes during the day and can be adjusted monthly. The lane plan is posted at the pool, and Sunday mornings may have little or no public swimming when events are scheduled. The latest lane plan linked online when we checked was for 2024/25, so ring the pool before you plan a family swim.

From the 2025/26 price list, the most recent one GCP had published in September 2026:

• Public swim, weekdays before 17:00: €2.10 per entry for adults, €1.57 for under-18s and Cartão Jovem holders (€21 and €15.70 for ten)
• Public swim, weekdays after 17:00 and weekends: €2.70 for adults, €2.02 for under-18s (€27 and €20.20 for ten)
• Children’s lessons, per month: €15.82 for one class a week, €24.15 for two, €28.87 for three
• Joining fees for lessons: registration €26, annual renewal €19.60, insurance €5

Paying monthly lesson fees after the 10th adds a €2.50 surcharge. Private lessons cost from €30 for 30 minutes, and “Acqua Party” birthday parties cost from €200 on a Saturday.

GCP’s teachers run classes by age and level:

• Babies from 6 to 36 months: 30-minute classes, and a parent or other family adult must be in the water with the baby. Babies need swim nappies and a cap.
• Water confidence (adaptação ao meio aquático, AMA) 1 to 4: stages lasting 30 to 45 minutes as children get older and more confident.
• Levels 1, 2 and 3/4, plus a mixed-level group, for children who are learning strokes.
• Pre-competition groups for keen swimmers who train two to five times a week.

Signing up for lessons means booking a level test first. Parents can’t stay on the poolside during children’s classes; they wait in the stands or outside. A teacher can sometimes allow a parent to stay to help settle a child who is struggling.

The intensive courses (Cursos Intensivos de Natação) run in the Easter, summer and Christmas holidays for children aged 4 to 13. In summer 2026 they ran from 29 June to 31 July in week-long blocks, Monday to Friday. There were two daily sessions, 9:15 to 10:35 and 10:35 to 11:55. Groups have at most 10 children per teacher (8 in the youngest water-confidence group), split by age. Every teacher holds a swimming coach licence, and the week mixes technique with games, relays and water-safety skills.

A full week cost €60 (€50 for GCP members and pool users), and children new to the pool took a short test first. A group only runs if at least three children sign up, and you have to book the whole week. The course flyer makes the changing room the responsibility of the child or the adult with them, so this is a morning swim course, not a full-day camp. Sign up at reception or by email.

From the 2024/25 regulations and the swimwear poster:

• Children under 2 can only go in the water in organised classes, with an adult.
• Under-16s using the recreational lane without an adult need a responsibility form signed in person by a parent.
• Everyone wears a swim cap and clean flip-flops used only at the pool. Swimsuits must be close-fitting lycra: no bikinis and no long fabric board shorts. The pool doesn’t lend swimwear, caps or goggles.
• Shower with soap and walk through the footbath before swimming.
• Children aged 3 to 8 with a parent of the other sex use the children’s changing room. From age 9 children change on their own.
• Bring a padlock: bags and clothes must go in a locked locker. Valuables lockers are at reception.
• Adults who come in only to help a child shower must pay for a public swim entry.

This pool suits families who want a routine (weekly lessons or a holiday course) better than a spontaneous family splash, since public swimming needs a card, credit, a level test and an app booking. It’s closed on public holidays, on 24 December and for the whole of August, and it closes at lunchtime on weekends.

The Jardim da Estrela is nearby, with a busy playground, a duck pond and kiosk cafés for after a swim. The Aqueduto das Águas Livres ends at the Mãe d’Água reservoir in Amoreiras, and you can walk across its arches over the Alcântara valley. GCP’s own clubhouse near Rato runs fencing groups from age 6 and archery from age 9 for children who want to try another sport.

Do you need to be a GCP member to swim at Campo de Ourique?

No. You register as a pool user at the pool’s reception. Membership isn’t needed.

Can children swim in public sessions?

Yes, with a parent, when the recreational lane is open. That only happens when three or more lanes are free, so check the lane plan or ring ahead.

From what age are there swimming lessons?

From 6 months, in baby classes with a parent in the water. The water-confidence and levelled classes follow as children grow.

Is the learner pool warm?

The regulations put the learner pool at an average of 30 °C and the 25-metre pool at 29 °C.

Are there swimming courses in the school holidays?

Yes. Intensive courses for ages 4 to 13 run at Easter, in summer and at Christmas. In summer 2026 they cost €60 a week, with morning sessions only.