Piscina Municipal de Vila Franca de Xira

The Piscina Municipal de Vila Franca de Xira is the main pool in the Complexo Municipal de Desporto, Recreio e Lazer, the council’s sports complex in the town. The complex also has a gym and three studios. It’s the biggest of six pools run by the Câmara Municipal (the town council) across the municipality, and its municipal swimming school is certified by the Portuguese Swimming Federation.

For families there are two good reasons to know about it. Public swimming is some of the cheapest in the Lisbon area, especially for small children. And the pool is long and deep enough for strong swimmers while still having a shallow area where a child who can’t swim yet can stand.

The council’s pool regulations describe one large tank: 50 metres long, 21 metres wide, eight lanes, and 2.05 to 2.27 metres deep. Most of the year it’s divided into two 25-metre pools, each with eight lanes. It becomes a full 50-metre pool in the summer, between mid-July and mid-September.

That depth means no one can touch the bottom in the main pool. Instead, there’s a raised platform, which the season plan calls the “plataforma com pé” (the platform where you can stand), used for classes and for public swimmers who can’t swim confidently. How much of the platform is free for public swimming changes each day with the classes.

There are no slides, flumes or leisure features. It’s a pool for swimming and lessons.

From 15 September 2026, the pool’s opening hours are:

• Monday, Wednesday and Friday: 8:00 to 14:00 and 16:00 to 21:00
• Tuesday and Thursday: 8:00 to 14:00 and 16:00 to 22:00
• Saturday: 9:00 to 13:00 and 16:00 to 19:00
• Sunday: 9:00 to 13:00

At least one lane is kept for public swimming (utilização livre) for the whole of opening time. Each visit can last up to 120 minutes from the moment you pass the entrance turnstile until you leave; after that, extra time comes off your card in 15-minute blocks.

The pool closes on public holidays, on 24 and 31 December, on Easter Saturday and on the municipal holiday, and from 9 to 31 August 2027 for its summer shutdown. From 16 July to 8 August 2027 it keeps shorter summer hours on weekdays (8:30 to 14:00 and 15:30 to 21:00) and Saturday mornings.

The council’s price list for 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2027 gives these public swim prices:

Who	One swim	10 swims	30 swims
Children up to 5	€0.66	€5.89	€13.70
Ages 6 to 16	€2.67	€23.94	€55.93
Over 16	€3.13	€28.26	€65.84

You first register as a user (€11.83) to get a user card, which you top up. Public swims and classes on weekdays between 8:00 and 10:00, 16:00 and 18:00, and 21:00 and 22:00 are 20% cheaper. Holders of the municipal youth card (Cartão Jovem Municipal) get 20% off public swimming.

The Escola Municipal de Natação teaches baby swimming, water-confidence classes (AMA, adaptação ao meio aquático) for young children, and the four strokes by level. Baby classes last 30 minutes and classes for 4 to 6 year olds last 40 minutes, with at most 10 children per teacher in both. Older children’s classes are 45 minutes.

In 2026/27 aquatic classes cost €21.08 a month for one class a week, €32.80 for two and €39.32 for three, plus registration. Families get discounts when several members take classes: 25% off with three activities, 30% with four, 35% with five. A single class costs €5.84.

The season runs from 1 September to 31 August, with lessons from 15 September 2026 to 15 July 2027. For 2026/27, new enrolments for babies opened on 3 July and for AMA and levelled classes on 8 July, and new children in those classes had to take a test first. When classes don’t run during school holidays, enrolled students can swim for free in public sessions to make up, along with the adult who must supervise children under 10.

From the council’s pool regulations (Regulamento 4/2022):

• Children under 10 can only use public swimming with an adult user who watches them and is responsible for them the whole time.
• Everyone must wear a swim cap, keep it on in the water, and wear pool flip-flops that aren’t used as outdoor shoes. Swimwear must be swimming costumes, bikinis, trunks or tight lycra shorts.
• Babies not yet toilet-trained must wear swim nappies.
• Shower fully and wash off creams before going to the poolside, then walk through the footbath.
• Take off jewellery. No eating on the poolside.
• New public swimmers are assessed first. Those with less confidence in the water are limited to the shallow standing areas.
• In changing rooms, children up to 6 can go into the changing room of the opposite sex with a parent, and a family member can go with a child up to 7 into the child’s own changing room.
• Lockers need your own padlock. Leave the locker open and empty when you go.

This pool is busy with classes and clubs, and clubs have priority on weekday evenings from 18:00 and at weekends. The standing platform isn’t always free, so a family with toddlers may find weekday mornings or the low-price hours between 16:00 and 18:00 easier. The regulations don’t give a water temperature.

If you want a pool where toddlers can walk in from very shallow water, the council’s Piscina Municipal da Póvoa de Santa Iria (Rua Batista Pereira 11) has a separate learner pool, 12.5 by 6 metres, that starts at just 20 cm deep and goes to 1.20 m. At the council’s pools with both a learner pool and a 25-metre pool, children under 8 in public swimming use the learner pool with their adult. The same prices and rules apply there.

The Museu do Ar in Alverca, with its historic aircraft, is a short drive south. Bird-loving families can head across the river to the EVOA birdwatching centre on the Tagus marshes, and children who like animals can ride at Club Pónei, Quinta da Boa Vista.

Do children need a swim cap at Vila Franca de Xira’s pools?

Yes. Swim caps and pool flip-flops are compulsory for everyone, and the cap has to stay on in the water.

How much is a family swim?

On the 2026/27 price list, one swim cost €0.66 for children up to 5, €2.67 for ages 6 to 16 and €3.13 for adults, after a one-off registration of €11.83.

Is there a shallow area for toddlers?

Yes, a raised platform in the main pool where you can stand, although how much of it is free depends on the classes. The Póvoa de Santa Iria pool has a proper learner pool starting at 20 cm.

Can my child swim without me?

From age 10, after an assessment. Under-10s need an adult with them.

Is it open in August?

Only until 8 August in 2027, then it closes for the rest of the month.