Piscina Municipal do Restelo

The Piscina Municipal do Restelo is one of nine municipal pools in Lisbon. The building belongs to the city, but since 2014 it has been run directly by the Junta de Freguesia de Belém, the parish council for Belém and Restelo. It’s an everyday sports pool: lanes, classes and swimmers doing lengths, with no slides or wave machine.

What makes it good for families is the second pool. Alongside the main pool there’s a learner pool shallow enough for most small children to stand in, reached by a ramp, and there are times each week when families can swim without joining a class.

According to Lisbon City Council’s page for the pool:

• Competition pool: 25 m by 12.5 m, six lanes, 1.10 m deep at the shallow end and 1.90 m at the deep end. It has a hydraulic lift for swimmers who can’t use the steps.
• Learner pool (tanque de aprendizagem): 12.5 m by 8 m, three lanes, 0.80 to 0.90 m deep, with a ramp into the water.

At 80 to 90 centimetres, the learner pool reaches about chest height on a four-year-old. Toddlers still need to be held or wear armbands.

Public swimming is called utilização livre, which means you come in and swim without a teacher. At the Restelo pool each visit is a 45-minute slot in the water, and the number of free lanes changes hour by hour because classes take the rest.

The timetable for 14 September to 4 October 2026 explains a rule parents need to know: when only one or two lanes are free in the main pool, they’re reserved for adults swimming lengths. Children can swim when three or more lanes are open. On that timetable, the main pool had six lanes open to everyone:

• Saturday from 14:15 to 18:45
• Sunday from 9:15 to 10:45 and 13:00 to 13:45
• Monday and Friday from 13:15 to 14:00

The learner pool had all three lanes open on Saturday afternoons from 14:15 to 18:45, on Sunday mornings from 10:45 to 13:45, and on weekday evenings from 19:45. Each lane holds three or four people in the learner pool and five or six in the main pool, so it doesn’t get crowded.

The timetable changes during the season, so download the latest one from the parish council’s pool page before you go. The pool is closed for maintenance for the whole of August; in 2026 the office stayed open on weekdays.

The pool’s price list, linked on the parish council page in September 2026, has lower prices for people registered to vote in Belém parish (recenseados) and slightly higher ones for everyone else.

Public swim, per 45-minute session:

• Under-18s: €1.50 on weekdays before 16:45, €1.90 after 16:45 and at weekends (non-residents €2.20 and €2.70)
• Adults: €2.10 and €2.50 (non-residents €2.90 and €3.20)

Before your first public swim you buy a user card, €3.75 for residents or €5 for others. Swimmers have to pass a level test the first time they use public swimming. For adults the regulations describe it as swimming 25 metres in one stroke while controlling your breathing; ask at reception how it works for children.

Most families know this pool for its swimming school. The 2026/27 class timetable lists:

• Baby swimming (12 to 36 months): 30-minute classes on weekday afternoons from 16:15 and on Saturday and Sunday mornings. A parent goes in the water with the baby.
• AMA 3 (age 3): 30-minute water-confidence classes. AMA stands for adaptação ao meio aquático, getting used to the water.
• AMA 4/5 (ages 4 and 5): 45-minute classes, most weekdays from 16:00 and Saturday mornings.
• Children’s swimming (6 to 12): levels 1 to 4, 45 minutes, weekday afternoons and Saturday and Sunday mornings.
• Teenagers from 13 join the adult classes, which run from early morning.

In 2026 monthly fees for under-18s were €16 for one class a week, €23.90 for two and €28.60 for three for Belém residents (€17, €25.20 and €30.10 for others). New students also pay a registration fee (€25.50 or €27.60) and annual insurance (€19.50 or €21.60). A trial class costs €4 (€5 for non-residents). Individual lessons are available too, from €27.50 a session.

New places for babies and the AMA classes open once a year. For 2026/27, pre-registration ran online from 30 June to 8 July, with Belém residents first and then in order of reply, and families without a place went on a waiting list. If you want a place, check the parish council’s page in early summer.

From the Piscina do Restelo regulations, approved in September 2024:

• Children under 13 can only swim with an adult who is responsible for watching them. Older children swimming alone need a signed form from a parent and must be at a suitable swimming level.
• Under-2s can only go in the water in supervised classes, wearing a swim nappy, with an identified adult.
• Only one adult can take a child into the changing room. Children up to 3 use the changing room of the adult with them; children aged 4 to 8 with a parent of the opposite sex use the children’s changing room.
• Adults must keep watching the children they bring at all times.
• Wear proper swimwear and clean footwear on the poolside, and change only in the changing rooms.
• Everything goes in a locker while you swim. No eating or drinking except where signed, no phones except where allowed, and no photos without permission.
• Fins and hand paddles aren’t allowed in public swimming.
• No animals except guide dogs.

The regulations don’t mention swim caps in the parts we read, so check the pool’s rules at reception and pack caps in case.

This is a busy local pool, so the family slots are the ones to aim for. Weekday mornings have fewer lanes free and those are mainly for adults doing lengths. There’s a car park, but it’s only for people using the pool during opening hours.

Restelo is uphill from the Belém riverside. After a morning swim you could walk the ships and sea charts of the Museu de Marinha or see a show at the Planetário next door, and finish with a custard tart at Pastéis de Belém. The Museu Nacional dos Coches is another good rainy-day stop nearby.

Is there a shallow pool for toddlers at the Piscina do Restelo?

Yes. The learner pool is 80 to 90 cm deep with a ramp. Babies under 2 can only use the water in classes, though.

How much is a family swim?

About €1.50 to €2.70 per child and €2.10 to €3.20 per adult for a 45-minute session, depending on the time of day and on being registered in Belém parish, plus a one-off user card.

When can children swim in public sessions?

When three or more lanes are free. On the September 2026 timetable that was mainly Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings, plus some weekday lunchtimes and evenings.

From what age are there swimming lessons?

From 12 months, with a parent in the water, then water-confidence classes at 3 and at 4 to 5, and levelled swimming classes from 6.

Is it open in August?

No. The pool closes for maintenance for the whole of August.