Piscinas do Parque Desportivo Municipal de Mafra

The Parque Desportivo Municipal in Mafra (its full name is Parque Desportivo Municipal Eng.º Ministro dos Santos) is the council’s main sports ground, a short walk from the town centre and the palace. It holds two sets of pools. The outdoor pools (piscinas exteriores) open only in summer and are the draw for families on a hot day. The indoor pools (piscinas interiores), a 25-metre pool and a smaller learner pool called the tanque de aprendizagem, run all year and host the council’s swimming school.

Entry to the park itself is free. It also has a children’s playground, a bike park, a beginners’ mountain-bike track, a skate park, mini golf and an outdoor fitness circuit (more on those below).

In 2026 the outdoor season ran from 12 June to 13 September, every day including public holidays, from 10:00 to 20:00. A lifeguard (nadador-salvador) is on duty for the whole opening time and there is a first-aid post. A bar run by a concession stays open all day for swimmers.

You can hire a sunlounger for €3.50 a day or a parasol for €2 a day, and buy a padlock for €2 at the gate. The council posts water-quality results at the pools and says it may close them if tests fail, with no refund in that case. There is also no refund if bad weather spoils the day once you are inside, so check the forecast before you buy.

Prices for 2026

Mafra charges non-residents double, and residents of the municipality get 50% off with their citizen card or a Finanças proof of address. For non-residents in 2026:

• Under-6s: free, every day.
• Monday to Friday: €6 for ages 6 to 17, €11 for adults (18 to 64), €6 for over-65s. After 17:00 it drops to €3.50 for children and €6 for adults.
• Weekends and holidays: €10 for ages 6 to 17, €19 for adults. After 17:00, €5.50 for children and €10 for adults.
• Family ticket for two adults and two children or teens: €28 on weekdays, €48 at weekends.

Resident prices are half of these: a weekday family ticket was €14. Large families living in Mafra get 50% off from the family’s third visit.

For a family from outside Mafra, the weekday late ticket after 17:00 is the cheapest way in. The pools stay open until 20:00, which leaves three hours of swimming in the warmest part of the evening.

Buying tickets

Tickets go on sale on the Mafrativa app from 1 June for the whole season, and you can book any day in advance. You can also buy at the gate (Portaria) at Porta 1, from 09:00 to 19:00 for same-day tickets. In August only the gate and the park office sell tickets. If you booked more than 24 hours ahead and can’t come, you can move to another date by emailing mafrativa@cm-mafra.pt before 12:00 on the day, but money is not refunded.

The council’s rules poster for the outdoor pools lists these:

• Children under 6 must be with an adult.
• Babies must wear a disposable swim nappy.
• Walk through the footbath to reach the pool edge, and shower before getting in.
• No inflatables, lilos or other pool toys in the water.
• No ball games in or around the pool, and no jumping or diving in.
• No parasols right at the pool edge, no music without headphones and no smoking outside the marked areas.

The poster does not mention armbands by name, so ask the lifeguard before relying on anything inflatable for a child who can’t swim yet.

The indoor pools are open most of the week during the 2026/27 season: Monday and Friday 07:45 to 21:30, Tuesday and Thursday 07:30 to 21:30, Wednesday from 13:15 to 21:30 and Saturday 08:15 to 13:15 then 14:15 to 19:00. On Sundays and holidays they open only for pre-booked use.

Lane swimming in the indoor 25-metre pool is only for swimmers over 10. The 2026/27 timetable has two kinds. Natação livre desportiva is for registered users who have passed a “Saber nadar” (can swim) test, and runs for long stretches most days, for example 07:30 to 15:30 and 16:30 to 19:15 on Mondays, and 08:15 to 13:15 and 14:15 to 19:00 on Saturdays. Natação utilização livre, which doesn’t need a test and allows gentle exercises in the water, has a few early-morning slots and is sold with the FreePass or as a single session. For both, you register on the Mafrativa app or check in at the pool up to 30 minutes before, and each visit lasts up to 80 minutes including 15 minutes to change before and 20 after. Up to 12 people share the free lane.

On the price list, a swim costs €7 an hour for non-residents and €5 for residents, and a card for 10 swims costs €42 (non-residents) or €32 (residents) and lasts six months. Registration with the municipal sports service is €20. The desk sells swim caps for €3 and padlocks for €3. Check the regulations at the desk for the cap and footwear rules before your first visit.

Children under 10 can’t use lane swimming, so for them the indoor pool means lessons. In summer, the outdoor pools take all ages.

Mafra runs the same swimming school programme at all five of its municipal pools (Mafra, Ericeira, Venda do Pinheiro, Azueira and Encarnação). The levels have sea-creature names, and the council publishes the programme:

• Lapas (6 to 12 months), Búzios (13 to 24 months) and Estrelas do Mar (25 to 36 months) are baby classes in the small pool, with a parent in the water acting as the teacher’s helper.
• Tartarugas is for children over 3 who are tall enough for the depth of the small pool.
• Focas (from 4), Golfinhos (from 5) and Tubarões (from 6) are water-confidence levels, ending with children comfortable in the 25-metre pool out of their depth.
• Levels 1 to 3 are for ages 8 to 16 and teach front crawl, backstroke, breaststroke and finally butterfly.

The school defines “knowing how to swim” as jumping in from a raised block, staying afloat for 30 seconds, diving below your own height and swimming 30 metres unaided. Monthly fees on the 2026/27 list start at €26 (residents) or €35 (non-residents) for one session a week, and a trial class is €8. Book through the council’s sports desks.

The sports park covers 22 hectares of the old Quinta dos Marqueses de Ponte de Lima, a country estate whose manor house, chapels and garden pavilion (casa de fresco) still stand among the pitches. Entry is free and the park is open from 07:30 to 22:30, so a swim can easily become a whole afternoon.

The skate park, the bike park and the beginners’ mountain-bike track (percurso de iniciação ao BTT) are open every day from 08:00 to 22:00. Mafra’s skate-park rules, approved in 2023, allow only skateboards, BMX freestyle bikes and inline skates, so scooters stay outside. A helmet, knee pads, shin pads, elbow pads, gloves and wrist guards are compulsory. The council calls a skate park a sports ground rather than a playground and doesn’t recommend it for children under 6 unless an adult is with them and watching.

The council also runs the Circuito de Skate de Mafra, a series of competitions held here. The July 2026 round took place on 25 July from 13:00, with girls’ and boys’ categories for under-11s, under-13s and under-15s plus an open class, and registration through the council’s website.

For younger children there’s the playground (parque de jogo e recreio), open 08:00 to 17:00 from October to March and 08:00 to 19:00 from April to September. The park also has a traffic school (escola de trânsito), a small road layout for learning road safety, which opens for classes by prior booking.

The park is a few minutes from the Palácio Nacional de Mafra, and the deer and walking trails of the Tapada Nacional de Mafra are a short drive north. For older children who want more bounce than water, Urban Park has a trampoline park in the town. If the sea is calm, the beaches of Ericeira are to the west, and Mafra council also runs the indoor Ericeira municipal pool there, with the same swimming school levels. The Ericeira Surf Clube teaches children to surf there.

Is the outdoor pool free for toddlers?

Yes. Children up to 5 go in free every day of the season, although under-6s must be with an adult.

Do we need to book the outdoor pools?

You can buy on the day at the park gate, but the council sells tickets through the Mafrativa app from 1 June and suggests getting them in advance for the day you want.

Are there lifeguards?

The outdoor pools have a lifeguard on duty for all opening hours and a first-aid post.

Can we bring a rubber ring or armbands?

The rules poster bans floats, mattresses and other play equipment in the water. Ask the lifeguard about swimming aids for a child who can’t swim yet.

Are the indoor pools open for families on Sundays?

Only by prior booking. The regular indoor hours run Monday to Saturday, and lane swimming is for over-10s only.

Can children ride scooters in the Mafra skate park?

No. The council’s skate-park rules allow only skateboards, BMX freestyle bikes and inline skates, and riders must wear a helmet and pads.