UC Exploratório, Centro Ciência Viva de Coimbra

UC Exploratório, the Centro Ciência Viva da Universidade de Coimbra, opened in 1995 as the first interactive science centre in Portugal, three years before the national Ciência Viva network was set up. It belongs to the University of Coimbra and sits in two buildings on the south bank of the Mondego, in the Parque Verde (Green Park), one of them holding a planetarium-style dome. It’s smaller than Lisbon’s Pavilhão do Conhecimento, and with parking at the door and the park outside it’s an easy half day with children of mixed ages.

The central exhibition, Espelhos: dentro e fora da realidade (Mirrors: inside and outside reality), is aimed at everyone from age 3, with labels in Portuguese, Spanish and English. It opens like Alice Through the Looking-Glass, with a walk through a room of distorting mirrors. After that, children try flat and curved mirrors and kaleidoscopes, and find out that the smaller the angle between two mirrors, the more reflections appear. Concave and convex mirrors make faces huge or tiny, and anamorphic pictures only make sense from one exact spot.

The second half is about light. Children use mirrors to send sunlight where it’s needed, the way some villages in deep valleys get light in winter. They learn about the reflectors on a bike and the bigger ones the Apollo 11, 14 and 15 astronauts left on the Moon, which scientists still use to measure how far away it is. There are exhibits on the giant mirrors of the Hubble and James Webb telescopes, and on infrared light, which carries heat but can’t be seen. The exhibition is accessible to people with reduced mobility.

The Hemispherium is a cinema under a dome, where films are projected in 360 degrees across the ceiling and you can watch sitting or lying down. Many children won’t have seen a film wrap all the way over their heads before. Daily sessions show a rotating choice of films: Charles Darwin’s adventure in the Galápagos, A Menina que Caminhava ao Contrário (The Girl Who Walked Backwards) and Conde Von Siro are among the characters. The schedule is on the centre’s agenda and can change on the day depending on who’s visiting, so check it when you arrive and plan the rest around it.

Astronomia para Bebés (Astronomy for Babies) is a 29-minute dome film for babies and children up to 5, shown on Saturdays and public holidays, with music sung by Maria João and animation by Cristina Sampaio. An earlier version won the Mariano Gago Ecsite Award in 2018, the first time a Portuguese institution won it. On the first weekend of each month there’s live astronomy in the dome for ages 6 and up (Em pleno dia… Astronomia, “in broad daylight… astronomy”); on 3 and 4 October 2026 the theme is the new autumn constellations, at 12:15 and 15:15.

While you wait for a film, the floor of the dome’s foyer is a giant board game, Explora o Sistema Solar, which takes you from the Sun out to the Voyager 1 probe. It’s free to play.

Sair da Casca (“coming out of the shell”) is a small chick hatchery where visitors can watch chicks being born. After about 21 days developing in the egg, the chicks are ready to hatch, and the centre says new chicks arrive every day. It’s open during normal hours and free to all visitors. Go back more than once during your visit: the chance of catching one actually breaking out makes a good reason to return.

CriaAtividade is the newest space, a big colourful room for children from 0 to 12 where they build and rebuild with modular materials, with challenges involving mechanisms, light and colour, and some aimed at the adults too. It’s the part toddlers and preschoolers get most from.

The Game Lab is for families with children from 6. It has escape-room style breakouts and strategy, logic and building games, and suits children who love board games or Lego more than lab coats.

Two small galleries are free to walk into. The Science Photo Gallery was showing Sob Mares Frágeis (Under Fragile Seas) when we checked: 25 underwater photographs of ocean wildlife from the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans by the engineer and photographer Pedro Ponces Camanho. The MicroScience Photo Gallery shows pictures taken through microscopes.

Explorastórias is a monthly story-and-science session that won the national reading plan’s Ler+ prize in 2024. On the fourth weekend of every month, Saturday and Sunday at 11:00 and 16:00, families with children aged 3 to 9 read a picture book together and then do experiments based on it, with up to 25 people per session. In September 2026 the book was Cá em casa somos…, and the next sessions are on 24 and 25 October. On the first Sunday of each month the same programme runs at the University’s Museu da Ciência in the old town.

The holiday programmes are real drop-off care. In summer 2026 there were full days from 09:00 to 17:30 for 11 to 14 year olds from 15 June to 3 July, and for 6 to 12 year olds from 6 to 31 July, with at most 25 children per period. There has also been a shorter afternoon programme, Férias+, for ages 10 to 15. Places are limited, so ask early.

The centre is reorganising its birthday parties and wasn’t taking bookings when we checked.

When checked in September 2026, a day ticket cost €8 for children from 3, €10 for adults and €20 for a family of two adults and their children. Under-twos go free, as do holders of the annual Ciência Viva card, which also covers the other science centres in the network. There’s a solidarity ticket for families who are struggling; ask at the desk.

Combined tickets are available with the University’s Museu da Ciência (€16 adults, €11 ages 3 to 17, bought online or at the university kiosk), with Portugal dos Pequenitos and with the PO.RO.S. Roman museum in Condeixa. Email visitas@exploratorio.pt about the last two.

The centre is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 18:00. It closes for lunch between 13:00 and 14:00 and all day on Mondays, which catches people out.

UC Exploratório has a free car park with two spaces for people with reduced mobility, free coach parking next to it and a ramp into the building. The Proteína café looks over the park, and there’s a public picnic area about three minutes’ walk away, with more restaurants nearby.

The Parque Verde do Mondego outside has riverside paths, play equipment and space to run. Portugal dos Pequenitos, the miniature village park, is also on the south bank.

How much does UC Exploratório cost for a family?

The family ticket was €20 for two adults and their children in September 2026. Children from 3 paid €8 on their own ticket, and under-twos are free.

Is it good for toddlers?

Yes, more than most science centres. CriaAtividade is designed for ages 0 to 12, the mirrors exhibition starts at age 3, the chicks work for any age, and Astronomy for Babies is made for under-fives.

Is it open on Mondays?

No. It’s open Tuesday to Sunday, and closes for lunch from 13:00 to 14:00.

Is there parking?

Yes, a free car park right by the centre.

Can I leave my child there?

On a normal visit, no. The summer holiday programmes are the drop-off option: full days for ages 6 to 14 in 2026.