7 Thrilling Family Adventures in Portugal

With countless activities for both adults and the kids, Portugal has a lot to offer families. If you want a holiday that incorporates lots of quality time with the gang, here are seven ideas for Portuguese adventures this summer:

Book a boat trip

Keep the kids entertained with a day on the open waves. There are plenty of locations offering different types of boat trips, some even explore caves along the coastline or have the option of landing for lunch at a private beach adding an extra element of excitement to your day out. Book a boat trip and the family can pretend to be a band of pirates for the day!

Water Parks

For a day out in the sunshine where you and the kids can have a blast together, a trip to a water park is perfect. Aqualand is one of the best with less intense rides for the younger children and some larger, scarier rides for the older ones. If you’re planning on staying inland, there are plenty of other water parks to visit. These include Naturwaterpark in Northern Portugal and Panoramic Aqua Park in Central Portugal.

Meet The Animals

Lisbon Zoo houses over 2000 animals, reptiles and birds on 16 hectares of land. Put aside a day to explore this brilliant attraction where the kids will love seeing the animals up close and catching some fun shows. If you are staying in the Algarve region, Zoomarine is an extensive sea-life centre with an aquarium that offers unique dolphin and sea lion shows. For a truly unforgettable experience, the Dolphin Interaction programme allows you to meet the dolphins personally.

Image by lele3100 used under Creative Commons license.

Hit the beach

Nothing beats a family day out at the beach and in Portugal there are many beautiful golden, sandy beaches. Slap on some suncream, pack a picnic,  learn to surf, swim in the sea and you could even try to ‘find Nemo’!

Put the pedal to the metal

Give the kids a chance to get behind the wheel by going go-karting. Karting Almancil in the Algarve caters for all ages with three tracks, – one for adults, one for juniors and one for even younger kids. There are also bungee trampolines, radio controlled car races, safari buggies and mini boats to keep you all occupied.

Family Golf Park

Another great day out – with some healthy competition thrown in – is a visit to one of Portugals golf parks. The Family Golf Park in Vilamoura is a leisure park for the whole family with two 18 hole mini golf courses with a Roman theme – there are  Roman ruins in Vilamoura which you could visit afterwards.

Castles

Awaken your kids imaginations by visiting some of the many impressive castles in Portugal. Wherever you stay in this country, you are likely to be within visiting distance of an impressive fortification. Castelo deSão Jorge in Lisbon, the Castle of the Moors in Sintra or the Castle of Silves in the Algarve region are just a few examples.

For more information on Portugal check out this handy destination guide.  Leave a comment for luck!