Autumn here smells of roasting chestnuts. November 11 is São Martinho, and that week schools and nurseries hold a magusto, a chestnut roast. Roasted-chestnut carts are on street corners all autumn, and a warm spell around the date has its own name: the Verão de São Martinho. Here's what we checked for autumn weekends, from the Golegã horse fair to leaf-kicking walks in Monsanto.
Golegã, a small Ribatejo town that calls itself the capital of the horse, gives itself over to horses for its yearly fair, also called the Feira de São Martinho. Riders and horses fill the streets and the central square, so kids see horses up close.
It suits horse-mad kids. Children who are wary of big animals in a crowd may find it a lot.
Monsanto is the city's largest green space: over 900 hectares of pine, oak and eucalyptus on the hills west of the center, crossed by cycle paths and forest trails. Kids can spot squirrels and rabbits, picnic under the trees, and take in Tagus views from the lookouts.
Parque Recreativo do Alto da Serafina has separate play zones for under-5s and 6 to 12s, a kids' driving track and a maze.
Quinta do Pisão is a 380-hectare nature park inside the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, with meadows, woodland and farm fields crossed by walking and cycling trails.
Kids can meet woolly Miranda donkeys (a rare Portuguese breed), Sorraia horses and Campaniça sheep, ride a donkey on a booked outing, and pick vegetables at the organic farm garden. The Casa da Cal visitor center has toilets, exhibits and a farm shop.
Tapada Nacional de Mafra is a walled forest that began as the royal hunting ground of Mafra's palace. Fallow deer, red deer and wild boar live free inside, and a guided electric-car tour climbs from the main valley to one of the highest points. Kids can also walk or bike marked trails, watch a birds-of-prey flight demo and learn about the forest's bees. It sits about 40 minutes' drive from Lisbon.
King Ferdinand II built this castle-like palace on a summit of the Sintra hills: red and yellow walls, towers, terraces and a stone Triton over one archway. Kids walk the terraces and a circuit of rooms inside.
The surrounding Park of Pena is Portugal's largest arboretum, with woodland paths, the Valley of Lakes, a fern valley, the Chalet of the Countess of Edla and the High Cross lookout.
A teaching farm run by Lisbon City Council, set among the apartment blocks of Olivais. Kids can see donkeys, cows, sheep, goats and chickens, walk through the vegetable gardens and orchard, and find out how bread is baked in a wood-fired oven.
It suits toddlers and early school-age kids best, and a playground sits around the corner for a run afterward.
Portugal's first botanical garden, laid out in 1768 beside the Ajuda Palace to teach the royal princes. It sits on two levels. The lower terrace is a baroque parterre of box hedges around a large fountain carved with serpents and sea creatures, with herb beds and nurseries. The upper level has ponds and a tree garden of tropical plants. Peacocks roam the paths, and the terraces look out over the Tagus.
Portugal's largest video game fair fills the FIL halls with playable demos of upcoming games and consoles, gaming competitions, special guests and plenty of cosplay. Kids move from booth to booth trying new titles, watch tournaments on the big stage and spot favorite characters in costume.
Best for school-age gamers and teens. The halls get loud and crowded, which is hard going for toddlers.
Autumn here smells of roasting chestnuts. November 11 is São Martinho, and that week schools and nurseries hold a magusto, a chestnut roast. Roasted-chestnut carts are on street corners all autumn, and a warm spell around the date has its own name: the Verão de São Martinho. Here's what we checked for autumn weekends, from the Golegã horse fair to leaf-kicking walks in Monsanto.
Golegã, a small Ribatejo town that calls itself the capital of the horse, gives itself over to horses for its yearly fair, also called the Feira de São Martinho. Riders and horses fill the streets and the central square, so kids see horses up close.
It suits horse-mad kids. Children who are wary of big animals in a crowd may find it a lot.
Monsanto is the city's largest green space: over 900 hectares of pine, oak and eucalyptus on the hills west of the center, crossed by cycle paths and forest trails. Kids can spot squirrels and rabbits, picnic under the trees, and take in Tagus views from the lookouts.
Parque Recreativo do Alto da Serafina has separate play zones for under-5s and 6 to 12s, a kids' driving track and a maze.
Quinta do Pisão is a 380-hectare nature park inside the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, with meadows, woodland and farm fields crossed by walking and cycling trails.
Kids can meet woolly Miranda donkeys (a rare Portuguese breed), Sorraia horses and Campaniça sheep, ride a donkey on a booked outing, and pick vegetables at the organic farm garden. The Casa da Cal visitor center has toilets, exhibits and a farm shop.
Tapada Nacional de Mafra is a walled forest that began as the royal hunting ground of Mafra's palace. Fallow deer, red deer and wild boar live free inside, and a guided electric-car tour climbs from the main valley to one of the highest points. Kids can also walk or bike marked trails, watch a birds-of-prey flight demo and learn about the forest's bees. It sits about 40 minutes' drive from Lisbon.
King Ferdinand II built this castle-like palace on a summit of the Sintra hills: red and yellow walls, towers, terraces and a stone Triton over one archway. Kids walk the terraces and a circuit of rooms inside.
The surrounding Park of Pena is Portugal's largest arboretum, with woodland paths, the Valley of Lakes, a fern valley, the Chalet of the Countess of Edla and the High Cross lookout.
A teaching farm run by Lisbon City Council, set among the apartment blocks of Olivais. Kids can see donkeys, cows, sheep, goats and chickens, walk through the vegetable gardens and orchard, and find out how bread is baked in a wood-fired oven.
It suits toddlers and early school-age kids best, and a playground sits around the corner for a run afterward.
Portugal's first botanical garden, laid out in 1768 beside the Ajuda Palace to teach the royal princes. It sits on two levels. The lower terrace is a baroque parterre of box hedges around a large fountain carved with serpents and sea creatures, with herb beds and nurseries. The upper level has ponds and a tree garden of tropical plants. Peacocks roam the paths, and the terraces look out over the Tagus.
Portugal's largest video game fair fills the FIL halls with playable demos of upcoming games and consoles, gaming competitions, special guests and plenty of cosplay. Kids move from booth to booth trying new titles, watch tournaments on the big stage and spot favorite characters in costume.
Best for school-age gamers and teens. The halls get loud and crowded, which is hard going for toddlers.
