Piscina Municipal do Rego / Piscina da Freguesia das Avenidas Novas

I swam here twice in January 2025. Before you go, I recommend that you have the hotel call ahead to ensure they have free swim lanes available. Also, using “Google translate” to let the front desk staff know that you are requesting a one-hour free swim, and that you have a cap, swimsuit, googles, pool sandals, and a lock is very helpful. Cash was preferred during my visits instead of credit card.

I went a couple of years ago, mid-afternoon, during the summer. I shared my lane with one person only. There is a lot of light and the water is clean, as in most of Lisbon's public pools. The ladies' dressing room was quite shabby and poorly kept. Because of this, I have not gone back.

I visited on a lunchtime and was spared the registration form as it was a one-off visit, no swimming test either. It's a nice pool, there were four lanes (two 'free swimming', two 'rapido'), and a double lane for people to bob. I had a lane to myself most of the time. There's a separate learners pool. The water was a little warm but still okay for training. There's no grab rail at the end of the lanes so turning is a bit tricky if you're not doing flips, but it was good impetus to practise flips. Changing facilities are clean and spacious! Overall verdict: Good.

The entry procedure for a first visit is bureaucratic and tedious; bring a driver license or passport and emergency contact information. Bikinis are not permitted and a short swim test (swim 25m) is required. The pool was fine, though crowded around 5 or 6 PM. There was only one lane available for lap swimming with 3 or 4 people in the lane, all going different speeds; I had to pass people quite a lot. Bring a towel. My usual lock did not fit the locker, bring something small, like a luggage lock.