Lisbon Oceanarium -- Europe's 2nd Largest -- Over 8,000 Animals & Plants

Lisbon Oceanarium

TripAdvisor raves, "The World’s Best Aquarium’ – Lisbon's Oceanarium today is an iconic attraction to tour in Lisbon. We have added key tips to ensure that your visit there is exceedingly successful, addressing from location, transportation, what to do once you get there, whether it's cool for kids and adults to how to skip extremely long lines. We have answered all the questions swimming in your head. Just continue reading.

What is Lisbon Oceanarium?

If you're considering going to Lisbon to tour its many attractions, chances are perhaps you've stumbled upon these terms: Lisbon Oceanarium. And now, you are probably asking yourself, "What is this place?" Great question! Lisbon Oceanarium is a huge public complex which has a fine, public aquarium as well as a large complex around it. In fact, it's Europe's second largest oceanarium and home to over 8000 plants and animals of more than 500 various species. So, if you love sea life and the ocean, this is obviously a must-do.

What can anyone do while at Lisbon Oceanarium?

Since Lisbon Oceanarium is far more than just a public aquarium, visiting here, you'll be coming in touch with the oceans and the sea life and creating memorable experiences.

Expositions

The initial thing which pops into your mind is seeing algae and fishes and  much more. Each year the Lisbon Oceanarium hosts two unique expositions.

• Permanent exposition – it's the same one all year long;
• Temporary exposition – it varies as the seasons change.

Permanent exposition

The Central Aquarium provides this and it's stunning! Imagine, with around 5 million liters of very salted water, plus 4 different environments, make you believe you are near the ocean. 

It hosts two levels, the “above the floor” level, and here you could observe species such as sea otters, penguins, and then the “subaquatic” level, from where you'll marvel at many kinds of sea stars, sharks, plants, fishes, and algae in their normal habitat.

What you'll see

You will catch sights of algae, plants, fishes, mammals, amphibians, invertebrates, birds, and more.

But the temporary exposition occurs just a few times every year.  Generally, it differs, and depending on the season, the species shown are different from season to season.

However, the main focus is certainly to present the full range of the biodiversity that the oceans offer.

Family fun

Despite observing all types of sea life co-existing in varying natural habitats are sufficiently extraordinary, the Lisbon Oceanarium has gone one step further by offering a few exciting experiences for the entire family. Here's a list of activities you or your children may engage in while here:

• Playing CSI;
• Birthday party;
• Fado for the small kids; 
• Sleeping with the sharks;
• Underwater vacations;
• Concerts for toddlers;
• The sea is intended for all ages.

Tip on how to skip long lines

Everyone hates to wait forever and that is why you can avoid the queue just by purchasing the skip-the-line-tickets at automated machines.

How to visit

• Buses (Carris) Closest stop: Oriente (East) Station.
• Underground. Red line: Oriente (East) Station.
• Trains. Alfa Pendular and Intercity trains, inter-regional and regional trains (connections to the North and South of Portugal are available), and the Azambuja line (Lisbon-Azambuja)
• By road.
• Boats.

The Oceanarium which is located in the Parque das Nacoes, now is open daily.

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