Tapada Nacional de Mafra — Attraction in Mafra

This is the former hunting grounds of some king or other. There is a network of trails, some of which are color coded.

Entering the ticket office / gift shop, we were first met with a machine selling tickets. However, it seemed to want to sell us tickets for a specific colored trail, so we skipped the machine and went up to a friendly, matronly woman who hung up the phone apologetically and smilingly asked us which trail we wanted to do as her young daughter looked on, equally smilingly.

Now the trail map is very appealing, having all sorts of trails criss-crossing the park, with various attractions charmingly depicted to encourage the hiker to visit them.

Call us flighty, but we didn’t want to be tied to just one trail. We wanted to be free. To explore. To live moment by moment, going where the wind blew us.

No no, you must pick a trail, she said. Fine, you can try crush our spirit, we said. But we’ll just sneakily go our own way once we get in there, we thought to ourselves.

Well, once we got inside we loitered for a moment, pretending to read some informative sign or other while we made sure nobody was watching. As we started to head towards - shock horror - a different path from the one we had tickets for, the daughter ran out and intercepted us. Foiled! She had been secretively monitoring us from inside the building, the sneaky little operative.

So we obediently and grudgingly set off on the yellow path. We had the last laugh though, breaking off to climb the fire tower for excellent views and circling back on an entirely pleasant and unsanctioned route before finally returning to the straight and narrow.

Overall, a great experience. It was hot out so plenty of water was a good idea. I’ll leave it to you to decide whether to play by the...

I went in the middle of summer (July), mid afternoon. It was hot and dry but not bad wearing light clothing, good hiking shoes and a cap. I chose the yellow path (longest walk all the way round). It was a little steep for the first quarter but pretty even after that, followed by a gradual descent towards the area where kings used to lodge long ago for their hunting which fortunately, does not happen here anymore. Saw deer, wild boar, birds, frogs and many other species. Sign posts demarcated the paths very well and some had explanations of surroundings and species in both English and Portuguese. They were very well explained with interesting facts. I learnt many new things about the flora and fauna here. The hike took around 2.5 hours at a steady pace. You can also choose from other shorter and easier walks (such as the blue path). Included in our hike was a bonus presentation about hawks and owls at the end of the hike. The two presenters were professionals around this field, devoting full time to the rearing and preservation of bird species and also to educate the public in schools etc. I didn’t make it to the presentation on bees though. Maybe next time. The presentations they offer I think, differ from season to season. I absolutely loved my experience in this park and I would do it again. The tickets are well worth what you pay. Proceeds go towards maintaining the area, so your funds are used for a great cause that I fully believe in and support. The animals appear happy and well looked after here, they are free to roam as they please. The grounds are well maintained too. And for me, this is extremely important as I’m conservationist. Thank you to all the staff. You were friendly and helpful. Will visit again...

The park itself is absolutely beautiful — peaceful, well-maintained, full of wildlife and nature. It could have been a wonderful experience for our family. Unfortunately, one situation completely ruined our visit.

We came with our 3-year-old daughter. At some point during the walk, she fell asleep in my arms — as small children sometimes do. After carrying her for quite a while, my wife and I were exhausted. We decided to step just two meters off the main trail, onto the grass in the sunshine, to let her sleep for a bit on a folded jacket. It was quiet, calm, and harmless.

Then an employee drove up in an electric cart and started shouting at us, saying it was forbidden to leave the trail. I tried to explain the situation — that it was a sleeping child, that we weren’t disturbing anyone or damaging anything. But he was absolutely inflexible and told us to pack up and leave immediately.

It was deeply disappointing and upsetting. I’ve lived in Portugal for two years and have always admired how kind and understanding people are here. This was the first time I ever encountered such coldness and lack of empathy. Rules are rules, sure — but sometimes humanity should come first.

So yes, the park is wonderful. But that moment — that unnecessary harshness toward a family with a small child — completely destroyed the experience. I’m leaving this one-star review not because the park is bad, but to draw attention to how a bit of kindness could make a...