I can recommend going in Summer. Less crowded that other places and the water is beautiful! Had a…read morebeer and shrimp for a quick bite at the many little cafes set up along the beach.

I can only recommend going surfing in winter in one of those beaches! it was a great expirience…read morewith almost no people!

When in Baleal, you surf. The seafood is fresh and the ambience is intimate; you'd confuse it for a…read moresleepy beach if it wasn't for the bars and restaurants that are located right off the sand. The waters cold, very cold. If you need a board there's a bunch offering rentals. Plus, I'm iffy about renting wetsuits but they do have some thicker ones that insulate the heat and keep you warm in the cold waters. You can park at the lot by SurfCastle and overall it's a surf beach with that Bohemic vibe that you were looking for. It's a peninsula so there's a beach on both sides of the thin sand way that separates the two waterways. I love everything about this beach and even though I almost got pneumonia from swimming in the water, it's just cause im fiery miamian who's used to 85 degrees Fahrenheit year round. For most Europeans who frequent the area, the water is actually warm.

I loved this beach! My friends and I arrived pretty early in the morning, around 830, and were able…read moreto get a great spot close enough to the water and enjoy time before the beach started to get more crowded. The sand was perfect and typically I am not an ocean person. I like pools and fresh water lakes mostly but the water was SO nice at this beach and genuinely so refreshing. I barely even noticed it was salt water. It's located close to a ton of stores and restaurants/cafes and the city of Cascais is just super walkable in general.

This is a beautiful beach in the Cascais area near the train station, I would say it's a small…read morebeach with calm, clean but cold waters. This beach is shared by tourists and locals. The beach also has good facilities: bathrooms, showers, a beach bar, restaurant and parasols to rent. For me I loved the caves and rocks and the Rua Frederico Arouca street near the beach is full of bars and restaurants and souvenir shops.

Cascais Beach : This one beach is booked and busy and beautiful ! Everyone was here all summer long…read morewe were here and having an amazing time . Young and old and from all over there were plenty of people ! Centrally located in Cascais .. it's definitely one to come and see . Blue akies and golden sands :)

What a lovely and nice beach! Wish could have spent more time here…read more The sand was clean, the water was sparking blue and lots of families, teenagers, couples just walking and chilling. Nice charming balustrade right of the beach to grab ice-cream or drinks. Just be aware parking is a pain! Yelp 2019

Absolutely stunning beach. Easily accessible from the lighthouse, we just used a turn before. It's…read moreunpaved road, little rough on few spots, but not at all a problem if you drive carefully. After 2 min there is a end of the road where you can leave a car (make sure you don't block any other car) and proceed on foot 100 feet, from where you start 30 min decent to the absolute paradise. Please wear closed toe shoes, rocks and dirt are going to be moving under your feet, and we've met few people in flip flops that were taking forever and were blocking everyone behind them. Now to the beach itself.. absolutely stunning, on the day we were there waves were too strong for swimming, but great for photos. If you have kids, pay attention, people could be taking naked photos (if that bothers you) all over the beach and cliffs. Do walk around, there is a small waterfall to the right, and a beach with smaller rocks to the left. We stayed for a good hour and had some sandwiches we purchased at the Cabo da Roca restaurant. Absolutely loved it.

Stunning beach. Worth whatever way you're going to get here. The hike is very hard and slippery but…read morecan be done and is lots of fun.

You haven't lived until you've stood on the cliff at Praia de Nazaré and stared into the ocean…read more This is where the biggest waves in the world showed up; we're talking 80 to 100 feet of pure aquatic chaos. Every winter, surfers from around the globe gather here in hopes of surviving one ride and becoming a legend. The rest of us stand there with our phones out, pretending we understand surf culture. Bring a jacket. She's windy!

This area is know for the beach and having the largest waves in the world! During winter months…read morethe waves are huge and surfers flock from all over to be apart of it! This area is also know as a sacred place where legend has it that apparitions of Mary were sited? There is a small chapel that marks where Mary appeared? Also..there is a statue that was carved by Joseph of Mary breastfeeding Jesus?!? Who knows..but when the locals tell the story...you listen...so I did! Small fishing village with beautiful beach too! If you have any religious beliefs..you may find the story of Mary & Joseph interesting?

I found this beach by accident, mostly. I had departed in a rental car from Lisbon bound for Parque…read moreNatural da Arrábida. That ended up being (mostly a dud - added a review for that also, check it out if interested: http://www.yelp.com/biz/parque-natural-da-arr%C3%A1bida-portinho-da-arr%C3%A1bida?hrid=CWvmPJ07nDpQl0ykHx4dYg). But! The good news is that I saw a friendly looking gentleman and asked him for help; what he gave me was info on the park and a map for nearby Sesimbra. Boy, am I glad he did! Sesimbra is a small, touristy town with a long public beach that's really quite nice. A few things to note: - There's less English spoken here than in Lisbon, so, expect a few challenges, but not many! - There is a lot of public parking available within a walk from the beach for 1,5 EUR until 11PM - You can either buy an umbrella (~5EUR) or rent a setup from the folks working on the beach; I don't know the cost of renting the setup from them, but it was more than 5EUR - There are a ton of shops along the waterfront--shops for food, for souvenirs, flipflops, etc. - A lot of the places/shops don't accept credit cards; be sure to get EUR notes before coming! - There were ATMs around, but some wouldn't accept foreign cards The beach is lovely. Lots of smooth sand and space to put up an umbrella. Overall, I was surprised with how few people there were (on a Thursday afternoon, 1 September). The other beach goers were totally tolerable too. In the US, this isn't always the case. :) I needed WiFi and was fortunate to find the public library en route the beach. I ended up popping in (because I also wanted to see what a Portuguese public library was like) and it was really nice! There were nice, clean public restrooms, nice chairs/tables, and a little cafe. The WiFi was good too. If you're here and need any of these things, I'd recommend popping by the library too.

This is a beautiful beach in Sesimbra. With a name like "California Beach", how could one not fall…read morein love with it? ;) Beautiful clear blue water, fairly clean, not crowded at all in early June, perfect for sunbathing, and small waves that were good for swimming in. We stayed at the Sana hotel right on the beach and had a lovely view of the beach all day long from our room, too. :)

It was a little chilly and windy, so the beach was empty and we didn't get to swim, but we enjoyed…read morethe scenery for a little while. The waves were crashing and it was pretty soothing. We could see the outdoor pool of the Estalagem Muchaxo hotel, and there were even a couple of people fishing off of the high rocks. Our tour guide told us it's a really popular place to surf when the weather is warm, especially for kite surfers, so I can only imagine how full the beach would get, since it's actually smaller than I thought it would be. Either way, great views!

Not a great beach for surf or lounging. However, due to the wind... windsurfing is very popular…read morehere. Visited the beach and the wind almost blew me away several times. Pretty spot to take pics but hang on to your hat!