West of Lisboa - the Atlantic coast

Left the quietness of Alentejo and arrived on the coast west of Lisbon - much more of a travel destination 😃 The coast here is all about waves and beaches, but we were there mainly there for the good mountain biking in the Sintra hills (well, Dave rather than myself 🤣)

Our base was Ericeira, a one time quaint fishing village, which has now become a surfing destination, and all the associated development that goes with it. 

 

The surf of Ericeira

Probably fair to say that on arrival, in the rain, we were not that impressed - not really our cup of tea 😃 But as Dave had a biking date booked with Marco and Bruno, 2 local MTB guides, we were committed to staying. Anyway, we got over ourselves, the sun came out, and we quickly warmed to the place 🤣 The quaint old fishing village centre is quite charming, and the surfer population have inspired a culture of great hip bars, cafes and restaurants - so we settled in for a fun few days 👍

Ericeira cobbled streets

Lovely to see the bougainvillea

Interesting painted façade on the building behind - a favourite coastal cocktail bar 😂

Chilling out 😃

Ericeira old square

Late afternoon sun

Dave spent a couple of days biking among the Sintra hills, totally loving the dry sandy trails, and not returning home covered in mud, wet through - the usual pattern back home! He’s definitely planning on returning 🚴‍♀️😃

Biking in the Sintra hills

A fab descent through the forest

I spent time wandering around the old town, exploring little streets, the small town coves, stopping for coffees, watching the surfers, and taking photographs- what’s not to like 🤣

Tiled plaques on many of the old houses

Favourite doorway

 

Lovely painted houses

Ericeira

In the midst of the World Cup, both Portugal and Brazil were playing while we were there. Obviously great excitement, as both won, and a good atmosphere in a small cafe that we found 🤣

Vino Verde 😉

Watching the football

Did some great walks along the coast - huge cliffs and rocky headlands, big waves and small sandy coves - loads of surfers bobbing about in the surf or hanging out on the beaches.

Coastal walk

Saturday morning surf school

Rubes loving the wind!

Found a great vegan burger van for lunch - a pleasant change from the ubiquitous meat dominated cuisine

Called in at the beautiful quaint village of Azenhas do Mar, built high on the cliff side - looking very Mediterranean. High tide at the beach below creates a small swimming pool for use when the tide retreats 🤣

Azenhas do Mar

Further up the coast is Nazare - the surfing capital of Portugal, and also one of the world’s most famous surfing destinations, recording 5 out of 6 of the world’s largest waves! These are created by the huge underwater Nazare Canyon, measuring over 130 miles long and 3 miles deep. November to March is the peak season for waves, so we headed there expectantly - to observe rather than participate 🤣 Sadly though the strong winds that day got the better of the waves, and all we mainly saw were jet skis bobbing about in the surf waiting to give any willing surfer a tow out - there were none! Wrong conditions unfortunately 😟

Despite our initial reservations, we did warm to Ericeira. The town has a fun, relaxed feel to it, and everyone was friendly and welcoming. There is a real fitness and activity vibe to the place - and as we have seen in many other places on our travels, the outdoor park gyms were really well resourced, and really well used - even by us on our morning jog along the coast 🤣 So with our renewed fitness enthusiasm we left Ericeira to head south to the coast below Lisbon.