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| Standing on the edge of mainland Europe *Cabo da Roca) |
Although the Portuguese Riviera can't be compared to the French Riviera it's still quite spectacular in it's own way.. The Portuguese Riviera, which is sometimes referred to as Costa do Sol is about 30 minutes outside Lisbon and is made up of the cities of Estoril, Cascais and Sintra. Estoril and Cascais are directly on the coast, while Sintra is inland just a bit and sits up high above the coastline at an elevation of around 1,500 feet.
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| Striking a pose along the Portuguese Riviera! |
Our hotel is directly on the ocean and there is a promenade that connects the two cities. It's a five minute walk to the left and we're in Estoril. A five minute walk to the right and we're in Cascais. We've enjoyed spending a little time in Estoril but spent almost all of yesterday (Monday) in Cascais.
In it's early days Cascais was a small fishing village, however things began to change in the 1870's when King Luis I made the town the summer residence for the Royal Family. Anytime royal families move into the neighborhood you can bet the price of real estate is going to go up. Today Cascais is one of the wealthiest municipalities in Portugal. In addition to the royal family of Portugal, King Edward VII of the UK, King Juan Carlos of Spain and King Umberto II of Italy have had homes here.
The majority of things to see and explore in Cascais are along the waterfront. They include several nice beaches tucked between rocky cliffs, a large marina, a very impressive fort called Forte de Cascais that was built in the 15th century. Inland there is a really nice municipal park, a number of museums, huge houses with perfectly manicured lawns and gardens, and a bustling city center. One of the most impressive sites in the city center area were the numerous cobblestone streets with unique patterns of black and white stones, so if you ever end up in Cascais don't forget to look down.
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| Pedestrian shopping street in Cascais |
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| Plaza in front of city hall |
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| Cascais Marina |
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| Lighthouse at the Cascais Marina |
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| Museum in the Cascais Municipal Park |
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| Boca do Inferno |
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| Along the ocean path from Cascais to Boca do Inferno |
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| Chapel inside what is now a municipal park. The original construction was 1708. |
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| The inside of the fort is now filled with artwork and galleries |
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| Me looking at me in the artwork |
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| Cascais |
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| Plaza near the Cascais City Center |
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| Praia Riberia-Cascais |
Today we enjoyed going inland and up a bit to another resort town, Sintra. This UNESCO World Heritage Site has it's fair share of royal palaces and castles, including the Portuguese Renaissance Sintra National Palace, Pena National Palace and the Castle of Moors, just to name a few. With so many palaces in one place and being so close to Lisbon, Sintra is a very popular destination. Although it's not quite "high season" here yet, it was plenty busy and probably a place you would want to think twice about visiting during the summer months. If you don't want to take my word for it, read this blog we ran across from another traveler...……….
Sintra-An Epic Fail
In spite of being busy it was nothing like what was described in her blog, and we had a great visit.
Getting to Sintra was easy and very affordable. We took the #418 bus from Estoril Train Station to the Sintra Station. We then took a tuk-tuk the rest of the way up to the Pena National Palace. Once there we had two options, purchase a combination ticket for the grounds that included palace admission or one that was for just the grounds. We've been in a few palaces before and had been warned that the lines to get inside were very long, so we opted for just the grounds pass (7.50 euros per person). The grounds are huge and very impressive. We spent several hours walking the shaded cobblestone paths enjoying the views of the palace, the Queen's Fern garden and the frog filled ponds in the valley of the lakes area. The highlight of the day however was leaving the park. Not because we didn't enjoy it but because we did the one hour hike along the Vila Sassetti trail back to town. It was a great hike, that with the exception of one or two minutes, was all downhill. Once back in town we rewarded our efforts with a nice lunch at an outdoor café overlooking the historic center of the city before catching the # 403 bus to the end of the continent.
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| Pena Palace |
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| Pena Palace |
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| It wouldn't be a palace without a gargoyle |
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| The "park only" ticket will actually allow you to go onto the terraces and in the chapel. This was taken from the terrace walkway. |
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| Pena Palace |
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| In the palace park |
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| Valley of the lakes frog pond...…………. |
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| no frog pond would be complete without frogs |
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| This small castle in the middle of the valley of the lakes is home to several ducks |
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| Along the hike down the trail |
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| Surveying the kingdom...……..or resting for a minute |
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| The National Palace taken from the Vila Sassetti Trail |
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| Castle of Moors |
The mainland of Europe ends in Portugal at Cabo Da Roca, which just happens to be a stop on the #403 route from Sintra back to Cascais. Buses run every thirty minutes, so we hopped off and enjoyed walking along the windy high cliffs that are known as the western most point of mainland Europe.
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| My Portuguese isn't very good but it says something about the western most point on the mainland continent of Europe |
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| Cabo da Roca |
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| Cabo da Roca |
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Beth and the Atlantic Ocean
Fun with Pringles!
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