Exploring the Lisbon Coast
A coast fit for kings
Sintra, Cascais & Estoril, Lisbon, Peniche & Obidos
Travel writer, Martin Symington takes you on a tour of Peniche and Obidos.
One of my favourite villages in Portugal is Peniche. It is actually one of the most important fishing ports in Portugal, but with very little other industry it retains a villagey atmosphere.
Peniche
There is a crumbling castle on the cliff side, but the main focus is around the harbour which is home to a fleet of brightly coloured trawlers. They put to sea amid folk ritual usually led by the women, to return some days later followed by an endless stream of screeching gulls. From one of the quayside restaurants, you can watch sagging decks being unladen of sardines, snapper, mullet and Atlantic crabs and lobsters, while you feast on the catch that was landed just an hour or two earlier. Do you count your food miles? Well here it is a question of food feet.
Obidos
Nearby Obidos is another jewel (and I really do mean a glittering gem, so no excuses for missing this one out!). The hilltop town is enclosed within massive, crenulated 13th-century walls punctuated with huge, round towers out of all proportion to the Lilliputian cottages within, where poets, artists and various bohemian types live, drawn by the romanticism of Obidos. It takes a couple of hours to walk around the entire walls, including some fairly steep climbing. At the highest point, and set against the walls, is a castle, which used to be a royal residence; look out west towards the coast and the horizon beyond, for the most stunning views anywhere in Portugal.
Find out more
The Lisbon Coast is a new addition to the Thomson Portugal & Madeira brochure.
Download your own personal copy here
Accommodation is available in a selection of hotels in the region. You can choose to stay in the city of Lisbon itself, or head for the Estoril Coast where you’ll find chic seaside resorts, such as Estoril and Cascais, beautiful sand beaches, top-quality hotels and restaurants, and championship golf courses.
Prices start from £35 per person per night (£70 per room) for self catering in a 3T apartment or from £274 per person for 7 nights, bed and breakfast at a 3T hotel.*
During the summer, flights with Thomsonfly are available from Manchester to Lisbon on a Monday, Tuesday, Thurday, Friday and Sunday.
*LIMITED AVAILABILITY and time period so book now to avoid disappointment. Thomson reserves the right to withdraw these offers without notice. All prices are correct as of 16th May 2007 and may change at any time.
