Although being far away from Algarve, Lisbon also has some nice coastlines in it’s surroundings, where the it’s citizens spend their free time over the summer weekends. In this post I will talk about the closest ones, the Cascais/Estoril and the Costa da Caparica. If, while spending your time in Lisbon, you decided to rent a car and travel a little bit further, you can also try the beaches at the north of Sintra (Ericeira, Santa Cruz, Nazaré) or further down on the south side of the river (Portinho da Arrabida or Troia), than can be more quiet and relaxing.

• The Cascais / Estoril Coastline (Green) - It is the most easy beach area to access to someone traveling from abroad. First, because of the Cascais train line, take starts in Lisbon at Cais do Sodré (close to downtown), goes through Belém area and goes straight to Cascais always close to the ocean. The most known beach on this shore is Carcavelos. On second place it’s easy to get to this beaches, because of the Estoril and Cascais areas, that are worth visiting even if you are not enjoying the beach. I would recomend visiting the various defensive forts that are spread along the coastline, the Estoril Casino, and in Cascais, the sea bay and the Boca do Inferno cliff. The train tickets prices vary, but the ticket from Cais do Sodre to Cascais (the whole line), costs 1.7€ per journey.

• The Costa da Caparica Coastline (Pink) - Costa da Caparica is the ocean shore on the south bank of the Tagus river. The beaches here are clearly better than the ones of the Cascais line : larger and more wild spaces, fewer building in it’s surroundings, specially on the southern beaches. The handicap of this area can be it’s access, as the transportation between Lisbon and the south bank of the Tagus serve mainly it’s working population that lives in cities like Almada, Seixal or Barreiro. Still you can get to Costa using three buses from Transportes Sul do Tejo : the 153, that leaves from Praça de Espanha (Spain Square), the 161, that leaves from Areeiro Square and finally the 186 that leaves from the Universities area.

The bridge construction took place while Portugal was living in it’s fascist regime, and was originally named after the goverment leader, Oliveira Salazar. It’s initially plan also included a train line, but the project has stopped for many years, only being concluded in 1999 and finally Portugal was connect from north to south with a single train line. It was now possible to get to Algarve from the center of Lisbon without changing transportation. The bridge was the fuel that galvanized the growth of the south margin of the river, making one of the greatest suburbs of Lisbon city, where thousands of Lisbon workers live and sleep every day.

In 1974, the fascist regime was overthrown, in the 25th of April. Given the memory of the old regent, the bridge changed it’s name to 25th of April, to celebrate democracy and freedom.

Every year, in March, the bridge is used in the Lisbon Half-Marathon race. The event, starts on the south side of the bridge, it is open to everyone who wants to participate. It’s a great opportunity to cross the bridge of foot and take some great photos of the city. Meanwhile, if you are visiting the city in some other time of the year, you can always take the train back and forth to Pragal (the first stop on the south side) and enjoy the view. The price is something below 2€ for each journey.

By Car

If you traveling on you own car or if you have rented one, you’ll have to take the IC19 route to get to Sintra. To find this route, the best way is to get to 2ª Circular, which is one of Lisbon main roads, surrounding it. There you should take the Sintra / Amadora direction (the other way will take you to A1 highway, that can lead you to Oporto). If you follow IC19, you’ll get to Sintra at the end of it, it’s that easy. Please be aware of congestion on this route. Avoid the Sintra-Lisboa direction early in the morning and the Lisboa-Sintra direction at the end of the day.

By Train

For most people this will be the most common way to get to Sintra, since this is the most direct public transportation to get there. You can get a train to Sintra in Gare do Oriente, Entrecampos, Areeiro, Sete Rios, Campolide, Benfica and Rossio stations. They are very frequent and the journey will take between 40m and 1 hour and cost you something between 1.65€ and 2.00€, depending on you starting station.

By Tour Bus

The number of bus tour to Sintra has grown in the last years, as more and more companies are exploring this circuit. As an example, you’ll have the Carris Tour (Carris is Lisbon bus company). The ticket costs 35€ for an adult and 20€ for children from 4 to 12 years. If you have a Lisboa Card ticket price drops from 35 to 20€. The trip lasts 4 and a half hours and it happens every day, starting at Praça do Comércio at 14:30. The bus will take you not only to Sintra, but also through Cascais, Estoril, Cabo da Roca and Guincho beach.