Siver Coast
Just an hour north of Lisbon, the Silver Coast is worlds away from the stress and rush of modern life. The pace is very relaxed and there are beautiful beaches with very good waves if you’re into surfing. We stayed at an eco-friendly beach resort called Areias do Seixo right behind a sand dune & surrounded by pine trees. It’s a modern concrete & glass structure with a mix of whimsical crystals, Indian & Morrocan décor. We stayed in the Love room and it was the biggest room I have ever stayed at in a hotel, with a giant terrace overlooking the hotel grounds.
Worth getting out of bed for:
Walk down the cliff to the beach across from the hotel, and if the tide is low, walk south over the rocks and make your way to Fisica Beach in the nearby town of Santa Cruz. There is a great beach bar called Noah (same owners as Areias do Seixo) where you can grab a drink, a snack or lunch. Then you can take the vintage VW bus that shuttles guests back and forth from Noah to the hotel.
Drive to Peniche, world-famous surfing spot where it is claimed it is possible to find a surfable wave no matter what way the wind is blowing. We stopped at the Baleal beach area & charming village. From Peniche you can take a boat across to the Berlengas island, a biosphere reserve, excellent for fishing and diving. But if you do that, set aside a full day. You can also continue driving north to Nazaré, another beach town that has gained international fame due to it colossal size waves, that can typically be seen from late October to March.
EAT Noah [go back to Noah for dinner; good food & very chill ambiance] Taberna do Ganhão [at Baleal Beach for lunch] The Restaurant at the hotel [another great option if you don’t want to go anywhere]
Coimbra
Coimbra is the former capital of Portugal by the Mondego River with a well-preserved medieval old town and the oldest and largest university of Portugal - the University of Coimbra. It is not a must see, so I would not go out of my way to visit it, but if you’re in the area, it‘s worth a stop and a full day is enough time to get a feel for the city and see it’s highlights.
EAT Alqueire Comes e Bebes [charming small restaurant with very good food; great for lunch or dinner] Arcada Comes e Bebes[another good option just a few buildings down the same street]
STAY Sapientia Boutique Hotel[nice hotel within the old city walls right by the university; pretty good breakfast included]
TO DOHire a guide for a day tour of Coimbra – www.gowalksportugal.com. The highlights of our tour: walking around the old town, the Botanical Garden, University of Coimbra including its famous Joanina Library & Rua Fernandes Tomas with its overhead crochet umbrellas.
Piódão
On our way to Douro Valley, we detoured a bit and drove from Coimbra to Piódão through the Serra do Açor. It is a protected landscape area that unfortunately has been badly burned during the 2017 wildfires that burned the Portuguese countryside for days. The road is extremely windy but worth the drive even if parts of the landscape have been burned. It’s still extremely scenic with terraced farms along the steep mountain slopes, stone buildings & charming villages.
Buried deep in the Serra do Açor is the historical village of Piódão with narrow winding streets & buildings made of schist, a stone found in great abundance in the area. The whole village is a large patch of uniform grey/brown color only interrupted by the vivid blue of the windows or doors.
I recommend the walk from Piódao to Foz d'Egua, which is a very pleasant 3km walk that will lead to a small swim hole. Note that it’s only swimmable in the summer since a temporary dam is built to create the fluvial pool.
