Jon-Bxl

Hi

We live near Ayamonte right on the Portuguese border of the 'Eastern Algarve'.

We know the Algarve well, and have driven up through the 'middle' of Portugal to e.g Evora.

We had a lot of help on this closed thread for those interested in visiting Alentejo http://britishexpats.com/forum/portu.../#post10842137

We will be visiting Caiscais for 3 nights in June and driving there past the Algarve and up the coast towards Caiscais. I heard there is a great coastal train to Lisbon for a visit which we will do one full day.

I have a some questions please:


> With Caiscais as a base what would you recommend doing with a small drive from there, please?
> The journey itself, any places worth a stop not to far off the m-way, please? We know the Algarve well so I'm thinking of the bit after the Algarve. Spending a night is also possible if a place is worth it.
>Is it worth making it a round trip and coming back another way? But not through Evora, Serpa etc as we have done that.


Any recommendations gratefully received!
Thanks in advance

Jon

MrBife

If not in a big hurry to get to Lisbon then I would say to take the old toll free road and then as you get to Grandola then head for Troia and take the ferry across the river to Setubal (low cost and a brilliant break to the journey - way cheaper than using the motorway). From Setubal head for Azeitao and then back on the the motorway just before the Lisbon bridge.

When in Cascais you will need a day to look around there but make sure you drive up to Sintra and spend some time there too. Train into Lisbon is great but you could spend a month in Lisbon - a day is not enough !

Have fun

Jon-Bxl

Thanks MrBife great advice...

Just another point is it better to miss Lisbon on a Sunday, please?

Thanks again
Jon

MrBife

Depends entirely what you want to do, traffic much less, some restaurants closed, fewer trams, everything a bit quieter, markets closed so less bustle and noise, historic sites mostly all open, oceanarium open (personal favourite) nicer for walking about if the weather is good.

Jon-Bxl

Thanks again for the great steer(s)

Jon

captainflack

We lived in Estoril for a year before moving down to Setubal so know the place pretty well (Estoril is right next to Cascais, basically all runs into one). It's a beautiful place, we have friends there and still love to go back.

It's easy to get the train into Lisbon from either Cascais or Estoril.

Sintra is also not far north of Cascais and well worth a visit if you like looking at old stuff like palaces.

captainflack

I live in Azeitao, it's nice round here, we're right by Mount Arrabida which is really more like a big pointy hill than a snow capped peak, but the view is excellent, can see all the way to Lisbon.

Not sure about Troia. We've been a couple of times, we went across from Setubal to Troia on the ferry with my parents in Jan, but they found it a bit dour - said it reminded them of East germany. I quite like it, but it is mainly modern tourist apartments, there isn't anything old or traditional there. The ferry is also quite pricy - about 20 EUR each way for what is a relatively short crossing. Personally I'd skip that and stay on the motorway, I recall we drove round from here to Troia rather than take the ferry the first time we went and I don't recall it being anywhere near 20 EUR if there were any tolls.

If coming into Lisbon across the April 25th bridge though, I'd definitely recommend turning off after crossing at the first turn off and heading to the coastal road which runs all the way to Cascais. You can get there in half the time on the motorway, but on a sunny day the drive along the coast is really beautiful. We always do that if we have the time rather than take the motorway.

MikeJ

Hey Jon
Linda and I are thinking of taking a short break - 2/3 nights in Lisbon towards the end of June early July. Maybe we could meet up?


We'll be in CE in June so maybe we'll see you one Monday?

Jon-Bxl

Really interesting thanks captainflack I'll be searching maps to get on that road to Cascais and if Cascais merges to Estoril then maybe a long walk between the two..

Thanks for the feedback

Jon

Red Eric

There's a nice long seaside promenade between Cascais and São João de Estoril if you fancy a long, easy stroll. A few watering holes along the way, if it's a hot day, too And there's a train back to base if you don't fancy walking all the way back.

Jon-Bxl

Great idea thanks, we do enjoy a long walk when visiting new places and the watering holes are a perfect addition!

Thanks
Jon

captainflack

They're really close, only couple of km, you can easily walk it in half hour I reckon.

If you want a longer walk, just keep heading past Cascais from Estoril and follow the road all the way around to Guincho beach. There is pavement pretty much all the way from what I recall, even a cycle lane I think.

Jon-Bxl

Thanks again we will very likely take the longer walk too.. good tip(s)

Jon