Many moons ago, I spent two weeks in Portugal, spending about a week in Lisbon, and another week in the Porto area. One of the highlights of my time in Lisbon was going on a day trip with We Hate Tourism Tours (yes, this is their real company name). As part of our day trip, we happened to stop in Cascais and I quickly fell in love with the town. We were only there for 30 minutes, but that’s all the time I needed to know how much I liked the place and would return sometime in the future.
Cascais Portugal Photos, Snaps From A Short Visit
Seriously though, take a look at the gorgeous beach in the above gallery and I think you’ll understand. Doesn’t everyone in these photos look like they’re living the dream? Don’t you wish you could insert yourself into that scene?
Only 30 kilometers from Lisbon, Cascais is an easy day trip away from the hustle and bustle of Portugal’s capital. It’s a perfect place to come, rest your pretty head, and work on your tan.
While some people like to laze about on the beach with a drink in their hand (me, me, me), others visit Cascais to get a physical workout. Wikipedia tells us that people come for the sports – old men in checkered shirts and knee socks like to play golf there (there are 10 courses nearby), jocks ride the waves and ballers come to race their yachts.
Another reason why Cascais is worth visiting? James Bond. Yes, that’s right Double Oh Seven himself made his way to these parts when scenes for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service were shot here.
Even with such a limited time in Cascais, I couldn’t resist dipping my feet in the Atlantic.
I also took a quick walk through town. One of my favorite things about Portugal is that even though certain buildings are falling apart from decay and neglect, pretty details are ever-present in the form of street signs, tiles, and of course (my favorite) street art.
Our last views of Cascais as we drove away and headed back toward Lisbon. So if you want to escape Lisbon for day and get in some beach time, hit up Cascais. If you’re tired of pastéis, come for the gelato! Maybe I’ll see you there and we can race our yachts together.
Would you visit Cascais? Have you been? Leave us your best travel tips in the comments below.
Good To Know
1) I’ll leave you with an insider’s tip provided by our awesome tour guide Marta – apparently, the best place in town to get a gelato is at Santini. Some even go so far as to say it’s the best gelato to be had in *all* of Portugal!
2) Find somewhere to stay in Cascais by reviewing your options with booking.com.
Booking.com3) While in Cascais, book a tour.
4) If you love Europe as much as my readers do, check out my other posts.
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- See The New Jewish Cemetery Krakow Poland – A visit to the New Jewish Cemetery Krakow is a powerful experience that will touch you with its haunting beauty, and tragic history.
- The National Library Of Serbia Is The Nation’s Oldest Library – When in Belgrade, visit The National Library of Serbia to take in the functional modern architecture and peruse their extensive collections.
*Disclosure – This post contains some affiliate links. If you book a tour or hotel through any of these links, I’ll earn a tiny commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!
I spent a few hours there too, and loved it! Santini was hard to find, but we found it eventually. We’ll go to great lengths for gelato. I want to go back too!
Wow, you are 1 degree colder than us even! Wish I were on a beach right now
@Travelogged – Nice! It seems that Santini may not be an “insider’s tip” as much as I thought. 🙂
@Andrea – Let’s go together! Make it a party. 🙂
This is very similar to a beach I visited in Portugal – Salema. The Algarve coast is underrated. Most people head to Spain but hope the beautiful beaches of Portugal remain a secret 🙂
I would have fallen in love too! I’ll race my yacht against yours any day, I mean it’s not a hay bath, but heh 😉
@Jeremy – You make me realize that I need to spend much more time exploring Portugal and the coastline. 30 minutes is definitely not enough.
@Laurel – Portugal is amazing. And yes, let’s race sometime soon. 🙂
Relaxing on a beach in Portugal (with a cold beer) sounds like exactly the right thing for me right now. Portugal is on my list! I love the detail of the tile sign and street art, too.
@Cathy – Let’s go there RIGHT NOW. The cold in Canada is getting to be a bit much. 🙂
I really hope you make it to Portugal. It’s a beautiful country with beautiful people!
Beach photos in January…not fair I tell you. Reminds me that one year ago we were lazing on a beach every day somewhere on Kauai. Sigh. Not this year. Here in Seattle right now it’s not quite so cold as Canada, but endless days of gray, damp drizzle can sometimes be worse.
@Greg – Trust me, I needed to see these photos or I’d go mad staring at the bleakness out my window. I hope we both see a beach soon!
It took me only 10 minutes to read your post and fall in love with Portugal again. I love relaxing on the beaches. I visited this place in March 2010 with my friends. And we enjoyed a lot there, as it’s a very beautiful place.
@Peter – Portugal’s not difficult to fall in love with. 🙂
Hi there!
I’m planning my summer trip to Portugal and wasn’t sure about including Cascais. This might make me switch over to ‘gogogogogogo!!!’ though:D
@Sofie – You should definitely go even if just for the gelato! 🙂
I love reading all the wonderful emails on here about Cascais- I spent 3 years studying there at college. Absolutely love it there, I go every year for 3 weeks. Will be heading that way again in June this year.
Hi Maria – Oh you’re very lucky! I hope that I can go back there again someday. I live in Berlin and although it’s lovely, I miss being by the beach. 🙂
I agree with you that Cascais is an incredible place to travel to. I didn’t actually know that they had filmed some scenes for James Bond there! We recently wrote an article where Cascais was mentioned, and it seems as though it is an increasingly popular destination to travel to and to live in internationally.
Thanks for your comment Sofia! I’d soooo *love* to be in Cascais right now after being stuck now more than one year in Berlin.