Hi there,

Can anybody recommend a beautiful beach resort within an hour's drive of Lisbon?

How far away is Madeira or the Azores, and is it accessed by ferry or flight?

Thanks!

I am under the impression that Madeira doesn't really have nice beaches.

Try the Lisbon Coast.

Nazare is very nice, but the water tends to be cold.

You can take the train from Lisbon (Cais do Sodre Station) to Cascais. Small beaches, but plenty of atmosphere.

Estoril, Cascais and Sintra come to mind; but there's a place called Troia on the Barrier Island off Setubal (hovercraft from Setubal) that's very nice.

Sao Miguel in the Azores has some nice beaches but you can't drive there from the Portuguese mainland; and it's more than a 1-hour flight.

The beach at Estoril is HORRID--dirty sand and debris floating in the water.

Close to Lisbon the best beach is Carcavelos, a 20 minute from Lisbon in train. Then you have Costa da Caparica , on the other side of the river. Troia peninsula , as referred above, is the best beach in the center region.
Beaches in the north have freezing water.
You can go to Madeira by airplane, there are no ferries and it's two hours (or some more to Azores). Madeira beaches are rocky, no sand. Azores too I think.

Thanks everyone!

The Azores are about 900 miles west of Lisbon. I have only been to the islands of the central group (14X)and the ocean swimming is more in natural pools formed by volcanic formations than beaches. The islands are lovely, especially in spring and summer when they are covered in flowers.