engeletoile

We are going for our honeymoon to Portugal and would like to spend two evenings in a quiet, none-touristy beach hotel or cottage near Lisbon. Can anyone recommend the best beaches to avoid crowds? Any suggestions on hotels or cottage stays would be greatly appreciated as well.

Also, any recommendations on nice hotels in Lisbon?
Thanks!

Viajero2

Rent a car, drive down from Santiago, spend some time at Viana Do Castelo, stay at Pousada de Santa Luzia, enjoy the beach at Efife.

There you have it: a Dream Honeymoon! Congrats!!!

Viajero2

....that would be AFIFE!!

lreynold1

I don't know how far you want to drive -- Viana do Castelo is very pretty, but it's probably close to a four hour drive. So it depends on what you mean by "near Lisbon."

I just spent a few days on the Alentejo coast, which is the Atlantic coast south of Lisbon. It has the same spectacular rocky formations and beautiful sandy beaches as the Algarve (southern coast of Portugal), but not nearly as many crowds (because I assume the water is colder). The towns that I liked the most were Vila Nova de Milfontes, Zambujeira do Mar, and Arrifana. They are all within several hours of Lisbon, with Vila Nova closest and Zambujeira second.

Lobo mau, our Portuguese guru, recommends the Duna Parque in Vila Nova. http://www.dunaparque.com/
I stayed there for a few nights in April and it is a very pleasant, family place. Has a tennis court, pool, playground, restaurant, small fitness center, internet. It is located about a 5 minute walk over the dunes to the beach. And it's about a 15 minute walk into the pretty town of Vila Nova. Another place I saw while there is Casa do Adro, which is a B&B type place, right in town. http://www.casadoadro.com/

And one last suggestion -- the secretplaces.com website lists several beach places in the area. I have stayed in several of their other recommendations and have never been disappointed, but I don't know any of the Alentejo beach places they recommend.

Good luck, Laurie

engeletoile

Thank you so much. How many hours from Lisbon to Zambujeira do Mar? Can we use public transportation to get there? Thank you--your recommendations are really helpful!

HappyTrvlr

Cascais ia short and easy trip from Lisbon by train.

lreynold1

The place to look for bus schedules within Portugal is www.rede-expresso.pt They show a 2 1/2 hour bus from Lisbon to Vila Nova (7:30 am., 3 pm, 5 p.m., with an extra bus on Fri, Sat and Sun at 10:30 a.m.).

I wasn't able to find any mention of a bus to Zambujeira, but maybe there is. Lonely Planet is pretty good about giving details for buses. I have a vague memory about there being a bunch of buses to the coast from Odemira, which is inland a bit and south of Vila Nova, but I'm not sure.

We have always traveled by rental car, you can get reasonable rates at several of the places mentioned most frequently on this board (we use Carjet.co.uk, but others have different favorites which you can find by searching here). Prices jump quite a bit if you need an automatic, though.

Hope this helps.

NEDSIRELAND

On a barrier island off Setubal is Troia. Get there by HoverCraft (ferry) from Setubal. There's a 4* Hotel called Troia Resort and there are apartment (Condo) rentals. You probably have to work either of those out with the Rental Agent or possibly on the 'net.'

Lisbon: I recommend Hotel Mondial. Excellent location at Rossio and a few steps to the Baixa