While staying in Lisbon, we decided to take a few side trips out of the city to get an even greater feel for the area. Portugal is known for the gorgeous beaches of its south coast, the Algarve, but there are actually some really nice beaches as close as half hour outside Lisbon! You can easily take a train to one of the nearby beaches and spend your day with sand and sea so we thought “why not”?

Cascais is a nice fishing village about a 45 minute ride out of Lisbon with several lovely beaches for playing in the sand, catching some rays, or swimming (which we didn’t do as the water was a little chilly for us, but there certainly were some people swimming!) We got off the train at Estoril (pronounced “shtreel”) beach, and you literally walk right off the train onto the boardwalk of the beach and then onto the sand. Super convenient! After picking up some bucket and spade sets for the boys at a little beach shop, we nabbed a shady thatch umbrella and played in the sand for a few hours.

When we tired of beach time, we took a nice stroll up the promenade toward the actual village of Cascais. We had heard that, as a fishing village, they have delicious super fresh fish and seafood, so we decided to check that out for lunch. You walk along the boardwalk and find numerous fish restaurants to choose from, all with fish caught fresh from the ocean right beside you. We settled on a restaurant and sat at a nice outside table overlooking the water. The fish was yummy and we also enjoyed some chilled Portugese wine, vinho verde (green wine)…it can actually be a red, white, or rose, but the main thing is it’s a “young wine” — meant to be consumed within a year of bottling. Most vinho verdes are white and are very light and fresh, with a slight sparkle (a little like prosecco). Very refreshing for a warm day at the sea.

The other day trip we did out of Lisbon was to the town of Sintra. It’s also about a 45 minute train ride away, and is the town/area where the royals and aristocrats of Lisbon used to have their summer homes. The town is so charming, filled with colorful buildings, narrow cobbled streets, and in the center of town is the Sintra National Palace with its white cone-shaped turrets. Visitors flock to Sintra mainly to see the numerous castles and palaces throughout the area, each one quite unique and all with a very magical feel.

Because of how hilly the Sintra area is though, you can’t walk between the palaces. Some people take tours of a number of the palaces, but given the limited “bandwidth” we knew the boys would have, we concentrated on just one, the Pena Palace. It’s one of the most visited sites in Portugal and it’s easy to see why! Perched high on a hilltop, it is simply gorgeous — known to be one of the best examples of 19th century Romantic style architecture in the world. Its bright colors, turrets, arches, and tiles transport you to another time — you truly feel you are in a fairy tale! The grounds surrounding the palace are lush and green — filled with trees and gardens, and the boys loved running around the gardens. You can also see, from the Pena Palace, across to a neighboring hillside where a Moorish castle is situated. Even though the day we were in Sintra was cloudy and rainy at times, the bright colors of the town and palaces helped counter the grayness! It’s hard to capture Sintra in words, so I’ll leave you with some photos of the town and palaces. Enjoy! And if you happen to visit Lisbon sometime, Sintra is a must-see as well!