Day trips around Lisbon: an informed choice

It is hard to lead a tour to places you know beforehand are not what people expect, especially when they have paid to go there, but the fact, let us face it, remains that some locations have to be featured in some trips because their names are popular and ring bells in people’s minds, regardless of their individual merits concerning what the tourist likes to see and visit. My first entry about this topic revolves around magical Lisbon near where there are a few of these along with some great places. This entry is not a “Don’t go” recommendation. It just gives some info about what you can find in these places so you can make an informed decision about how to plan your day trips while in the capital of Portugal. The most known locations around Lisbon are Estoril, Cascais, Sintra, Nazaret, Óbidos, Batalha and Alcobaça. Let us get to it.
Estoril: it is one of the most famous beach and holidaying spots for the Portuguese and features a speed circuit for bikes and F1 (part of the world championship in both disciplines if memory serves) and its great casino, very famous in the country, slightly less famous throughout Europe and I can only guess if I it has been heard of in other continents. Below the area there is also a prehistoric necropolis (Caves of Alapraia) of which I know because I have read it in a couple of guides, but after nearly a dozen visits I haven’t had the chance to visit them, nor do I know anyone who has. There is not an official entity that gives tickets or tends to the place in general. If you are in to prehistoric settlements you will have to fend for yourself and arrange your visit with the locals in whose lands the entrances to the caves are found. I am sure the Internet will prove helpful. Apart from these there is not anything that I might find appealing to choose it as a daytrip or part of it. Sure it is a great place to spend a few days holidaying: very nice beaches and on the whole a pretty cosmopolite residential area with cool neighbours. It can be a good base, but is poor for a visit. The casino boasts the biggest array of slot machines in Europe (or it used to, at least) and some good shows, and you will find the speed circuit a few miles inland, actually closer to Sintra. Oh, one thing if you like stories of spies (I do!): in the side od Estoril that touches Cascais, on the beach, stands the Estoril Sol, a veteran hotel that acted as one of the most popular neutral bases during the cold war in which agents from confronted potencies would meet.
Cascais: It touches Estoril and is also a very popular spot for spending the summer holidays. It has a couple of things though, that Estoril does not. First its patrimony is a bit richer, with a couple of churches dating from the XVII century (Assunçao and Dos Navegantes) and a solid looking citadel from the same period used as a military quarter that also contains a small palace which has served as summer residence for royal and presidential families. Neither the citadel nor the palace are open to the public, however. It also has an spectacular natural feature: the Boca do Inferno or Maws of Hell (alluring, huh?). A short walk or 5 minutes drive from the citadel the salted waters have eroded in the coastal cliffs a massive cave 20 meters high and some 30 meters wide, roofless and connected to sea through impressive howling mouths that scream and spit when weather is harsh. It is cool, too, in sunny days, but loses much of its appeal (the flea market and bars that have erupted right by its side don’t do much for this magic, either). Another good thing of Estoril are its restaurants: it is one of the best places to eat seafood in the country. All in all, the town is good as a base camp to spend some days (almost as cosmopolite and trendy as Estoril, but it also keeps some air of the old village of fishermen it once was) or to drop by part of an afternoon for a couple of hours, have lunch and visit the Boca. Not much more.
Sintra: beautiful town, Patrimony of Humanity, just plan your visit carefully if you don’t have much time. I have another entry about it in the blog.
Nazaré: a few years ago it was still an unspoiled little fishermen postcard like village. So much so that tourism has ended up eroding most of this charm in very little time, so popular it became. Its main industry is still fishing, though, and the fish market, 5 in the afternoon during the week, is something impressive to watch with the particular characteristic of women doing the biddings; as with any other fish market in the world you wn’t catch a word, even a hint, of what is going on, unless you are an experienced fisherman or a local, but it is nonetheless good fun. The artisan fish drying that takes place nearby, in the beach, is also very instructive. Part of the town occupies a high perch in a reef above the bay, in a place called El Sitio (The Site), where a small chapel near a very picturesque small square, commemorates the story of a nobleman from the inner countryside that miraculously managed to stop his horse, riding after a deer he was hunting, on the very verge of the sheer cliff. There is an elevator from the beach to the square, from the balcony of which you can take a beautiful picture of the bay below. Of course it was a lot prettier when the town below was just a tiny village. There is also a church in the square, with an interesting interior. In half an hour you have seen all there is to see up in El Sitio, and there is not much to see downtown unless you are into fishing, or into local traditions and way of life (if you are, it is a nice visit).

Óbidos: I will not tell you much about Óbidos because I plan to dedicate it another entry in a nearby future. I will just say it is a beautiful postcard town, nearly themepark like, in spite of the crowds. A medieval Moorish wall marks the ship shaped silhouette of this small village of white houses, narrow steep alleyways and cobblestoned streets crowned by the Castle ad Church of Saint James. Go.

Fátima: If you are religious, catholic and pious, you have reasons to come here. More than I can give you, and you will know about the Misteries of Fatima, the alleged miracles and its history. If you are interested in religious history it is also an interesting place. Otherwise I would not rank it as a priority for a visit. The sanctuary is huge and impressive, particularly the esplanade and the 65 m. high tower of the church, all with neoclassic reminiscences. Too much for me. The rest of the town is estructured to make the most of the pilgrim crowds (it is not always crowded, but if you go any 13th day of the month you might have a hard time to get to the sanctuary), full of smaller or bigger shops selling religious merchandising (and a couple of them specialised in Portuguese wines, too).

Batalha and Alcobaça: as with Óbidos, they deserve a different entry to themselves and this one is getting too long. To make it short, I will only tell you that the only reason to go to these two little villages is to visit the monastery that each of them features. Don’t miss them if you can avoid it. Alcobaça dates from 1153 and within its walls you will have a spectacular impression of what life in a medieval monastery was. The monastery of Batalha (Battle) is an absolute masterpiece of Portuguese architecture and sculpture, featuring the Capelas Imperfeitas (Unfinished Chapels). The sites are not very far from each other if you have a car, so you can dedicate a whole morning to both of them and visit them consecutively (wake up early and allow a couple of hours for each one).

General considerations: my order of preference would be: Batalha and Alcobaça, Sintra or Óbidos, Cascais or Nazaré, Fátima and Estoril. Keep in mind, however, that Batalha, Alcobaça, Fatima and Óbidos are (if not far from each other) all of them much further away (2 hours drive) from Lisbon than the rest (Sintra is half an hour from Lisbon and Cascais and Estoril are even closer, while Nazare is roughly halfway between Óbidos and Cascais). A very nice full day itinerary can combine the two great monasteries with Óbidos and Tomar (I will speak about this spot in another entry, there is an amazing Templar monastery-fortress here), starting with Tomar. You can also start going to Óbidos and from there do a route south along the coast through Nazaré, Cascais and Estoril (even to Sintra after Cascais, though you might find attractions are closed by the time you get there). Such comprehensive combinations, however, are only possible if you have a car and either a GPS or a very good sense of orientation, as they will need you to lose no time on the way.