healthy active living

Holidays in Estremadura

Estremadura is the sunny part of Portugal. The Algarve has wonderful year-round sun, it's true, but for summer sunshine and sea, Estremadura is a wonderful, and less crowded alternative. Estremadura is also not too far from Lisbon so you can combine city and coast in one week.

Estremadura has probably the best stretch of uncluttered beaches in the whole of Portugal as it runs almost non-stop right along the coast and is far less crowded than the Algarve in summer. Although it might be slightly more breezy (and definitely cooler in winter! – too cold on the beach then) it makes a very good alternative to the south coast. This is the best coast in Portugal for surfing.

The most important towns on the coast of Estremadura are Ericeira, Peniche (both of which are the surfing and sailing centres of Portugal) and Nazaré, which is a bit brash. The island of Berlenga an hour off-shore is a bird sanctuary and makes a great half-day out – it also has good diving.

Óbidos, the "wedding city" is lively and fun and the other major towns, or sites, all have religious connections, though don't presume you have to be holy to go there. But it's worth seeing the hugely impressive monastery at Batalha and the holy shrine of Fátima where up to 9000 pilgrims crowd into the largest custom-built church in the world. The shrine is bigger than St Peter's in Rome.

For golfers the best courses along the coast are Praia del Rey, perched on a cliff-top a little north of Peniche, Campo Real and Golden Eagle (Quinta de Brincal).

And the other important thing that Estremadura has is dinosaurs! You can, literally, walk in their footsteps. That's different.