Surfing & Things to Do in Cascais (Lisbon & Portugal Travel Guide)

Kascais was a fisherman's zone. That's why you have the port over there with all the fisher boats. You have these big mansions but at the same time 200 meters away super small houses, beautiful. That was where the fishermen were living. After showing you around Lisbon with its popular and lesser-known attractions in the past two episodes, I will now introduce you to Kascais with picturesque sights as well as great spots for surfing, featuring some of my local friends. I want to be able to do a barrel so long that I came out with a spit and everyone is going to be at the boat in Maldives cheering for me like wow. Okay, that's a good goal of life. Welcome to Kascais, a city which is located just a 30-minute drive out of the capital right at the coast. And this will be our base to explore all the sights out of Lisbon. For this, I met up with my good friend and fellow videographer and photographer Patrick, aka Pasta. And we actually met during my surf holidays here where I stayed at the surf camp of Surf Kascais where he is the content creator. And he lives and works here in Kascais for more than two years now, so he is the right person to ask, how would you describe Kascais? Yeah, Kascais starting very much as a small fisherman village and an area where Portuguese royalty would have come. And now in recent times, turning into a very popular hub for surfers and actually some tourists as well who want to experience Lisbon in a more quiet and relaxed fashion. All right, this is exactly what we are about to do in this episode. All right then, let's start off with the city center. As Patrick mentioned, the Portuguese royal family made Kascais their seaside residence every September since the 1870s. With that, they attracted many members of Portuguese nobility over time. Nowadays, that wealth can be seen in all the beautiful architecture throughout the city. From the citadel of Kascais, which was built between the 15th and 17th centuries as part of a fortification system to protect Lisbon, we make our way to the Farol de Santa Marta with its picturesque setting. The lighthouse was built in 1868, replacing the fort of Santa Marta, which was considered to be no longer militarily necessary. The lighthouse is also the starting point of a promenade, which stretches over nine kilometers until it reaches the beach of Guincho. A perfect chance for a long walk, a bike ride or skating. One of the attractions along the way is Boca do Inferno, a sea arch and cliff formation where you can watch the power of the elements. Oh man, I'm pretty hungry. We're now at the Casa da Guia and here we are having... Acai Bowl! Acai. Just what we needed. So good. Casa da Guia is situated on a cliff, right next to the lighthouse Farol da Guia. Our next destination is Guincho Beach, which is famous for surfing. So, let me use the chance to introduce you to Bica and surfing in general. My name is Bica, I'm one of the teachers from Surf Cascais, the head coach actually. My job is to make sure every single one that come to this villa have a lot of fun by surfing. Surfing for me, it's like, it's not just a sport, it's a hobby, but at the same time it's so free, it's so natural, it's so, it's magical. And not even talking about the social part of being in the water, with the people that you like, you are in the water with them. It could be like this simple, super simple way, but you can be with them and just like, see they are frothing on that wave and make that feeling go even higher, because there's someone looking at him and destroying the lip or something like that. Guincho, it's one of our beach pointing to the west coast. The current, that rock in the middle, kind of make the sandbank almost all year round good. And at the same time, you cannot forget that Guincho, it's super windy, almost every single day. Imagine, once that you have Guincho without wind, it's like eating those fried chickens with all your hands, you know, like, wow, so good. And the being there, enjoying the sunrise or it's so natural, the sandbanks, you there, you see this majestic mountain with some little houses spread, the environment around, it's surfing on a paradise spot. Right next to Guincho, you can find the Cresmina dune, which extends over 66 hectares as part of a whole dune system on the edge of the Sintra Cascais Natural Park. To see the area from above, you should go for a hike to the Santuario da Peninha, which is located on the top of a rocky outcrop and offers the best panorama in all of Cascais. Cabo da Roca is just around the corner and one of the more popular sites, as this cape with its lighthouse is not only impressive, it is also the westernmost point of mainland Portugal, and with that of continental Europe and of the Eurasian landmass. Located right next to the lighthouse is the Praia da Ursa, a tiny beach in a picturesque setting. To get to Praia da Ursa, I recommend bringing proper shoes, as you need to follow a partially steep trail for about 45 minutes to access the secluded beach. My recommendation is to come here during the golden hour. Just make sure to head back up before it's dark. All right, this is it here from Cascais. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to leave a comment, share with your friends, and subscribe to this channel for new travel videos every week. And, of course, also check out the Instagram channel of Pasta. What are you waiting for? What are you waiting for? Come on, guys, let's do it!