Serra d’Arrábida

Famous for its syrupy Moscatel wines, the Serra d'Arrábida is a limestone mountain range, 45 minutes south of Lisbon, covered with Mediterranean scrub. The mountains drop off into a crystal clear emerald ocean. Highlights of the beautiful area include the vineyard at Quinta da Serra, the Carmen chapel, a Franciscan monastery and the picture postcard fishing hamlet and beach of Portinho.

The whole coast is in the Arrábida Natural Park, which covers an area of 10,800 hectares. Setúbal, Palmela, Azeitão, Sesimbra and the sea delimit the park, which provides breeding ground for rare birds of prey, maritime flora and fauna and numerous underwater plant species. Catch the ferry over the Sado River from Setúbal and discover the pristine Sado Estuary, which flows through a landscape rich in fish and other marine life, salt pans, sumptuous villas, churches and monasteries, as well as dunes and wetlands.

The Sado Estuary Natural Reserve covers 23,160 hectares and is a great place to go on a boat outing to see wild dolphins, herons, swans, flamingos, waders, ducks, birds of prey and otter. There are beaches all the way from the attractive resort of Troia on the most northerly tip of the peninsula seemingly all the way to the Algarve! Praia da Comporta, with its excellent infrastructure and beautiful restaurant, complete with beach hammocks, is especially nice.