In Portugal, you’ll have a lot of opportunities to connect with the ocean and nature, away from the crowds.
You might have heard of Cabo da Roca – the westernmost cape in Europe. I’m not sure if that’s why it gets so many visits or because of its beautiful surroundings. If you’re considering a visit for the first reason, you must want to check it off your bucket list, right? Unfortunately, Cabo da Roca has turned into a little bit of a tourist trap in the last years with all the giant buses, full of old Spaniards and Chinese, arriving around the clock. Not to say, you can’t find a calmer day off-season, but still, expect some minor crowd.
Cabo Espichel or Cape Espichel, on the other hand, is a completely different experience.
On the week I visited Cape Espichel, I was longing for some time off in nature, where I could gather my thoughts, photograph and enjoy the ocean. I love a restaurant for seafood in Setúbal, a recommendation is coming at the end of the article, stay tuned. So I decided to visit somewhere around I’ve never been to before. After some research, I found out about Cape Espichel, and went for it, without any expectations, although I really wanted it to be the calming and nature immersing experience I needed. And actually it was.
So if this is what you are looking for on your next trip to Lisbon or Portugal – a day trip out of the city chaos, away from the crowds, and still bucket list-worthy, Cape Espichel might just be the solution.
Here are some photos, to get inspired, read the captions for more information.
We first stopped at the lighthouse. You could hear music from the radio playing quite loud, I wonder if this was for the entertainment of visitors or of the workers themselves.
Springtime colors are so beautiful, strong greens, yellows, and purples could be observed everywhere. What you see in the distance is the abandoned sanctuary of Nossa Senhora do Cabo.
The Beautiful Coastline of Arrabida National Park
It’s lonely at the end of the world
Next stop was the sanctuary. The church is still working, but the rooms, where monks used to live are all closed and abandoned.
The sanctuary, seen from the backyard.
A deserted and probably inaccessible by foot beach. If you’re looking for more accessible beaches around Lisbon check my Beaches near Lisbon article out.
Then we drove to Setúbal, on a scenic road, overlooking the ocean. We stopped at this secret viewpoint, which in real life is much scarier than it looks in the picture.
Our final destination was Sentidos de Mar, the best restaurant for Seafood around. quality never fails, everything tastes so good.
A specialty of Setúbal is Choco frito or fried squid. Very crunchy and delicious when well done.
I hope that you feel inspired to go off the beaten path on your next visit to Portugal. There’s so much more than Setúbal and Arrabida national park can offer – like breathtaking beaches, dolphin watching, sailing, etc. But you don’t need to figure it all out by yourself, let me help you plan your next trip to Portugal, for more info, click here.
Or if you’d like to see some more villages and small towns in Portugal to choose from your next visit do it here.
