Beach/touring hols

Having decided to take my son to Portugal for a much needed rest (he is a chef) I'm undecided where we should go. I will be flying to Scotland where we will take a flight to Lisbon (or that was the plan) for 5 days and then on to a beach area where he can relax near a pool/beach. We will have about 12 days (the remainder will be spent in Scotland for the beginning and end of our journey)so: do we need to rent a car between Lisbon and an unknown beach or is public transportation available? Which beach apt. or hotel is recommended? I am thinking the middle of September on. Unfortunately, have not won the lottery so finances are a consideration as I do need to to get to the UK before we start this adventure. That being the case, all advice from savvy travelers is welcome!

Cheers,

Sophie

Yes, there are public transports available to the beaches near Lisbon.

Are you aware of the Blue Flags certifications of beaches\marinas? Those are considered the best beaches\marinas in the country.

Even though there are no beaches in Lisbon, overall there are 15 beaches and one marina near Lisbon with blue flags certifications (Lisbon itself has one blue flagged marina, i often forget about it lol).

We can say that 14 of those beaches are closer to Lisbon, 10 in the northern margin (in Cascais), and 4 in the southern margin (in Almada), after the river. It's up to you to choose the beach, since some are for surfers, others are crowded, others are not, some are small and some are big, and so on.

To get to one of those 10 beaches in the northern margin, it's plain simple: you take the Cascais train line in Cais do Sodré station in Lisbon and buy a destination ticket anywhere between Carcavelos train station and Cascais train station. Those beaches are located in each single destination, though the main concentration is between S. João' s station and Cascais station (6 of them). The train line operates every day, all day long (Except from 1:31 am to 5:29 am), working days from monday to friday (except holidays, and weekends) and between morning and afternoon rush hours there are two services operating, one the full line, and the other the half line. The latter only goes until Oeiras so you take the full line that goes all the way until Cascais. Holidays and weekends there is only one service available that stops in every single station of the line.

The other 4 beaches are located in the southern margin, in Caparica, Almada, like i said, and it's a little more complicated to get there, though there are direct suburban buses from Lisbon (you need to go to Praça de Espanha to the terminal of TST buses, and take the bus nº153 - from July and all summer long there are one to three buses departing each hour all week long. Check local schedules, to choose a proper time). It takes about 40 minutes.
Besides this direct option you can also take the ferry and then take another bus in the southern margin, or the train and then another bus. If you prefer this one i'll give the options available in other post.

Can't help you on hotels, though.

In case you don't want to stay close to Lisbon you can go down to the Algarve, it's a real pretty coast and a major tourist destination, most off them will have left in Sept. so there should be no shortage of accom.

Personally I liked Lagos a lot, it has a nice long beach and a lively old center.

Here is the bus schedule http://www.eva-bus.com/

Hi Sophietta,
Have a look in Peniche and Obidos as destination.
Just one hour north away from Lisbon, you'll have the perfect place for enjoying the beach, pools and at the same time to feel the portuguese warm as well as the wonderful fish and shellfish.
Have a look in West Holidays (search in Google) an afordable place to stay they offer transfers if you don't want the hassle of renting a car.
Kind regards

"most off them will have left in Sept" - Are you sure? September is still high season, and the number of international tourists is just slightly lower than in August. In the Algarve, in September 2012 (latest figures) there were 1.800 thousand sleepovers, 3rd best month of the year. Actually, talking about accomodation, 79% of all rooms available in Algarve were occupied in September 2012.

Fun fact - In 2012, the month where the most German tourists travelled to Portugal and were guests was precisely September.

Thank you!!!! Huge help....and we are so looking forward.

Sophie

Thank you.....quite helpful to have the bus schedule!

Sophie

I will definitely look into West Holidays.....many thanks!

Sophie