One of the most valuable assets of the Costa Azul (or Blue Coast) lies in nature. The 60,000 hectares of protected areas governed by regulations and special protection measures constitute the very best that nature has to offer and mankind has been able to preserve.

Tagus, the Caparica Fossil Cliffs, Arrabida, Sado; Santo Andre, and Sancha Lagoons and Southwest Alentejan Coast are names that reflect the best of our landscape and the best preserved areas of our environment.

The Tagus Estuary Natural Reserve with it Setubal estuarine waters, mud-flats and fens, salterns, islets and farm land has a population of 80,000 birds in Winter and is truly a sanctuary for the rarer species of Europe.

Close by the 13 kilometres of beaches is an area of huge environ mental value, which is, at one and the same time, a leisure and entertainment area.

The Caparica Fossil Cliffs Protected Landscape is a geological formation of great beauty surrounded by characteristic flora and fauna.

The Arrabida Natural Park is the natural link between Sesimbra, Palmela and Setubal, and it constitutes the meeting point of the green and majestic hills and the ocean, blue and indented, that lies beyond the cliffs, the small inaccessible beaches and the modest stretches of dunes.

The Sado Estuary is an area abundant in life and it is a point of encounter of river and ocean that has allowed channels, creeks and mud-flats to Costa de Caparica fossil cliffs, become home both to mammals such as the otter; the badger and the fox; and to about a hundred species of birds including the white stork, the marsh harrier and the heron.

The Santo Andre and Sancha Lagoons Nature Reserve embraces two coastal lagoons and a system of small freshwater lakes formed in depressions among the dunes. The Reserve also covers a marine strip with a sandy substrate.

The Southwest Alentejan and St Vincent Coast Nature Park is ideal for a journey along the western coastline of southern Portugal. Beaches, cliffs, well-preserved villages, Roman traces, a chapel dating from the fifteen-hundreds and an Atlantic Ocean as far as the eye can see.

The dolphin, the symbol of the Costa Azul; is an illustrious species often seen in the Sado and the perfect host of a world in which nature constitutes both a surprise and a discovery.

In the Costa Azul, a time for beach and coast. Costa da Caparica, Melides, Carvalhal and Troia affirm boundless space, sand stretching out beyond the horizon.

Portinho da Arrabida and Porto Covo reveal the intimist scale of the small beach. Sesimbra bears witness to the Portuguese way of living the sea and shows the traditional fishing.

In Costa Azul the Atlantic is the maker of beaches. Huge beaches where the dunes meet the sea. Discrete beaches at the meeting of hill and ocean. In the South the sun.

The sea, blue and vast, and the peaceful virgin sand. These qualities lead us to extend an invitation: dream of a summer on the Costa Azul. On the Costa Azul, the sea and the river.

The Atlantic Ocean, the river of typical craft and discrete distances. Inland, the dams form their plains of water. Yachting, windsurf, water-ski, canoeing, rowing, surf, bodyboard, motor-boating, diving and angling fill the Costa Azul with activity and colour. Boat clubs, underwater activity centres and marine tourism companies provide the ever necessary support.

Typical craft of the river Tagus and the Galeoes (old salt wherries) of the river Sado provide trips through tradition and history. Boat trips invariably provide a promise of surprises, bedazzlement and dolphins. Dolphins that are the symbol of sea and nature in the Costa Azul. A year of adventure and discovery in the seas of the Costa Azul.

Museums, archaeology and monuments take you on a trip though the rich past of the Costa Azul. At the very bottom of history traces of the Neolithic, of the Chalcolithic and of the Iron Age reveal the very beginnings of the human adventure, mankind’s initial gestures and the challenge of survival.

Roman presence has left throughout the entire geography of the Costa Azul important remains that include activities and facilities of an industrial nature, spas, shrines and a hippodrome.

History and the passage of time have left the Costa Azul with a remarkable trail or mediaeval castles, renaissance palaces, manor houses, churches, chapels, convents and shrines that invite you to make an appointment with a representation of the world of those days.

Our museums also provide another vision of our way of life down the centuries.

In every municipality, museums, reflecting complementary ways and realities, reveal our collective memories and display visions of art, traditional crafts, ethnography, habits, celebrations and moments that history has kept and the future wants to preserve.

In the Costa Azul, history and heritage are a constant feature. The possibilities and encounters with the heritage are to be found in every city, in every village, in each comer of the region. In the Costa Azul, a place with a history and a time with memory.

The culture of a people is the memory that every day is built up and experienced at festivals, fairs and feasts, at displays of culture and handicrafts, at the bull-fight.

The Costa Azul is rich and diverse in events that are organised yearly, a calendar of encounters with tradition, religious sentiment, a liking for festivity and celebration, the display of that which makes us unique, the construction of our identity.

Whatever the month or the time of year in the Costa Azul some event is always taking place, some celebration will be a cause for festivity. In every municipality, from the South where the coast and the plains come together to the Tagus, a world of happenings is waiting for you, the culture of our people still and forever to be remembered and continued.

In addition to the sea the Costa Azul has a rural, inland world where everything is softness, peace and. tranquillity .The relief is itself an invitation to the horizon where cork oaks and evergreen oaks rise up towards an intense blue and to a light of permanent Summer.

The typical houses of the Alentejo mark the presence of mankind and are gendy revealed as though glued to the landscape. The towns and villages are white, the houses gathered together in exemplary harmony, the casdes vigilant and haughty.

Tradition is not just a memory but is alive and is a part of today’s world. Food that tastes of the land and handicrafts that maintain techniques and transform materials are a constant feature that is not to be lost. On the Costa Azul, the plain travels along vine-covered ground that flows to the sea.

The Costa Azul with its southness, its plains, its blue lagoons, its historic centres that constitute a heritage of great wealth. Traditions, savours, arts and crafts recalling pleasures of old.

Lisbon, 23rd of September 2006

Can there be a more romantic destination than a place called “Mount Moon”? The Sintra mountain range was so called, due to the sun and moon cults that were practiced there during past eras. On an exuberant strong green mountain, peeking over the Atlantic ocean, lays the village of Sintra, named Cynthia by the Romans and a poet and writer’s preferred destination, like Lord Byron who even dedicated a couple of verses.

Sintra is a distinctive tourism region, one of the most notable in Portugal. The strong green landscapes, the mountains and the ocean, the Castle, the Palaces, the Houses and local gastronomy make of Sintra one of the most pleasurable locations of the country.

Named world patrimony by UNESCO due to the cultural landscape of the mountain range and the village, Sintra is a locality where you can easily confuse the symbiosis between Man and Nature, in a romantic environment of great mysticism.

Sintra has been favored by elitists for many eras, and all cultural attitudes have marked the region. Full of interesting houses, surrounded by luxurious gardens, its isolation attracted monks and hermits, who gave Sintra its religious and cultural dimension. It was also the elected place, for a number dynasties to set up their houses (permanent or for leisure), which have been conserves over the years. At the top of the mountain range we can observe the Castle of the Mouros, conquered from the Moors by D. Afonso Henriques in 1147.

Sintra has some of the most beautiful and romantic constructions of the country that coexist perfectly with nature. Perhaps the maximum exponent is the Palacio da Pena, built 500 meters up the mountain range, by King D. Fernando in 1839. The rooms are decorated according to the time, there are mysterious hiding place, all decorative details are beautifully put together and the view is indescribably breath taking. This is what you can expect from this architectural jewel.

Another place to visit is Quinta da Regaleira, an eccentric building, constructed at the beginning of the 20th Century Inspired by Gothic, Manueline and Renaissance styles, it emanates an impressive and mysterious atmosphere. The Iniciatico Well, an intimidating spiral stair case inside the house, invokes esoteric rituals that were repeatedly practiced in the place. Sintra’s Paco Real, with its long and conic emblematic white chimneys, marks the beginning of the Old Village of Sintra and is an un-missable monument of the patrimonial wealth, as well as the beautiful gardens of the Palace of Monserrate.

But strolls around Sintra don’t only include the Old Village and the beautiful mansions. Not far you will find beaches that are very popular. Such as Praia das Macas (Apple Beach) and Praia Grande (the Great Beach), preferred destinations of elitists of the region. Close by, Cabo da Roca marks the western most point of Europe. Also worth discovering are other villages such as Colares, where famous wines are produced, and Azenhas do Mar built on a cliff overlooking the ocean.

The visit to Sintra will not be complete without tasting and taking home some of its typical pastry, like the Travesseiros and Queijadas de Sintra, that promise to leave a sweet memory in your mouth of one of the most charming destinations in Portugal.

To complete the experience and extend sensations in an unforgettable manner, choose one of the best charming hotels of the region for an accommodation that is guaranteed to prolong the emotions.

Villa Albatroz

As you open the window, feel the sea breeze and appreciate the fascinating life of Cascais Bay.

Encrusted in the centre of Cascais, directly over its attractive bay is the relaxing Villa Albatroz. The perfect and sophisticated setting is the guarantee of a memorable stay.

Luxury and taste are omnipresent throughout the Villa. The rooms display distinct and personalised natures inspired in the D. Maria style that creates a pleasant period atmosphere, both comfortable and charming.

Senhora da Guia

Sip a drink at the panoramic bar, enjoy nature, silence and the glorious ocean view.

Located between Cascais and Guincho Beach, between the sea and the golf course, Senhora da Guia offers the perfect combination of sophisticated atmosphere and quality service.

The rooms and sitting areas, distributed throughout three buildings, are surprising due to their attractive design, the taste of the decor, and the refinement and comfort of the furniture. A number of the rooms provide direct access to the ample gardens and to the salt water pools, while the others offer snug terraces and a superb ocean view.

Quinta do Rio Touro

Rest, read, and dream, nestled in a valley between the mountain and the sea.

Close to a small creek, curiously named Rio Touro (Bull River), along a sheltered and luxuriant valley facing the ocean and in the depths of the Sintra-Cascais natural park, lays the distinguished Quinta do Rio Touro.

The interior design is personalised, the common living areas are replete with genuine antiques and classical and modern paintings, the rooms are spacey and offer superb views of the gardens and the valley with the sea in the horizon.

Hotel Albatroz

Dive into a salt water pool and relax to the sound of waves lapping on the rocks.

“Tiny Almond Box” the pet name of the ancient Palace of the Dukes of Loule, is today, the prestigious Hotel Albatroz, a luxury hotel situated by the sea in the village of Cascais.

The sumptuous and elegant decor in soft colours effuses the charm of a private residence and reveals itself to be both comfortable and warm. The rooms and ample suits benefit from the calming view of the sea, also present at the restaurant and perfectly in harmony with the unique menu of fish and seafood.

Farol Design Hotel

Settle into your designer chair and touch the sea.

The old Farol Guest House, once a XIX century mansion owned by the Count of Cabral, was carefully refurbished, becoming the current Farol Design Hotel, adjacent to the marina in the historical centre of Cascais.

The attention to design is a concern also present on the inside, starting with a balanced comfortable design of the interior space, created by renowned architects, and carries on through to the sober yet cosy rooms, some of which were designed by leading Portuguese designers.

Tags: ARTEH, Discover, lives, Portugal, Romance, Sintra
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