Port du jour: Cascais

Portugal

Excerpt from Vetted: Portuguese Riviera

Affectionately pronounced “cash-caish,” this beach resort was my first European home base ever, over ten years ago while taking summer classes across the Iberian Peninsula in grad school. Enamored by the singular striped Farol de Santa Marta, I quickly made myself at home here among the beaches, pasteis de nata, and ever-stunning azulejos and stucco exteriors.

This time around, I found Cascsis mostly as I had left it: families on holiday stretched out on the sand, friendly games of beach volleyball, the sun shining down on gelado indulgers (the beach town gets over 300 days of sun yearly), and charming walkable neighborhoods and promenades. One thing was very different though: it was winter, not summer. I was amazed that even in the coldest time of year, Cascais was still green with life.