Guincho Beach
We couldn't have picked a more pleasant day to go to Guincho Beach. The temperature was in the upper 70's with a nice breeze and sunshine. It was about a half hour bus ride on Number 415 from Cascais bus terminal. It was the same terminal we took the bus to Cabo da Roca from. The ride itself was pretty uneventful and, as a matter of fact, we thought we were going in circles. Terry had asked the driver when we got on the bus if he would advise us of the stop for Guincho Beach and the driver said he would. When we were near, the driver announced that the next stop would be for Guincho. Right after, some guy comes up and asks him again. Needless to say the driver was a bit perturbed after he just announced it. We arrived at the stop for Guincho Beach located in front of a hotel and restaurant.
Doesn't look like much from the outside, even with the two cannons on either side of the doorway. Until, you get inside and see an extravagant hotel with the least expensive room starting at around 220 Euros a night. It is really high end inside with a lot of antique furniture, marble, and a stunning staircase. The staff was very accommodating with allowing us to take photographs and to cut through to the outside to get views from their location.
 |
| View of the Lobby |
 |
| The elaborate carpeted staircase |
 |
| Colorful centerpiece in the lobby |
Once outside at the back of the hotel grounds, this is the incredible view from there.
The entire landscape of Guincho Beach is gorgeous and comprised of rock formations, cliffs, sand dunes, and clear blue water, and rolling waves. It is known as the main surfing beach because of it's strong surf and constant breeze. Guincho is considered one of the most scenic beaches in the Lisbon area. Here are some striking photos of this picturesque beach.
While taking these pictures, we had parked ourselves among rock formations in the sand which provided a great vantage point. All of a sudden I realized I was getting wet and Terry was concentrating so hard on capturing the surfers, he didn't realize the water now had come up over his knees. Time to move out of there.
Now for surfing at the beach. No, not us, but the many avid and experienced surfers.
Have no idea why the sky looks so dark in the photos. Although right about now, clouds were starting to roll in and block some sun. We arrived here at just the right time for our photos.
After watching the surfers for a while, we headed back towards the bus stop, but first stopped for a beer. While we were waiting for the next bus, which wouldn't arrive for about 45 minutes, we took a walk along the nature trail located across the street from the beach. It looked like it when on forever!
You can see from the photos how far this is and we even zoomed in for the last photo. We had walked to a "nature center" building which of course was closed when we got there. Across the street there was a bus stop for number 405 (another bus that comes to Guincho Beach) but decided to play it safe and walk back to the original one. Once we were on the bus, the second stop was that bus stop across from the nature center. Oh well....
We originally had plans to have a light lunch once we were back in Cascais, but because we spent more time than we thought at Guincho, that was changed to just going back to the apartment to eat dinner.
No comments:
Post a Comment