Costa da Caparica

Costa da Caparica is the beach Lisbon actually uses: a continuous strip of Atlantic sand running south from the town for roughly thirty kilometres beneath the Arriba Fóssil, a fossil cliff of coloured sedimentary layers protected as a landscape reserve. The northern end at the town is developed with restaurants and beach clubs and gets crowded; a narrow-gauge summer train, the transpraia, runs south along the sand to a series of numbered stops, and the further along you go the emptier it gets, with the southern beaches informally divided by use - families, surfers, naturists, and a long-established gay section. The water is Atlantic and cold, with real currents and a shore break that catches people out. Erosion is a serious ongoing problem and the beach is replenished with dredged sand.

What you actually see

• The dune strip - about thirty kilometres of open Atlantic sand.
• The Arriba Fóssil - the coloured sedimentary cliff behind the beach.
• The transpraia - a narrow-gauge summer train running to numbered stops.
• The gradient of use - developed at the north, progressively emptier southwards.

When to go

June to September for swimming; the transpraia runs in summer only. Year-round for walking. A day. Weekends in August are extremely busy at the northern end.

Honest expectations

Atlantic water is cold year-round and currents and shore break are genuinely dangerous - swim near lifeguards. Strong wind most afternoons. The northern beaches are crowded and built up. Parking in summer is difficult. Erosion has narrowed sections badly.

Nearby

Almada and the Cristo Rei statue are north; the Arrábida beaches are east around the bay.