Day Trips · Sao Martinho do porto

A Day in Sao Martinho do Porto

40 minutes from Nazaré · Main seaport and gateway to Alcobaça

Let’s leave Nazaré for the day...

It’s only about a 20-minute drive, but São Martinho do Porto feels completely different.

Look at the shape of that bay...it’s almost a perfect seashell.

Three kilometres of golden sand wrapping around calm water, with two hills reaching toward each other and leaving only a small opening to the Atlantic.

You know how wild the ocean can be in Nazaré...

Down here... it feels like someone turned the volume down.

The narrow entrance and surrounding cliffs protect the bay from the open Atlantic, making the water much calmer than most beaches along this coast. We’ll find a little café along the promenade, grab a coffee... maybe a pastry...and figure out where we want to start.

São Martinho wasn’t always just a quiet beach town.

Years ago, this quiet little bay was an important port connecting Alcobaça to the sea. There were no beach umbrellas and paddleboards...the shoreline was filled with fishermen, ropes and wooden boats being built by hand and the calm water gave those boats a protected place to be built and repaired before heading out to the sea.

Fun fact

I'm gonna show you something most people miss...

It's near the old dock and there’s a tunnel that cuts straight through the hill and brings you out on the other side facing the open Atlantic; wind and waves crashing against the rocks...two completely different worlds.

Along the promenade you’ll see cafés, restaurants and some beautiful old seaside homes from the late 1800's when São Martinho had become a popular summer destination for wealthy Portuguese families.

The town itself doesn’t feel overly fancy...just people walking relaxed from the beach, kids are carrying buckets and little fishing nets, and just about every table has someone enjoying a coffee or a cold bevy....nothing complicated

It's just easy here...ya know what I mean?

There's just a very simple vibe here

We'll finish the day...

back near the waterfront with a little cheese... some bread... a bottle of wine and watch the sun disappear between the hills as the bay starts to glow.

Honestly... a day trip doesn’t get much sweeter than that.