Our original plan was to spend a week exploring the south of Portugal, especially the Algarve region, but after so many days on the road, and pressing matters in Lisbon, we decided to just go south halfway for a couple of days, to a hotel we already had booked and would lose otherwise.
We went along the coastline from Setubal, following the coast as much as we could. The coast, for the most part, is very much made up of sand dunes, brush, beaches and rock cliffs, and it is all quite remote. We passed through Porto Covo which looked nice and seems that it would be pretty popular for surfing in the summer. But it was all pretty dead in mid’ October.
About halfway down the coast we came to the Mira River where the town of Vila Nova Milfontes is on the northerly shore. Nice town with great views looking southward, over the river and ocean and the wide, wide beaches. We had lunch in the village and then continued on to our hotel, Monte de Montejeiros, which is on the southern shore of the Mira.
It isn’t exactly on the river but high up overlooking it, offering great views. In front there is a house with a pool, and then another building behind with three rooms and a shared common area kitchen/living room. Nicely done, but it is all rather small and remote. Would have preferred to be in the village where we could at least walk around the village.
We went for a drive and walked the beach across from Milfontes. Fantastic beaches on this coast, with plenty of surf options.
The Mira River is quite long but no road follows it so we didn’t get to see a lot of it. Looks like it would be great trip by boat, though.
And that was it. We drove back keeping to the coast and drove up the Troia Peninsula, visiting the real estate development of the same name at the end of the point. It is quite built out with numerous condo towers and single family home developments, a golf course, marina and other amenities. But it was all very empty of people. Not sure how successful this development has been.
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