Travel Guide Estoril

Approximately 26,400 inhabitants. It is one of the most popular cities on the Lisbon Riviera. Inhabited by the Romans, then occupied by the Moors, the region of Cascais and Estoril only really took off as a tourist destination in the 19th century, thanks to its thermal waters and favourable microclimate. Small palaces were erected on the seaside, some sober and white, decorated with hand-painted tiles, others with sloping roofs and dovecotes reminiscent of the houses of holiday resorts that were very fashionable at the beginning of the last century. During the Second World War, with Lisbon as the hub of all European clandestine activities, it was in Cascais and Estoril that the crowned heads driven out of their respective countries and many spies, single, double and even triple spies, took refuge. Today, this residential town boasts a golf course, a casino, a tennis tournament and aristocratic villas. What stands out in this cosmopolitan setting, apart from the beautiful church of Santo António, is of course the beach (the beaches: praia da Azarujinha and praia da Poça in São João, São Pedro and Monte Estoril), which is conducive to the practice of many bathing activities. As the water is often quite cool, it is especially the small beach of Tamariz with its magnificent natural oceanic swimming pool (very close to the castle) which, after a few family swims, quickly comes alive with sports tournaments and cool background music or more rhythmic(brasileira) escaping from the cafés