Just researching my next trip which is to Portugal. Found a great website to help with the planning –  http://www.portugalvirtual.pt . Lots of information on sights, shopping, accommodation and transport.

This will be my second visit to the Lisbon coast , this time staying in Cascais. Last time we rented a house in Gouveia for 2 weeks which is a small village outside Sintra. We caused some bemusement in the village as it is lived in by mainly locals not tourists and they couldn’t figure out our Irish accents. Some people thought we were Scottish , some American. Everyone was really friendly and having no portuguese words except ‘Ola’ and ‘Obrigado’ , our sign language wasn’t treated with disdain ! There is much to see including Mafra , the Palaces of Sintra, Pena and the Moorish castle, nice markets and pretty seaside villages. Azenhas do Mar being the most stunning. Cabo da Roca is worth a visit for the views and just being in the most westerly point of mainland Europe. So all in all hoping this trip will be just as enjoyable !