Nazaré

Nazaré, a beautifull fishing village on the Portugese coast, is known for its beautiful beaches and excellent surfing conditions, making it a paradise for beach lovers. Here, too, we found free parking just a 10-minute walk from the coast. As I write this, I realize that we never had to pay a cent for parking anywhere. Portugal is cheap, have I mentioned that? It can't be said enough. We rarely cooked, as we dined out at prices where you can barely get a Big Mac here. Even on the coast, I believe we paid around €70 for a meal with a sea view for the four of us.

A definite recommendation is the famous Nazaré funicular. In just 2 minutes, you're at the highest point of Nazaré, suddenly amidst the clouds. The walk back down led us to the surfing area of Nazaré. The highest wave ever recorded here was 26.21 meters, surfed by Sebastian Steudtner, a German surfer. But the sea was too cold for us—not that we had any ambition to surf. Even in what the local surfers called calm seas, it was far too dangerous to get me on such a board.