It’s July, and seemingly everyone in Europe has decamped to the beach. Used to be that folks took off for August, but these days people tend to stagger things a bit, so offices can keep a nominal schedule, and restaurants stay open a few more days.
Still, the masses concentrate on a handful of beaches—in Portugal, the Algarve gets slammed in general, and the sand from Carcavelos to Guincho near Lisbon stagger under the weight of the wall-to-wall bodies. Some people like that energy. I hate it.
We head for the smaller beaches, the ones that are perhaps a little rockier or a little harder to get to. Case in point: On a trip to Aveiro (south of Porto on the coast), we followed a hunch to Praia de São Jacinto. It takes a ferry to get to, and we wait for an hour for the next one to come.
Once on the dunes, though, the dogs stare longingly at the expanse of empty space—they aren’t allowed on the beach itself, but no matter. The only line we stumble into is the queue for the return ferry—but there’s always a cold Sagres to ease the pain.
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- Azulejos make up the sign to the wide open beach of São Jacinto
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- Empty dunes great the pups on São Jacinto beach near Aveiro
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- A toast to the queue for the ferry