Visit This Southern European Village For A Perfect Beachside Couple's Trip
It's been a rough year for everyone, and we all need a vacation — preferably a beach vacation with your sweetie where you don't really have to wear shoes, and sandy clothing is the uniform. If you're looking for a great spot for a couple's vacation, there is a lovely area of Portugal that is exactly what Cupid ordered for you. Whether it's your honeymoon, a babymoon, or just a getaway to celebrate your relationship, this is the perfect alternative to overcrowded places like Ibiza or Montauk. Not only that, but this beach paradise is home to some famous celebrities, like Christian Louboutin and Anselm Kiefer who have homes here.
This magical place is Comporta, Portugal, a region in Alentejo, about an hour's drive south of Lisbon and it encompasses the villages of Pego, Carvalhal, Possanco, Carrasqueira, Brejos, Torre, and Comporta. It's laid back, despite some of the ritzy residents, and if you want to get away from it all with your partner, there is no better place. Let's take a look at the area, and what to do and see when you're not gazing into each other's eyes.
What to see and eat in Comporta
Comporta is full of beaches to wander, rice patties and poppy fields that you can bike through, a nature reserve featuring flamingos, and calming breezes. There are hotels everywhere, but also charming rental houses, many of which are striped brown and white and made of pine from the surrounding forests. This is an area where people take golf carts and e-bikes for transportation, but having a car means you can take day trips if you like. The migration to what is often called the "Hamptons of Portugal" begins around Easter and continues through October. The climate is ideal; dry and hot in the summer and mild in the winter.
Obviously rice and fish dishes are the way to go for food here, with everything fresh, but if you eat meat, you must try the pork. This area of Portugal is famous for the black Iberian pig. In fact, the region was given a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) for their pork de raça alentajana, used for things like Pata Negra, pluma, which is the tenderloin, and fried lombinhos, as well as smoked sausages, and pork a l'alentajana, where the pork is marinated in white wine, bay leaf, and garlic, with clams and lemons added at the end. You can also check out the local seafood risotto, which is often made with eel or octopus. Then you can wash that down with Portuguese wine and port, of course.
What to do in Comporta
Perhaps on your couple's trip you want to do nothing but hold hands and wander the beaches. If so, Comporta has Praia da Torre, Praia do Carvalhal, Praia da Comporta, and Praia do Pego. Each of them features surf and sand, and plenty of places to eat and drink. If you're feeling adventurous, there are surf schools, and you can try kitesurfing or windsurfing, as well as boating.
If you need a break from all that lovey dovey stuff and you want to have an adventure together, one very popular activity is horseback riding. One place to try is the Cavalos na Areia, which will take you on a ride across beaches, along rice fields, and into the pine forest. You must make reservations at least 48 hours in advance, and you can also take classes and pay for both regular photos and drone footage of your ride.
Another thing you really should take a break from canoodling for is the Sado Estuary Nature Reserve (Reserva Natural do Estuario do Sado). You can catch a boat tour which will let you see pink flamingos, dolphins, kingfishers, herons, and around 250 species of birds.