Praia do Guincho

Portugal’s Californian coastline.

In and around Guincho, many scenes of ”Morangos com Açúcar,” the Portuguese version of ”Beverly Hills, 90210”, are filmed: young people at a music school who like to show off their surfboards and later pursue ”careers” on private television. They’re everywhere!

The beach, or rather a whole series of beaches along the west coast behind Cascais, is superb regardless — more for water sports enthusiasts than swimmers, with wind and kite surfing competitions. The entire area is part of a wandering dune and is correspondingly windy; sometimes you can barely see the road. You can visit the dune on a wooden walkway, a magnificent natural backdrop.

You don’t even need to get in the water. There are really good burgers at a beach bar and an old fort that now houses a luxury hotel with a Michelin-starred restaurant. The hotel’s terrace is ridiculously overpriced but worth a visit if you want to try a steak sandwich at ten times the normal price in paradise.