ooooh, my area of expertise!!! I LIVE HERE!!!!
It´s great, especially for kids. Can be hot though, although has a nice breeze to cool it most of the time. Beaches in Cascais are calm watered, but busy. Beaches outside are Atlantic (obviously) and very exposed, not very good for swimming, although are beautiful, clean and long.
Perfect place to stay is called Vila Bicuda - like a small holiday village with small houses with all mod cons. It´s lovely, beautifully done, not touristy at all (even the ex pats take a while to find it). It has a little supermarket, the best coffee and cake shop in the world, a paper shop that sells all the brit papers, and a lovely italian restaurant. It also has a creche, where you can leave your DS for a few hours, half a day, all the time, whatever you like! We used Vila Bicuda as a base when we moved here, and still go there often for coffee and cakes. Has a lovely pool too and a playground. It´s about 10 mins outside centre of Cascais, easier with a car but a bus stops there every 30 mins i think, or taxis are pretty cheap. I have a feeling they have a babysitting service too (if not, let me know and you can borrow our english speaking one!)
In Cascais itself, there isn´t much going really - lovely town, but for places to stay it will tend to be room only no swimming pools or kids clubs. Hotel Baia is very central and relatively cheap, Albatroz more expensive.
Penha Longa is fab, but very expensive I think. Where Posh and Becks stay. And flashy to boot.
For villas and stuff, try www.villasandcottages.com.
Areas around Cascais that are nice are Estoril, Mont Estoril. Sintra is lovely but not near the sea.
Antyhing else you want to know, I can help!
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