cascais in april with 15 month old

[whenitsover]

hi all. we are off to cascais later this month. does anyone have recommendations on:

good places where to take 15 month old
decent beaches (appreciate it will not be hot!)
good places (and preferably family friendly) to eat

any other suggestions welcome! xx

Which part of Caiscais are you staying in? It's been about three years since I was there but, if I remember, the nicest beach is the third one along the way to Estoril (called Praia de Conceicao). One day we were there someone was taking their ferret down for a dip and she allowed small child to 'help' walk it down to the sea on the lead.

There was a great old-fashioned carousel at Jardim de Visconde da Luz (about a ten minute toddler pace inland from the town beach, Praia da Ribeira). There's also a nice big park (Parque Carmona), with lots of birds wandering (and resulting exotic feathers to collect) and a playground or two.
We didn't find any restaurant that wasn't child friendly but both Frangos (just opposite the carousel square) and the Esplanada Santa Maria (walk out along the coast towards the lighthouse, near the Museu Guimares/Parque Carmona) both went the extra mile (which is saying something in Portugal as they are great with children anyway).

It's worth heading into Lisbon for a day too - the train is v.straightforward. It's also easy to get to Caiscais from the airport via underground/train, even with a toddler in tow.

Hope you have a great time.

All the above are fantastic! We love the 5 sentidos www.restaurante5entidos.com/ our children loved it too.

Day trips to Lisbon and Sintra are recommended too.

You can't fail to have a ball!

thanks for your messages.

we are staying in the town of cascais, about 5 mins from the main square / drag. will definetly check out the places you both mentioned..they sound fab!

we are planning on going to lisbon - how did you get on with a pushchair, or did you not take one? i hear the streets are cobbled / steep / have steps

re: sintra - where exactly would you recommend with a LO? I was thinking about going to Pena Palace but not sure if my little one would find it interesting?
xx

We didn't bother with a pushchair, but mine was a little bit older (3) at the time . There were lots of coffee/pasteis de nata stops though! It is hilly, but the tram & underground are easy to use, so if you know which ones run to places you want to visit, just in case, then it should be fine.

The Pena Palace is stunning, but a bit of a hike uphill. Small child would definitely require help and yes, not sure if it would hold their interest. We didn't get a chance really to look at much else due to the time it took to get around Pena.

We just came back from there a month ago. I just posted a blog on our entire trip. You may find it helpful.

We're in lisbon at the moment! We went to cascais yesterday and would recommend flamingo restaurant for good food and friendly service. The oven baked fish Portuguese style was delicious.

As for buggies in lisbon - try to avoid! We've got ours for nearly 3yo dd (and occasionally her 5yo brother...) but it is a pain. Saying that, the tram isn't so reliable so we've had to walk a lot too, and lots of walking to get around metros etc.

Pack a parasol if you can as there's no shade on the beach. And it is getting pretty hot here at the moment. 32 degrees at one point and hotter as the day goes on.

thank you for all your comments. I have had a look at the blog too - its fab!

can't wait for some sun.

just a quick q - our apartment will not be ready in time for our daughters lunchtime nap. can you recommend somewhere quiet in or around cascais where she could have her nap? xx

Re Sintra ours loved the grounds of Quinta da Regaleira but they were a bit older than 3.

It's a lovely place, my favourite for a European holiday. Have a lovely time