Life's a beach! Dogs, summer and beaches - Lisbon region
Photo: Andy Mumford
Dogs love the beach! The freedom, the fresh air, the waves and the possibility of meeting a new friend makes for an excellent day! Yet, the summer season usually means no more walking your dog on the increasingly popular beaches of the Lisbon region.
This is frustrating for those who are used to going to the beach with their dog. This has been recognised and the region now has a dog friendly beach at Praia dos Pescadores in Paço de Arcos which is a start and hopefully will lead to many more.
Each year Oeiras, Sintra, Cascais and Almada all have varying starts to he swimming season, and that means no more dogs on beaches! Of course, it is still possible, early morning (before 8am) and in the evening (after 7pm) when the lifeguards are not there. For those who want to avoid the packed beaches and over zealous lifeguards, here are our top 5 beaches that are perfect responsible dog owners:
The 5 best:
Praia da Samarra
Praia da Aguda
Praia Pequena do Rodízio
Praia do Pescoço do Cavalo
Praia de Alpertuche
Most of the Lisbon region's beaches are dog friendly out of season. Dogs are banned on practically all of the well-known beaches during the swimming season, which is usually between 1st May and 30th September. Basically if you see a lifeguard then forget taking your dog on the beach as it could lead to a fine. However, most of the beaches we have chosen have no lifeguards and so taking your four-legged friend along shouldn’t be a problem.
Praia do Pescoço do Cavalo is the only beach in the Cascais/Estoril area that doesn’t have lifeguards, and although it has limited space, is popular with dog walkers. Praia Pequena (Sintra) is actually a reasonably large beach offering a lot of space for walking. To get to Praia de Alpertuche (Arrabida) requires a pleasant 15-minute walk via a forested trail and it is common to see people with dogs there. The new steps at Praia da Aguda (Sintra) make this another option and offers further seclusion. Finally, the narrow beach of Praia da Samarra (Sintra) has everything a dog could want – including a freshwater stream.
Fora da estação alta é possível levar o seu cão à maioria da praias da região. No entanto, durante a época balnear, que normalmente decorre entre 1 de Maio e 30 de Setembro, não são permitidos cães em praticamente praia nenhuma. Basicamente, se não quiser arriscar uma multa, pode esquecer a ideia de levar o seu cão a passear em praias vigiadas. A maioria das praias escolhidas, contudo, não é vigiada e portanto levar o seu amigo de quatro patas consigo não deverá ser um problema.
A Praia do Pescoço do Cavalo é a única praia na linha de Cascais que não tem nadador-salvador, e apesar do espaço ser limitado, é bastante procurada por pessoas com cães. A Praia Pequena é na realidade uma praia de tamanho razoável com bastante espaço para passear cães. Chegar à Praia de Alpertuche requer uma agradável caminhada de 15 minutos por entre um trilho na mata onde é comum ver pessoas com cães. Os novos degraus da Praia da Aguda tornam-na noutra possível opção e oferecem mais isolamento. Por último, a estreita Praia da Samarra tem tudo o que um cão possa querer, incluindo uma ribeira de água doce.
Don’t forget
Take some bags and always pick up your dog’s mess and dispose of it properly
Take a lead because even though you may not see a life guard, there’s always a possibility that other beach goers may object to your dog being there.
Take shade and water if staying on the beach
