Nazare

This is where the canyon lifts the swell, and the winter surfing records were set here. Rip currents run even in summer, so the lifeguards narrow the flagged area.

The old village sits on the cliff with its church, terrace and lighthouse together. The funicular closes the 110m gap to the beach in three minutes.

A display of the surfing records has moved into the fort that closes the breakwater. From the parapet the swell is right below you as it strikes the rocks.

A steel platform pushed out beyond the cliff, open underfoot so the sea shows through. On a windy day you keep a hand on the rail.

A small chapel raised for a twelfth century hunting legend, its walls covered in blue tile. Three paces take you from one side of the inside to the other.

The market runs mornings only, split between fish counters and vegetables. Older women in black sell dried fish themselves at the entrance.

Nets are spread along the far side of the beach and fish laid out to take the sun and wind. It stops in winter, and in summer the racks appear at dawn and come in during the afternoon.

The old settlement on the third hill sits off the usual route and stays quiet. From the square in front of its church both lower villages lie in view.

A twelfth century house twenty minutes away, with its cloister and kitchen largely intact. A channel was led into the kitchen with a tank that kept fish alive.

Between November and February, when the big swell arrives, crowds gather along the clifftop. Spray comes up the full height of the cliff and a lens is wet within minutes.

A broad crescent of sand before the town, tucked behind the headland, so its surf stays gentle unlike the big-wave north beach. Striped canvas tents line it in summer, and women in seven layered skirts dry fish on the sand. Painted boats rest at the town end.

Gothic abbey begun in 1386 to celebrate victory at Aljubarrota in 1385; UNESCO listed it in 1983. Its Unfinished Chapels never got a roof and stand open to the sky. In the Founder's Chapel, King Joao and Philippa of Lancaster share one tomb, holding hands.

South of Nazare, a shell-shaped bay that the sea enters only through a narrow mouth. Unlike the open Atlantic, the water lies still as a lake, ideal for small children. Climb the hill by the mouth to see the full round of the bay.

In journalist Joaquim Manso's former Sitio home, this museum recounts how the fishing town lived. Boat models, nets and dress, seven-layered skirts included, show a community that lived off the sea. The lookout square and church are just steps away.