and Serra da Arrábida
Only 42 km away from Lisbon towards the south crossing the Tagus river is the town of Palmela. And clinging to the top of a hill there is the old castle of Castelo de Palmela, now converted to a Pousada (elegant hotel). After having left our friends in Obidos, we picked up our children and stayed at Castelo de Palmela.
Close to the sea but several hundred metres above sea level, it provides fantastic views of the ocean and Rio Sado and also of Serra da Arrábida, the mountain range bordering the coast to the west of Palmela. The Moors built a fortress there in the 8th century and by the 12th century the Christians had driven the Moors out of the area, but it wasn’t until the 15th C that it served as an important military stronghold.
The location was spectacular, the castle was impressive, the rooms we stayed in were very nice, but the food left us underwhelmed!
Straight south from Palmela is the port town of Setúbal. The river Sado has its mouth here and over thousands of years the river has built up a big bank of silt and sand at the far end of the harbour protecting it from the Atlantic seas. See the images below of the harbour (left image) and the sand bank (right image) creating the protecting break water.
Serra de Arrábida rises 400 metres straight up from the sea. We travelled along the ridge one afternoon. Looking east you see the entrance to the harbour of Setúbal (right image above) and looking west (image below) you have nothing but wide open ocean until you hit the landmass of the United States. But along the coast a few miles further west the little fishing town of Sesimbra is located, where Jen and I had the most lovely seafood lunch at the seaside.
