Why this ride
Repeated coastal bends, headlands and frequent viewpoint stops. It also links naturally to Cultural Landscape of Sintra.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Sintra to Peniche Atlantic Route
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 127 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 47
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Access context
Check wildfire closures, heat and local road works. Specific flag: traffic; wind.
Seasonal context
Mar-Nov
Scenic road chapters
Atlantic Coast N247
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 18 km this is Atlantic Coast N247, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 18 km
- Named road
- Atlantic Coast N247
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Sintra
Lord Byron called Sintra a glorious Eden, and for once the poet was not exaggerating. The Serra de Sintra is a granite ridge that catches Atlantic cloud and holds it, so while Lisbon bakes the hills above Sintra are green, cool and often wrapped in mist. Up in the trees stand fantasies built by Portuguese royals and rich romantics: the Pena Palace in yellow, red and blue, built in the nineteenth century for Ferdinand II, a German-born prince consort with a taste for the theatrical, and the Moorish Castle, whose walls snake along the ridge above.
Read the complete Sintra write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sintra sits at 0 km, early in the day. Next is Ericeira.
2. Ericeira
You come into Ericeira from the south on the N247, and the last few kilometres are the best. The road threads along the top of low cliffs, with the Atlantic on your left and farms and small villages on your right, and the surface is generally smooth and the curves long. Earlier in the day the same road has taken you past Azenhas do Mar, a white village that clings to a cliff above a natural sea pool, and through the vineyards of Colares, where vines grow in deep sand and have been spared the diseases that wiped out most of Europe's grapes in the nineteenth century. Both make good stops, but Ericeira is the proper reward.
Read the complete Ericeira write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ericeira comes up 29 km in. Next is Óbidos.
3. Óbidos
Óbidos is a village in a box: a complete medieval walled town, whitewashed and flower-bordered, on a low hill over the plain. You enter through a gate decorated with blue and white tiles and then follow one long, steep street of cobbles to the castle at the top. The castle is now a hotel, which says something about how the Portuguese treat their history. The whole place is small enough to walk end to end in twenty minutes, and nearly all of it is pedestrian.
Read the complete Óbidos write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
At least 68 km in you reach Óbidos. Next is Peniche.
4. Peniche
Peniche was an island until sand silted up the channel, and it still feels like one, a stubby peninsula pushed out into the Atlantic with the sea on three sides. About sixteen thousand people live in the town, and fishing is still the main business, with a harbour full of blue and white boats and the smell of grilled sardines drifting along the waterfront. The coast around has become one of the great surf destinations of Europe, thanks to the long swells that arrive at the beach at Supertubos, where competitions are held every year.
Read the complete Peniche write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Peniche, late in the day.