The Best Beaches in Portugal: From the Algarve's Coves to the Silver Coast

The best beaches in Portugal split into three very different trips: the Algarve's sheltered coves in the south, the wave-heavy Atlantic coast north of Lisbon, and the island beaches of Madeira and the Azores. Pick by what you want from the water. Calm swimming and family-friendly sand points to the Algarve. Surf points north and west. Island beaches trade big crowds for a longer flight. The trade-off most travelers miss is that Portugal's most famous stretch is not its only good one. According to the Daily Express, the Costa da Prata — Portugal's "Silver Coast," which runs more than 150 miles from Assenta to the mouth of the Douro at Porto — has been described as having "some of the most beautiful stretches of coast in the world" while drawing far fewer tourists than the Algarve. If your priority is sand without the summer crush, that region deserves a serious look.

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