4 of Cascais’ Mouthwatering Pizza Places

In capital cities like Lisbon, which are visited all year round, it’s easy to fall into the trap of touristy attractions and hard to dig into the essence: places enjoyable to both locals and tourists. There are no super well-kept secrets, but there are certainly a few overlooked places that deserve to be high up on your list.

Nossa Senhora do Monte

It won’t be tourist-free, but it’s hands-down the best belvedere in the city of the seven hills. The panoramic view it offers ironically ranges from the Tagus estuary to São Jorge Castle and downtown Lisbon. If you’ve been moving around in less touristic parts of town, you will also be able to identify a bunch of other neighborhoods (and this can be a great group activity, pointing to places you’ve seen and trying to reproduce their names to the best of your ability).

Casa do Alentejo

Casa do Alentejo, ‘House of Alentejo’ was created in the early 20th century as a social club to promote and preserve the culture from Alentejo (a region of South-central and Southern Portugal), at the hands of the Alentejo people living in Lisbon.

It feels a bit out of place in the 17th century Moorish-looking palace where it’s housed. Inside, you’ll find a restaurant with beautiful tile panels, a cafe with outdoor sitting in an atrium and a former ballroom with a ceiling fresco and chandeliers.

Enter for free and don’t be afraid to peak inside, or wait for the afternoon guided tours (cost: €6 for adults).

Mercado de Campo de Ourique

Although you can catch tram 28 to Campo de Ourique, why not hop on tram 25 (usually less crowded), that does the same? Note that it rides from Monday to Friday only. Get off at the terminal stop, Prazeres, from where the Prazeres Cemetery is just a step away, or at the second-to-last stop, which is the closest.

Mercado de Campo de Ourique was renovated in 2013 with care to maintain the original architecture. Merchants still sell fish, fruit and vegetables at their food stalls, but what brings a lot of hungry people is the restaurant food court, in the likes of other renovated Lisbon markets.

Tapada das Necessidades

Tapada das Necessidades a huge park that’s close to Campo de Ourique. If you were to host a big picnic with your friends and family, this would be the place. Apparently, this was an idea Manet had in 1859, inspiring him to paint ‘Déjeuner sur l’herbe’ (‘Breakfast on the grass’).

Fast-forward tothe 21st-century, it’s unbelievably picturesque, from the old greenhouse’s dome to the cactus garden (elegant peacocks always in the background). It’s not nice and polished, everything is in need of some maintenance here, and yet… there’s a magical air of times past.

Calouste Gulbenkian

Also away from the city center is Calouste Gulbenkian, a dialogue between nature and art. On the premises, there are several buildings surrounded by a large peaceful garden. The Gulbenkian Foundation is a cultural center comprised of a library, an auditorium, a space for temporary exhibitions, and two museums

You can’t be in a rush to visit this place. Take the whole morning, bring a book, a bottle (don’t forget sunscreen), walk around the place and sit in the sun at the stone amphitheater. When you’re done photosynthesing, head over to the the Gulbenkian museum, where you can visit one of the world's most important private art collections.

Coworking spaces are not nearly as trendy in Cascais as they are in big cities. However, not only are locals rethinking conventional work settings (if nothing else, because of COVID), there are a lot of digital nomads moving here, looking to do their work in the company of others like them.

Whether you see yourself in this description, or you’re warming up to the idea of coworking next to the beach, I’ll introduce you to 8 great coworking addresses in Cascais.

Cowork Cascais

Location: R. Alexandre O'Neil, Vila Internacional, 2750-047 Aldeia de Juzo

Website

From €15 + VAT / day

From €90 + VAT / month

They offer a kitchen area, free parking at the door, a meeting room, and mountain and sea views to inspire you.

Cowork da Praia

Location: Pç. Do Junqueiro 3, Loja B, 2775-597 Carcavelos

Website

From €10 + VAT / day

From €76 + VAT / month

It’s with good reason that this place is called Cowork da Praia (‘Beach Cowork’): it’s only 5 minutes away from Carcavelos Beach. You can probably already imagine your short breaks turning into afternoons spent surfing.

Here, you’ll find a meal area, a gym, a playroom; conference, events, and Skype rooms. They’re equipped with a photocopier and scanner too.

Lobo Cowork 1 and 2

Location 1: R. Escola, 4E, 2765-221 Estoril

Location 2: R. General Manuel Diogo Neto 179A, 2765-334 Estoril

Website

From €12.50 + VAT / day

From €120 + VAT / month

Lobo 1 and Lobo 2 opened in 2019 and 2020 respectively, and they’re both fairly close to the beach (5 and 15 minutes), as well as to the train station (5 minutes). They’re open 24/7, which applies to every day of the year.

They provide phone booths, a terrace at Lobo 1, and a meeting room at Lobo 2. They can further receive your mail and include printing and lockers in the price.

LACS Communitivity of Creators

Location: Estr. da Malveira Serra 920, 2750-834 Cascais

Website

From €120 + VAT / month

LACS, focused on hosting a creative community, offers its visitors meeting rooms, event spaces, a cafeteria, a kitchenette, printers, and other things. Note that they designed a special plan for students (Membership Plan University), providing more affordable prices.

You can take a virtual tour on the website to get an idea of what the place looks and feels like.

Estoril Office Center

Location: Av. da República 3000, Edifício Estoril Office, Piso 3, 2649-517 Alcabideche

Website

From €25 / day

From €99 / month

This space is two minutes away from the Cascais bus station. It’s more versatile than a simple coworking space, since they also rent out 24 private rooms and two meeting rooms. But, if you want to be among others, there are 20 workstations at your disposal.

Estoril Office Center also features a lounge area, a parking garage, and small supervised warehouses. As for services, you can further expect mail reception, call taking and forwarding, reception of clients/suppliers, and even car wash.

Boost Cowork Cascais

Location: Tv. Emídio Navarro 8, 2750-493 Cascais

Website

From €80 / month

It’s set on the upper floor of the Orange House (an actual orange house) where DeRose Method organizes events, classes, and other activities related to high productivity and meditation.

Boost Cowork Cascais’ priority is to give you a space where you can focus ‘on nothing else but your project’. You’ll find a coworking room with space for five people, a meeting/living room, a kitchen, free parking, and a terrace.

Bonus: if you go for the monthly fee, you get free access to a free DeRose class per week.

Cozy Cascais Cowork Space

Location: R. José Florindo, 2750-642 Cascais

Facebook page

€175+VAT / month

Sometimes, small and cozy does it.

One of the four tables here can be yours, which will also give you access to a cabinet and an individual locker. The lounge is equipped with coffee pod machines, and you can relax there during your coffee break. There’s free street parking.

Cascais is a town that has it all — a short distance from the bustling metropolis of Lisbon, yet blessed with the tranquility of the sea. It's no wonder that it's becoming a popular destination for expats from around the world. If you're considering making the move to Cascais, there are a few things you should know before you pack your bags

A little Portuguese is appreciated

The Portuguese get little credit for their English skills. A lot of tourists actually come to Portugal expecting to find a harsh Hispanic accent, but leave positively surprised. Older generations aside, English is our second language, we learned it in school from an early age and have heard it in movies and TV shows our whole lives.

So why learn Portuguese? You’re moving abroad after all. If you don’t want to be isolated from the local community, it’s great to know at least a little Portuguese. And believe me, people will really appreciate it!

Things can get expensive

It depends on whether we’re talking about the city of Cascais or the Cascais municipality (bordered by Sintra and Oeiras): if it’s the latter, Cascais and Estoril are significantly fancier and, therefore, more expensive when it comes to housing and eating / drinking out. You can save a lot of money by living in one of the surrounding parishes, like Alcabideche and São Domingos de Rana, or farther to the East in Oeiras. You’ll still be close to these beautiful places but enjoy more affordable prices.

Local jobs aren’t ideal

The simplest reason is that salaries aren’t high in Portugal. For reference, the minimum monthly wage is €705 gross and around €1.300 on average as of 2022.

So, if you come from a wealthier country or your professional field allows you to look for jobs from foreign employers, take advantage of that: work remotely. The pandemic opened our way to the benefits of this work setting. The payoff can be amazing.

If you are interested in getting a job here, Lisbon has more opportunities than Cascais, as it is less limited to tourism. It’ll be easy to commute between the two cities every day. How do you feel about ditching the car and taking the train?
 

Legend has it that Lisbon has seven hills: São Roque, São Jorge, São Vicente, Santo André, Santa Catarina, Chagas, and Sant’Ana. Each of these offers belvederes with different angles on the river, the buildings, and the cobblestone patterns paving the streets.

What most maps don’t reveal are the private viewpoints, those of rooftop bars. It’s hard to beat a view with a cold drink in your hands! Here’s our pick of breathtaking rooftops in Lisbon.

Park

Address: Cç. do Combro 58, 1200-123 Lisboa

Phone: +351 215 914 011

Website

Did you ever want to be known as someone who finds a good spot? This is your chance. To get to this bar, you’ll have to enter a parking lot and go up a few flights of stairs. During that journey, you’ll start to wonder ‘Did I make up this place? Did I dream it?’ You did not. Park will be waiting for you at the top, a stunning panoramic view up its sleeve.

An amazing place to catch a sunset and take a good photo of the 25 de Abril Bridge. Go early if you want a place to sit, as it gets full rather quickly.

Topo Martim Moniz

Address: Centro Comercial Martim Moniz, Piso 6, 1100-341 Lisboa

Phone: +351 215 881 322

Website

Though in a completely different location (no parking lot — instead, an old-school mall in Martim Moniz), Topo has a similar energy to Park: it’s trendy, it has dancy music at night (and sometimes hosts DJ sets), and it attracts big crowds. There’s a seal of quality for the drinks, mixed by bartenders from Black Pepper & Basil.

The rooftop has a gorgeous view of Martim Moniz and the castle.

Entretanto Rooftop Bar

Address: Hotel do Chiado, R. Nova do Almada 114, 1100-184 Lisboa

Phone: +351 21 325 6100

Website

This bar’s vistas are similar to those of the Santa Justa elevator: you’ll see Lisbon’s downtown rooftops, the São Jorge Castle, and the river.

There’s a polished and current feel to it. To top it all up, the service is outstanding, coherent with Entretanto’s location atop Hotel do Chiado.

Pro tip: there is great gin to be had here!

Sky Bar

Address: Tivoli Avenida da Liberdade, Av. da Liberdade 185, 1269-050 Lisboa

Phone: +351 213 198 642

Website

Close to the sky, on the ninth floor of the hotel Tivoli, on Avenida da Liberdade (our Champs Elysées, no less). Life doesn’t get more sophisticated and glamorous than this.

You’ll love the layout of the bar, the lights, and the spring colors — a platform from which to glance at Baixa, the São Jorge Castle, the Tagus River, and Serra da Arrábida. And because you’ll be staying for a bit, take a seat in the comfortable lounge sofas or beanbags.

This is a seasonal experience, however, which makes it all the more special. Come here between April to September and in the warmer months enjoy regular DJ sets and live music.

Ferroviário

Address: Rua de Santa Apolónia 59, 1100-468 Lisboa

Phone: +351 217 651 869

Website

A less catchy name (‘railway’) to a non-Portuguese speaker, but it’s attached to a story. Ferroviário was born in 1961 to host cultural and recreational activities for employees from CP (the state-owned railway company). It went on to become a rooftop bar and stage in 2010 and, in 2018, the management and the decoration changed. The original architecture was preserved, now coexisting with cabaret-style reds on the inside and the fun tropical vibe on the terrace.

While the service can be slow, I’d argue it’s worth the wait. Come here to drink a cocktail or a mocktail with the Tagus River at the forefront.

Ten years ago, no one could have imagined that ordering a beer at a bar or a restaurant would lead to a choice beyond ‘Sagres ou Super Bock?’. It was cheap and it was simple. And I thought Portuguese beer culture was defined by that.

Whether you want to call it a revolution, a trend, or hipster f***ery, world capitals saw a surge in the popularity of craft beer, a process that began slowly in Portugal — a few bars for beer connoisseurs here and there —and then boom: you find it at cafes, bars, restaurants, markets… But in an ever-expanding universe such as this, how can you find your way? Well, stick around and you’ll learn about the best bars to enjoy craft beer in Cascais and around.

BeerCascais

Address: Mercado da Vila, 2754-529 Cascais

Phone: +351 913 180 829

Website

Whoever’s looking for a cool draft beer in Cascais paired with a sunny terrace will find it at Mercado da Vila, the town market. You can taste national and international brews, including some from Cascais.

On tap, they usually present their customers with more than a dozen options. There is also a small shop inside exhibiting a pretty solid craft bottle selection.

Villa Craft Beer & Bread

Address: Calçada Rio do Porto, 2710-616 Sintra

Phone: +351 968 250 458

Website

I’m sure you’re familiar with the many reasons to visit Sintra, World Heritage Site. Without having to make the slightest detour, visit this amazing craft beer taproom that bakes bread in a wood oven. Because choice can be overwhelming, get one of the beers they have on tap that day, order the salmon or vegan bruschetta, sit down on the terrace, and give it some thought. By the time your food comes, you’ll be ready to make an informed choice (or to repeat that tasty first beer you had — honestly, I don’t think you can go wrong).

Cerveteca Lisboa

Address: Praça das Flores 63, 1200-192 Lisboa

Email: info@cervetecalisboa.com

Website

It’s never a surprise that, whatever the trend, in Lisbon it thrives.

Cerveteca’s name is a blend of the words cerveja (‘beer’) and biblioteca (‘library’). You understand why when you enter the minimalist taproom dressed in wood, an impressive display of beer bottles on bookshelves to your left.

It wasn’t this bar that was new to the scene when it opened in 2014, it was the scene that was new. To Cerveteca we owe a lot of the craft beer education that took place in the following years.

The staff is always willing to point you in the right direction, encouraging you to try their taps (14 in total), which rotate throughout the day.

Dois Corvos

Address: R. Cap. Leitão 94, 1950-052 Lisboa

Phone: +351 21 138 4366

Website

Two crows perched on the great vessel that’s Marvila, thus bringing a much-needed complexity to the local craft beer landscape.

Dois Corvos opened a large industrial taproom in 2015 with colorful graffiti art that invites you to stay inside, even when it gets crowded as dinner time approaches. Nearly everything is homemade here, from the tapas to the beer. Indeed, there’s a good chance you’ll stumble upon the Dois Corvos brand somewhere else in Portugal, but this is its home, so you’ll be drinking beer directly from the source. If the beer-making imagery piqued your interest, you might want to go on the micro-brewery 90-minute tour.

Circling back to the menu, I’d highlight the tortilla chips with a salsa dip, suitable for vegans. There are 18 draft beers to choose from, to drink on the spot or to order to go, as in, to take home. How could you possibly keep it fresh, you ask? You have the option to buy a 1L or 2L growler here, and the content will last a day or two.

Oitava Graça

Address: R. Damasceno Monteiro 8A, 1170-112 Lisboa

Phone: +351 968 617 085

Website

If you’ve accepted the challenge to visit all seven hills Lisbon has to offer, I’m sorry to announce so late in the game that there’s actually an eighth hill: 8.ª (or ‘Oitava’) Colina.

This brewery produces gorgeous bottled beer that makes the perfect gift. Deeply Portuguese, creative, and funny, the names and labels evoke places and people in Lisbon. Their American Pale Ale, for instance, was named Joe da Silva (an English first name with a very common Portuguese last name) and it’s described in an irresistible tone: ‘Adventurous, innovator, in Joe da Silva the American hops shine over a sweet light malt base ending on a priceless drinkability.’

For a peek at the brewery, find them at their Cabo Ruivo address. For a cold beer with a nice view of the São Jorge Castle, the Oitava Graça awaits you.