Ericeira & Santa Cruz: Portugal's Coast

Although the majority of our trip to Portugal was spent in heavy wind and rain, we were lucky enough to enjoy a handful of days soaking up the sun. We stayed in a quaint apartment Airbnb in the historical beach town of Ericeira, about 45 min north of Lisbon and 45 min south of the WSL surf contest site in Santa Cruz.Ericeira's town center is known as "Old Town" — a super cute little area (just a few square blocks) of cobblestone alleyways full of restaurants and boutiques.

In the center of Old Town is an open air plaza square, lined with freshly pruned trees and cobblestone seating to enjoy an afternoon café. The surf contest was hosted in Santa Cruz, Portugal, a super super sleepy town north of Ericeira— It almost seemed deserted. Nearly every storefront or restaurant was closed shut, no matter the hour.

Despite the lack of things to do, the Santa Cruz coastline was beautiful.

P.S. My favorite store in Ericeira's Old Town... The Doghouse! Inside lives their adorable mascot, an English bulldog "Jack" (see below!), the successor to the original bulldog of The Doghouse, "Boris." Their shop is complete with sweatshirts branded with bulldogs and even a bulldog ride for the kids out front. So cute!