I love going to the coast and so this was a must to do whilst in Lisbon. After doing some research at home, we came across the seaside town of Cascais.
Cascais is about an hour's train journey from Lisbon Sete Rios train station. There isn't a direct train from Sete Rios to Cascais so we caught a train to Alcântara-Terra and then walked to Alcantara - Mar station to catch the train to Cascais. However we didn't know until we arrived at the station that Alcantara - Mar didn't have a lift or subway to change platforms. Just a slight problem... However after Adrian did some Google Maps checking we worked out we could catch a train going in the opposite direction to Cais do Sodre station as this was the last stop and then the train would be going back in the other direction to Cascais! It was a faff but all part of the travel experience of a wheelchair user!
We didn't use any ramps to get onto the train as Adrian was able to manage getting me on the train without them. The trains have one step up to get in and it is high. At all the train stations we visited in Portugal there were never any staff on the platforms to ask for help. Therefore if you do need the ramps I would recommend pre-planning your train times and asking at the station ticket office in advance if these can be booked.
When we arrived in Cascais we headed straight towards Praia da Duquesa. To get here we walked through the town which had lots of nice shops, bars and restaurants.
There is a flat walk you can do along the coast which has smooth paving and the views are really pretty. We walked to Tamariz Beach and had some stops along the way for drinks and ice cream! The sand is quite soft so it's not great for wheelchairs and we didn't see any beach wheelchairs. We did travel out of high season though so these may have been available then. There are some disabled toilets along the walk but not many so when you see one go!
You can also visit the Marina to see the boats and there are some nice designer shops and restaurants here too. I imagine it gets quite busy here at night as it looked like a great place to relax with a glass of wine!
Cascais is a really lovely seaside town. The sea was beautiful and especially nice as it was a sunny day. I would definitely consider a long weekend here, it seemed like a quiet and non touristy place which felt relaxing. The accessibility was also good and I especially liked how easy it was to walk along the sea front.
You can read more about the places we visited in Portugal here.
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