My favourite spots in Ericeira
Ericeira is a lovely Portuguese fishing town, just a 40 min car ride away from the buzz Lisbon. Known for its numerous high-quality surf breaks, scenic coastline and charming centre with its blue and white houses. Due to these and many more reasons, it attracted a growing ex-pat and spiritual community over the last few years. Once you have been here yourself, you might understand why so many fall in love with this place and its unique vibe and continue coming back year after year until making the decision to call it their permanent home - myself included.
Ericeira is one of my favourite places in Europe, and even after living here for a while, it doesn’t lose its magic. From small local cafés to breathtaking sunsets, good food, excellent waves and a welcoming community, this place has so much to offer and is for a good reason, one of our favourite locations for the Teacher Training courses.
Every local has their favourite spots and below you will find mine.
1. Put the world on hold - Praia da Calada
My personal escape from the busyness of the centre. Calada is a beach that is not amongst the famous ones of this town, probably because it is a 10 min car ride north from the centre, not as easy to reach as other beaches. Nether the less or also, because of that, it has a very special energy. You find the beach after following down a steep road embedded between the cliffs. It has a small beach café right in the middle, open during high season, with an amazing view of the ocean. The cherry on top, and why it is my place to reconnect and disconnect, is there is - no network:)l! So, leave your phone at home, and bring your journal, find a calm spot between the rocks and just enjoy the beauty of this place.
(Psst.. In case of emergency and if you really really really need connection - the café has WIFI)
2. Afternoon coffee-break
Here comes a classic: coffee and pastel de nata. Sorry for the vegans amongst you.. Unfortunately, Portugal’s most famous sweet treat is full of creme and egg (still, you can get a Vegan Nata in Lisbon!). For those who want to try it anyway, „O Pãozinho das Marias“ is known to have the best in town, which I fully agree with. Choose between the two locations they have in the centre, sit in the sun on their terrace and enjoy a little break.
3. Sweet life at T3RÇO do MEIO
For the Vegans and lovers of good sourdough and amazing sweets, just a two-minute walk from one of our venues away, you can have the most delicious cookies, cinnamon rolls and great sourdough bread at „T3RÇO do MEIO“. Next to their all-time favourites, they keep adding new salty and sweet treats to their list. Vegan and non-vegan are both equally delicious.
Tip: Come early! They sell out quickly.
4. Great food, great drinks, good coffee even better view - Balagan
If you feel like going a bit more fancy than the traditional Portuguese cafés, this place might be what you want. Balagan is a middle-east inspired Restaurant and Café that just opened its doors to its new location right at Praia do Sul. With its stylish interior, direct ocean view, and a small but well-selected menu of food and drinks, it became one the favourites amongst people living in and visiting Ericeira.
5. A walk along the coastline
One of my favourite things to do on a sunny and clear day is to enjoy the beauty of the coastline by going for a long walk on one of many tracks along the cliffs. One that is easy to access goes from the surf break „Pedra Branca “ to the most famous wave of Ericeira, „Coxos“. You can even start that walk all the way from the centre, following the main road until you find the sign that leads you to „Pedra Branca“, from here on, you have a small track close to the cliffs until you reach „Ribeira d’Ilhas“, Erceira’s most famous beach. Take a little break, have a drink at the beach bar, or go for a dip. If you want to time it right, try to arrive here around low tide and check out the stretched-out reef that makes this place such a great and consistent surf spot. If you haven’t had enough, hike up on the right cliff and enjoy some fantastic views along the way towards the last stop of this hike - „Coxos“.
6. My favourite surf spot
One break that is in my heart since 2016 and still is high up in the ranking is Praia do São Julião. Especially on a small summer day, this beach break, located 10 mins south of the centre, shows off several peaks and a great vibe. If you get lucky, you can have the perfect sunset session here and enjoy a drink with your friends at the beach or in the Café on top of the cliff.
7. Go for a sunset drink
We all love sunsets. The perfect place in the centre to enjoy the magical colours with friends while having a cold drink is on top of „Praia dos Pescadores“. You can find several small bars and restaurants here, and you can’t go much wrong with either of them. Choose whether you would like to have a nice glass of wine and some tapas, „Mar das Latas“ is a good one for that, or just a simple beer or non-alcoholic drink.
Although there is so much more to share, I will stop here, and I hope you will discover much more yourself!
