Surf's Up: a Great Reason to Go to Portugal this Autumn

The summer is over, but there's no reason not to get close to the sea in autumn too! And no, you don’t need to fly to the Maldives. It’s also possible in Europe, in beautiful Portugal, where you can enjoy a very mild and warm start to autumn. How about prolonging your summer by learning surfing or kitesurfing? There is no better place in Europe to do this than in Portugal. And you could visit gorgeous Lisbon - a city of small, cosy streets, classic trams and medieval architecture.

Lisbon city centre streets

Lisbon is a very beautiful city. When you visit it for the first time, you get the feeling that it has gathered pieces from many other cities all over the world.

Christ the King statue

Golden gate bridge in Lisbon

For example, the main bridge that links Lisbon with Almada looks very like the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. And the Christ the King statue, right at the very end of that bridge, looks a lot like the Statue of Jesus in Rio, Brazil.

Old town Lisbon Portugal

Lisbon classical tram

The same goes for the city streets. The first thought that popped in my mind when I saw the trams was that I was back in San Francisco.

Portugal surfing

But Lisbon wasn’t our main destination. So, after a short sightseeing trip, we headed over the bridge through Almada to our surf camp, approximately 40 minutes away from Lisbon.

Portugal surfing in the morning

The morning started with an early surfing lesson. Waking up at 7:00 AM, before even breakfast, wasn’t easy but it was totally worth it. The water was calm and the waves relatively small - perfect conditions for beginner surfers. I’ve been snowboarding for over 7 years now but surfing was something new and completely different for me. Actually, I was shocked at how difficult it was.

Learning to kite in Portugal

Learning to surf Portugal

After surfing, it was breakfast time and the real fun could begin. We could choose between windsurfing and kitesurfing. I went for the latter option. The winds that day were quite light and not strong enough for proper lessons; nevertheless, we managed to learn how to build and control our kites, how the wind works and all the basic rules of kite surfing.

Man with kite

Unfortunately, we had only a few days, which wasn’t enough for us to learn all the skills needed, but it was a great introduction and gave us the motivation to keep learning in the future. And our instructor showed us a few tricks at the end which inspired us even more.

Kiting and surfing camp Portugal

I also managed to try windsurfing, which turned out to be much easier than kite, yet I enjoyed kitesurfing more.

Surfing lessons Portugal

This trip was a great way to prolong our summer, meet fantastic people and explore Lisbon, which brought back so many great memories from all over the world.

Portugal surfing sunset

So, get away from your office desk and go and have some adventures! It’s really fun to learn surfing and even more fun when you start getting good at it.

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I’ve been travelling ever since a was a child but my first large trip was at the age of 13 when I was sent to live for a couple months to London. This trip has changed me and ever since I just want to see more and more of our beautiful world. Every trip gives me new emotions, charge and strength to keep going further.

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