Costa do Sol

The Costa do Sol, the "sunshine coast", the coastal stretch west of Lisbon and known with some justification as the Portuguese Riviera, is undoubtedly one of the loveliest sections of Portugal's west coast. The attractive scenery, good beaches and pleasant climate, with correspondingly lush vegetation, mean that the towns and resorts on the Costa do Sol attract large number of visitors, especially from among the Portuguese, but this also means that at the height of the season the beaches are overcrowded and traffic on the coast road is extremely heavy.