Costa Verde

The Costa Verde, the "green coast" and the stretch of the northern Portuguese Atlantic coast between the mouths of the Douro and the Minho, has long been a favorite holiday area for the Portuguese, together with the adjoining Costa de Prata to the south. Its long beaches of fine sand are fringed by dunes or sheltered by cliffs. With its relatively cold water and its frequent high winds off the sea this is not the place for simply swimming and sunbathing but it is a good base for enjoyable trips inland to such destinations as Braga, Guimaraes and Peneda-Gerês National Park.