The busy little fishing town of Peniche (altitude: 15m/50ft), is one of Portugal's most important places for crayfish, sardine and tuna fisheries (cannery). It lies on a rocky peninsula on the Portuguese Atlantic coast, almost 3km/2mi long and just over 2km/1.25mi wide, edged by rugged cliffs and linked to the mainland by a narrow sandspit
Peniche's tourism has remained within reasonable bounds. There are few hotels of any size in the town itself, and seaside pursuits tend to be enjoyed on the long sandy beaches on both sides of the isthmus (istmo).
Peniche has a State school of pillowlace making, which is a traditional local craft.
Townscape
Fortifying walls and a moat, securing the town to landward, run from the fortress in the south of the town to the northernmost point of the peninsula. The harbor, protected by two breakwaters, is the scene of lively activity. In the summer a regular boat service runs from here to the Berlenga Islands, and there is also the spectacle of the arrival of the fishing boats to be speedily unloaded. Their perishable cargoes are then auctioned on a conveyor belt in a large hangar.
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