Have a Relaxing Break in Setubal

Feeling the Winter Blues? Dreaming about holidays? Visit Setubal for the perfect relaxing break!

We wish you a wonderful workday... :)

Visit: Portugal Dream Coast

What is your favourite restaurant in the Setúbal region?

We're asking our fans on our Facebook page what is your favourite restaurant in the Setúbal region. Want to share your favourite as well or just see people's recommendations?

Join in the conversation:

Summer 2010 in Setúbal (in images)

Beach, Sports, Festivals, Food and music events, and much more took place this last summer in the region of Setúbal in Portugal. See the highlights in this video and visit the website Portugal Dream Coast to know more about this fantastic region!

Join us on Facebook

We work hard to promote the beautiful location of Setúbal in Portugal to the world and to bring you the best the region has to offer.

Join us on our new Facebook page and share it with your friends, we'll appreciate that. :)

Just click the link below or the image on the left:

Portugal Dream Coast - Yours in Setúbal

Eurovision Party 2010 in Setúbal – September

After the success of last year’s event, Setúbal will once again host the official Eurovision party in Portugal on the 11th September.

This event will take place at the open air “Auditório José Afonso”, on the Luisa Todi Avenue in Setúbal and will bring together artists from nine different European countries that were contestants from several editions of the Eurovision music contest.

Click below to know more about this event and watch the official video with all the artists that will perform live!

Eurovision Party 2010 in Setúbal

Stay at Quinta de S. Felipe - Arrábida Mountain

Quinta de S. Filipe, located in Setúbal, in the Eastern most part of the Arrábida Mountain range is 44 Km from Lisbon.

This centenary farm, on a hillside, has breathtaking views of the city of Setúbal, São Filipe’s Castle and of the Tróia Peninsula are just across, where the gaze goes beyond Sines (Alentejo’s Coast).

Click to know more about this stunning hotel: Quinta de S. Felipe

World Tourism Day in Palmela

The World Tourism Day happens each year on September 27 and this year it will commemorate its 30th anniversary.

Palmela is the chosen location in the region of Setúbal to commemorate this day and revitalize all the local traditions of the region. Focusing on the Moscatel of Setúbal, on this year’s event you’ll have the chance to taste and buy this wonderful wine as well as interacting with the many wine experts of the region.

Know more about this event here: World Tourism Day

Alvalade Medieval Fair

Held annually, this event in Alvalade, south of the district of Setúbal near Sines, relives the Middle Ages with arts and crafts, food, games, jousting tournaments,costume contests, and more.

There could hardly be a more perfect setting for a truly authentic historical event that will capture adults and children’s’ imagination of life in medieval times. The entire town will be dressed to look like medievel times really incorporating the spirit of the event.

Know more here: Alvalade Medieval Fair

We'll be announcing the winner of the competition on the 24th August on Facebook

The 23rd August is the last day of the competition "Win a weekend in Setúbal" and on the 24th we'll be announcing the winning entry on our Facebook group.

You still have time to enter the competition and win a weekend on a romantic lighthouse in the Arrábida Mountain in Setúbal. Click here to participate: Travel to Portugal

And join us on Facebook to know the winner: Portugal Dream Coast Facebook

Winner of Guggenheim design contest from Setúbal

CBS or cork block shelter designed by David Mares from Setúbal is the people’s prize winner in the International Design It: Shelter Competition of the New York Guggenheim Museum and Google SketchUp. It is located at Vale de Barris in Palmela, region of Setúbal.

Know more about it here: News

Bus Sightseeing Tour

Every Saturday you can now enjoy a Bus Sightseeing Tour which reveals Setúbal’s colourful region. This tour is created around a carefully designed route that takes you to the key places of interest, and a hop-on hop-off facility that lets you discover them.

Click here to know more about this lovely tour: Travel to Portugal

Tróia International Golf Cup 2010 - in August!

Between the 26th and 28th August it will take place in the region of Setúbal the Tróia International Golf Cup, one of the most important Golf events taking place in the summer time in Portugal.

If you're a Golf lover you simply cannot afford to miss this event. It will take place at the Tróia Golf Championship Course, considered amongst Golf players to be one of the best top golf courses of the world and was considered by “Golf World” magazine to be one of the best 100 Golf courses of Europe. Robert Trent Jones Senior designed the course and it opened for play in 1980.

The 368-metre par four 3rd is one of the finest sea holes in Portugal but there are more stunning holes in this course. The holes are laid out on the dunes whilst magnificent pinewoods line most of the fairways on the inland side. The course is challenging but whilst playing the player has charming views across the sand to the magnificent blue Atlantic.

This is a magnificent time of the year to visit Tróia not only to see this event but also because of the stunning climate and everything the region has to offer in terms of travel holidays.

Why not combine your Golf passion with a visit to the stunning Tróia white sandy beaches and enjoy the wonderful Portuguese food available? Contact us if you with to know more.

Curious? See for yourself:

Your Summer Holidays in Setúbal

3 minutes of watching this and you'll want to get on a plane straight out here... :)

Prada postcard sunglasses from Setubal

The luxury fashion house Prada is launching by the end of March a limited edition summer collection of sunglasses that represents 6 cities across the world that are a holiday resort and on Prada’s city trip list.

And one of the destinies is Setubal.

Part of the collection "Postcards Sunglasses" with 6 six different sunglasses, the Setubal ones are totally in mat black with a retro design and tinted lenses in vogue this season.

Prada explains why it choose Setubal:

"Setubal has one of the most beautiful bays in the world. And recently they found more then 200 sea species at Arrabida. Setubal is bright yellow facades and balconies jutting out, welcoming. The famous old Mosteiro de Jesus topped with lace patterned stone and the great, colored ships in the port look, from a distance, like bobbing toys.

To celebrate the new Postcards line, Prada unveils a new short audio-tale by long-time collaborator Steven Meisel accompanied by this delightfully quirky fashion prose:

"We were at the seaside

Water the color of a cloudy bottle.
Maybe Forte dei Marmi or Montauk,
Biarritz or Setùbal.
A faded postcard is my sacred relic.
In lavender ink and her loopy hand:

Wish we were here."

Bay of Setubal - One of The Most Beautiful in the World

The bay of Setubal was voted a member of the Most Beautiful Bays in the World Club. This cut out estuary is leaned with the buttresses of Serra da Arrábida and separates the Atlantic Ocean by the peninsula of Troia. 23000 ha are classified as natural reserve.

As the most important natural habitat for the conservation of the bottle-nosed dolphin, fulfilling one of the nature requirements demanded by UNESCO, The Bay of Setubal will benefit from added values, notably from the international projection of the city.

Its main aims are to link the city to the river and valorize the environment. In particular the Sado Estuary Nature Reserve and the Arrábida Natural Park, which has unique characteristics and contains species that can only be found in areas near the Mediterranean.

There are also excellent beaches, especially Figueirinha, Galapos and Portinho da Arrábida (a magnificent sheltered bay), And on the other side of the River Sado, within easy reach by ferry, there is the Tróia peninsula with about 18 kms of beaches and a golf course.

Who knows the Setubal region?

. People that love relaxing or having romantic holidays know that the Setubal region is not crowded as the Algarve and they can actually walk along the white sandy beaches at their own pace.

. Golf players know Troia in Setubal because is has one of the top and most challenging Golf courses in Europe as well as the most beautiful sea views from a Golf course in the country.

. Dolphin lovers know the Setubal bay because is the only place in Portugal where you can watch dolphins in the wild. And they can even call them by their names!

. Scuba divers know the Setubal bay is great because they regularly vote it as one of the top diving spots of Europe.

. Cuisine and wine lovers know Setubal because it has one of the tastiest cheeses in the country, the best fish dishes and the well-known Moscatel wine, as well as several desserts and cakes that make them always wanting to come back for more.

. People that love nature know Setubal because of the stunning Arrabida range (which soon will be considered world heritage) where you can have the desired relaxing contact with nature, playing sports, walking or just meditating.

. People that love Sailing love Setubal, not only for its wonderful conditions to practise this sport, but also because its one of the locations where the World Sailing Match takes place.

. People that love photography know that Setubal offers the most stunning landscapes in Portugal.

. People that love beautiful Resorts and Inns know that the Setubal region has the most exclusive and romantic ones.

. People that like to know about a country's culture love Setubal because of the many cultural events happening and also the many historic locations they can visit like the Roman ruins in Troia.

What are your reasons to know Setubal?

If we can make you feel even a small part of what you could feel here, this Blog has served its purpose. Our time here, we hope, will make it easy for you to travel to Setubal or even choose it for your next Portuguese vacations. We're always adding to the Blog so keep looking back to for more information about this beautiful spot.

If there are any items you'd like to see on the Blog, please just let us know, this Blog is for you. Any suggestions or questions: carlaccsilva@gmail.com

“I live in Algarve but holiday in the Sado region ... we just love it there.”

Sarah Sykes, British citizen and follower of this Blog

Commemorations of João Vaz's work in Setubal

On the 27th February at Casa da Baia is going to take place the exhibition and conference "João Vaz and Setubal", to commemorate the work of the deceased João Vaz, a well-known painting artist from Setubal.

If you're visiting Setubal and want to know more about this region this is an excellent opportunity, since the strong bond between this artist and Setubal is present in all of his works. Most of his beautiful paintings are landscapes of the region of Setubal: the salt marsh, the bay, Arrabida, but he also has some more urban paintings of the city as well.

João Vaz (1859-1931) had a very distinct technique and was one of the first painting artists using photographs. Surely an event not to miss.

Setubal photos, from Jose Canelas

"Mourisca"

Jose Canelas photos