Silver Coast verses the Algarve

I love both regions but the Silver Coast is our favourite - in particular Nazaré.

The Algarve is quite touristy and swelteringly hot in the summer. In the winter, it can be dead.

In contrast, the weather in Nazaré is nice all year and, although touristy in summer, we find it's more local tourists than foreign visitors. This means that it retains more of its small-town, Portuguese charm than places down south. The locals are also super laid back and friendly.

The cuisine in Nazaré is also outstanding, especially the seafood, being that the place is a former fishing village.

We love Nazaré so much that we go every year.

Hi Dennis,
I will echo a lot of what the previous poster wrote. The Algarve is likely my least favorite part of Portugal for the reasons already stated. The rock formations at places are about all I really like.

I, however, am not in love with Nazare. I stayed in Sao Martinho do Porto for a week before moving here and really enjoyed it. It doesn’t attract the international tourist crowd, has a number of nice restaurants, etc. Ericeira, which I’m not certain is even considered silver coast since it’s closer to Lisbon, is also nice. A lot of expats love Caldas da Rainha.
I’m certain there are others you might discover in your research.

All this said, a potential problem with both the silver coast and Algarve will be the public transportation. Trains are very limited and buses may not be much better. I wouldn’t consider going either place without renting a car. I’m just a year. younger than you and I wouldn’t hesitate to drive in either area. In fact, I’m driving my sister to that area next month. The roads are small and not busy, especially in the Silver Coast. And, any of the towns you might stay in have fairly limited things to do. But, there are many sites in the area you would likely enjoy. Just something to thoroughly research before making any decisions.
Good to hear you’re planning another trip!

That's two votes for the Silver Coast and one vote to not give up at driving. Hmmmm
As this is all aimed at 2026, I have time to research and will focus more on the Silver Coast.

Thanks both of you.

Dennis and Elinore

We stayed in Caldas da Rainha and found it dull as dishwater. The entire town seems to close up at night. Sleepy.
Nazaré had several bars and restaurants going in the evening with live music; it seems a lot more fun.

We also went to Sao Martinho do Porto and found the beach horrible. It seemed oily and the water wasn't so clean. Nazaré's beach is way better, in my opinion. Restaurants in Sao Martinho seemed overpriced and more touristy, too.

As for public transport - we don't drive, so we found the Flix buses and other public transportation to be excellent. Less than 90 minutes from Lisbon and a couple of hours from Porto. We also used Uber to get around and found it cheap and fast; significantly less expensive than Uber in other European countries.

Good luck with your trip!

I think I must be one of the only people on the forum who likes the Algarve. My husband and I spent several days in Fuseta last year, and it was one of my favorite parts of the trip (although to be fair, we didn't get to any of the Silver Coast). Fuseta is on the eastern end of the Algarve, so far away from the partying of Albufeira and Lagos. It is on the Ria Formosa, so has beaches on the lagoon and on the Atlantic (you take a short ferry ride to the Atlantic side). It is a fishing town pivoting to tourism, and has several very good seafood restaurants (although not very fancy preparations), an excellent vegetarian restaurant, and a tiny farmers market.
Fuseta is right on the regional railroad line, and my husband took it all the way down to Vila Real San Antonio. Fuseta is quite small, and more a place to hang out and really get a feel for the locals than to sightsee, but it is utterly charming.

We stayed in Caldas da Rainha and found it dull as dishwater. The entire town seems to close up at night. Sleepy.
Nazaré had several bars and restaurants going in the evening with live music; it seems a lot more fun.
We also went to Sao Martinho do Porto and found the beach horrible. It seemed oily and the water wasn't so clean. Nazaré's beach is way better, in my opinion. Restaurants in Sao Martinho seemed overpriced and more touristy, too.

I agree that Caldas da Rainha is a sleepy kind of town, and definitely low key. I guess being aware of what you're looking for on a trip really matters. I was looking at various places on the Silver Coast through the eyes of "could I live here", so my focus was different.

As for Sao Martinho, I didn't get in the water so can't speak to it being dirty, although there were plenty of people in it when I visited, at least for it being April. I walked along the beach and don't remember thinking it was oily, so again, maybe a different perspective or maybe I just got lucky the day I was there? I wandered away from the main area and found lunch in a little place with just a few tables. I had a bowl of lentil soup and some kind of fried potato dish, which was very good and I don't remember it being expensive. I looked at a few menus on the main street along the beach and I agree that area seemed pretty touristy, plus there were the typical souvenir shops that mark an area as touristy.

Like the poster above, I also enjoyed Nazare, another lovely but small beach town.