Cabo Carvoeiro

At the western tip of the Peniche peninsula, the land breaks into one of Portugal’s wildest coasts: cliffs of white limestone, split by gullies and pierced by caves, with the Berlengas archipelago floating on the horizon and a lonely lighthouse keeping the point. This is Cabo Carvoeiro, the second-most westerly cape in mainland Europe.

Limestone, storms and the Nau dos Corvos

The cape is a textbook of coastal geology: eroded limestone pavement, blowholes and sea caves, including the Furninha cave where traces of human occupation go back to the Stone Age. Just offshore stands the Nau dos Corvos, the “ship of crows” — a wedge of rock named for the cormorants that gather on it, and a favourite image of Portuguese poets. The lighthouse, ordered in 1758 and first lit in 1790, is among the oldest on the coast; from its viewpoint one sees the whole bay of Peniche and the islands of the Berlengas reserve. The old fishing town behind, with its harbour, walls and the salt town of Peniche, is one of the great maritime stories of the centre coast.

What to see

• The lighthouse and the cliffs of the cape
• The Nau dos Corvos rock and its cormorants
• Seabirds and sea views over the Berlengas
• The sunset-facing western edge of the cape
• Peniche’s harbour and fortress, minutes away

Practical information

Cabo Carvoeiro lies about three kilometres from the centre of Peniche, at the end of the road that follows the shore. Wear sturdy shoes for the clifftop paths and keep back from unfenced edges; the wind can be strong in any season. The cape is free to visit at all hours.

Image credit: Cabo Carvoeiro by Júlio Reis — CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.