Trancoso

The fishing village’s main square, the Quadrado, is ringed with small pousadas, or houses. Their rooflines reflect the influence of early Portuguese settlers and many have been restored and repainted in bright colors. A few are still inhabited by locals but most have been transformed into restaurants and shops that sell beach clothing and accessories at prices that are equivalent to those on Madison Avenue. Don’t come for the shopping but for the atmosphere. At dusk, teenagers come out to flirt and occasionally bareback riders will congregate in the grassy center for a scruffy form of pickup polo. At one end stands a 15th century church, which is so close to the ocean that you can smell the sea when sitting in the pews. The church was built so the congregation would be facing the sea if the back altar wall were removed, and there’s a palpable reverence for the sea pervading the tiny edifice. If you walk back behind the church, which is often ringed with stalls where Indians sell their crafts, you will come to a cliff that drops right down to the beach.