Setúbal

Overview

Setúbal is the working city on the far side of the Tagus that Lisbon’s day-trippers pass on the way to the beach, and the beach is the reason to stop: the Arrábida hills drop straight into a bay of clear water and white sand on its western edge, a colony of bottlenose dolphins lives in the Sado estuary on its eastern one, and the Tróia peninsula’s beaches are a 15-minute catamaran across the river. It is a fishing port, a shipyard and an industrial town of paper, cement and car plants, the fourth busiest port in the country, and it has the best cheap seafood within an hour of the capital.

The city of 90,000 was the Roman Caetobriga and the Moorish Shaṭūbar, became a city only in 1860, and celebrates its holiday on the birthday of Bocage, the 18th-century poet whose statue stands in the main square. Fifty kilometres from Lisbon by road, it is a day trip with a car or a two-night base for the Arrábida.

Neighbourhoods

The Avenida Luísa Todi and the old town

The long, flat avenue along the waterfront is the spine: the market, the tourist office at the Casa da Baía, the dolphin centre, the restaurants and most of the hotels are on it, and the old town of tascas and small streets is the grid behind it around the Praça de Bocage. Stay here.

The docks and the Albarquel

At the western end of the avenue the fishing docks, the ferry terminals and the Albarquel urban park, four hectares at the foot of the serra with the view across to Tróia, lead into the Arrábida road.

The rest

Setúbal has some of the most troubled housing estates in the country on its edges, which the visitor will not see unless they go looking; the shabbiness is the warning, and by day they are no problem.

See & do

The Arrábida beaches

The Parque Natural da Arrábida, founded in 1976 over 176 km² of limestone ridge and sea, starts where the Avenida Luísa Todi ends: the road climbs over the shoulder of the serra, 501 m at its top, past the viewpoints over the bay and down to Figueirinha, Galápos, Galapinhos and Portinho da Arrábida, coves of pale sand and turquoise water under the cliffs that are as close as Portugal gets to the Mediterranean. Galapinhos was voted the most beautiful beach in Europe in 2017 by a travel website, and in summer the parking at the coves runs out early. The 16th-century Convent of Arrábida sits above the coves, and the abandoned Outão coastal battery on the N379-1 has the view and the ghosts.

The dolphins

The Sado holds the only resident colony of bottlenose dolphins in a Portuguese estuary, one of three in European waters; the free interpretation centre at Avenida Luísa Todi 470, open daily until 20:00, explains them, and two operators run boat trips from the quays to find them, with sightings on most trips.

The city

The Convento de Jesus, built between 1490 and 1510 and the earliest known Manueline building, with spiralling columns of Arrábida breccia holding up its nave, is the monument, with the city museum beside it; the Castelo de São Filipe, a 16th-century star fort on the hill above the town, has the azulejo chapel and the view over the estuary to Tróia; the Livramento market on the Avenida, open until 14:00, is one of the best fish markets in the country and is worth the morning. The Praça de Bocage with the poet’s statue and the pedestrian streets around it are the walk.

Food & drink

The dish is choco frito, cuttlefish cut into strips, battered and fried, served in a slab on a mountain of chips and salad, about €16 a plate or half that for a half portion, and everyone in the room is eating it. The rest is grilled fish from the market, in the tascas of the old town at set-menu prices, soup, charcoal-grilled fish, drink, dessert and coffee for around €12, and in the seafood houses on the avenue for more. Wikivoyage’s line that the humble tascas here serve some of the best seafood in the country at cheap prices is not an exaggeration.

The wine is the sweet fortified muscat that the Azeitão houses are known for, and the reds of the Setúbal peninsula; the cheese is Azeitão, the pastry the torta, and the Piedade biscuits on the avenue are the local souvenir.

Nightlife

A working town’s night: bars along the Avenida Luísa Todi and the squares of the old town, a wine bar or two, a live music bar at weekends and a dance bar by the Albarquel, none of it late by Lisbon standards. After dark stay on the lit avenue and the busy streets, and take a taxi rather than walk the back streets alone.

When to go

June to September. The Arrábida beaches at their best and busiest; the water is warmer and calmer than anywhere on the Lisbon coast, and the dolphins are seen most days.

April to May, October. Warm enough for the coves on a good day, empty enough to park at them; the best time for the serra viewpoints and the wineries.

November to March. The market, the choco frito and the estuary birds do not depend on the weather; the beaches are for walking and the hotels are cheap.

Getting there

By train. Fertagus trains from Lisbon cross the 25 de Abril bridge to Setúbal, and CP trains reach the central station too; from the Praça do Comércio the alternative is the ferry to Barreiro and the train from there, which takes about the same time.

By coach and car. Coaches run from Lisbon almost hourly all day, and the city is 50 km south of the capital by the A2 and well signed. Lisbon airport is the airport.

Getting around

The centre and the avenue are flat and on foot; city buses cover the rest and keep to their timetables. For the Arrábida you need wheels, a car, a scooter or a tuk-tuk tour from the avenue, and it is easy to get lost in the serra without a map. Bolt scooters are parked along the avenue and at the ferry dock, the Tróia car ferry and catamaran leave from the Doca das Fontainhas and Cais 3, and taxi boats run to Tróia and the beaches.

Where to stay

Most hotels are on or just off the Avenida Luísa Todi, from two-star chain hotels and a guesthouse in the back streets at €50 to €60 up to four-stars on the avenue and by the river; a hotel near the bus station covers the Bonfim side, and a five-star rural hotel on the N10 towards Azeitão is the country option. Tróia’s resort hotels are the beach alternative, a ferry ride away.

Practical info

The Casa da Baía on the Avenida Luísa Todi is the tourist office and the dolphin centre is a few doors down, both free and open into the evening. The Arrábida beaches have no shade and limited parking, so go early in summer; the serra road is narrow and the viewpoints are where the traffic stops. Setúbal is generally safe with the usual night-time care. For money, plugs and pharmacies see the Portugal guide.