Family Beach Holiday In Portugal

A Family Beach Destination

I am constantly searching the internet for the best beaches in Europe. A quick escape from the winter weather to the closest beach is what I’m after. Well, I think we found it. Just a 2 hour and 45 minute flight from Zürich, the sunny beaches of Portugal are exactly what we needed for the February school holiday.

After our city break in Lisbon, we drove three hours south to Sagres in the Algarve region of Portugal. We spent six days enjoying the blue skies, warm winter weather, and endless sunshine. February is the perfect time to go to Portugal. We had the beaches and resort to ourselves. Here is where we stayed, played, and explored in and around Sagres.

Stay

We stayed at Martinhal Sagres, a luxury kinderhotel on the beach. About a week before we arrived, I got an email where we could sign up for activities and kid’s club ahead of time. Even better, I can select any baby and kids items we would need during our stay, including baby bath, crib, diaper pail, bouncer, high chair, and loads of other things.

One of the best parts about staying at Martinhal was never having to bring those bulky kid items. We love traveling with just our carry on luggage so this really helps, especially with a little baby. (Here’s more about how we travel with kids)

We were greeted with a glass of port upon arrival at Martinhal. Yes please! Then the kids were given backpacks with hats to wear for the gorgeous sunny weather. Next, we were driven by golf cart (what?!) to our house (a house!). We stayed in an ocean villa with incredible views. As you can see, we did not need to be driven to our room as the reception is right across the street from the ocean villa, but it was quite fun.

The ocean villa is enormous. This is not a hotel room, but a dream vacation house. We had welcome food (milk, juice, water, snacks, port!) waiting for us as well as a Nespresso machine which is always necessary. The kitchen was fully stocked and the laundry machine was a wonderful addition. 

Play

When the kids finished their breakfast, they would play in the kid corner with one of the kid’s club staff giving my husband and I a few minutes to stare at the ocean and enjoy some time together. Each restaurant has a staffed kid’s play area.

The kid’s club is organized by age group. In February it is low season so only one kid’s club is open, and our girls were sometimes the only ones using it! There are many play places around the center village area of the resort that operate as kid’s clubs during the peak season. Many of the rooms are temporarily set up as soft play, climbing structures, and ball pits in February. With so much to see and do, the girls did not use the kid’s club as much as I expected.

The Grocery Store

One of my favorite places is the grocery store in the village. I know, lame, but they have everything at really great prices. Plus, it smells like warm chocolate croissants. They sell formula for half the price that I pay in Zurich. They have fresh baked bread and croissants, coffee, and every kid item imaginable.

In our ocean villa, we got a voucher for a free bread and 10% off at the grocery store, so we stocked up on everything we needed for the week. We cooked most meals at our house. They even have a ton of different Nespresso capsules so you can have your favorite coffee in the morning (or if you are like us, 5 more times during the day). You literally don’t need to bring anything with you on this holiday. They even have baby swim diapers to hand out for free!

With 5 swimming pools, tennis courts, a soccer field, ocean beach, water sports, bikes, a gym, a spa, and playgrounds everywhere, we were just spoiled for choice.

We rented bikes at Martinhal and rode into the town of Sagres

The beach at Martinhal Sagres.

Explore

The Cape St. Vincent lighthouse and the the Fortaleza de Sagres fortress are less than 5 minutes drive from Martinhal Sagres. Both have the most amazing views of the waves crashing into the steepest cliffs. It’s easy to do these both in one day or relax and do them separately. The fortress is 3 Euros for a family of 5. 

Beaches

We love Bordeira beach, a 1/2 hour drive from Martinhal Sagres. There is parking up on the hill, then walk down the steps to the beach. There are sand dunes in the back of the enormous wide and flat beach. The beach was completely empty when we were there in February. We spent a lot of time sliding down the sand dunes and wandering along the beach.

What I Loved

There is basically no reason to leave Martinhal during the week. With a grocery store, restaurants, beach, kid’s club, playgrounds, pools, and plenty of coffee, it is an absolutely wonderful all inclusive resort. This place is super family friendly and we all had a fun week at the beach. Plus the ocean view villa was incredible.

Are you looking for a sunny spot to escape winter? Where are you thinking about spending the winter holidays? Snow or beach? What do you think about a family beach holiday in Portugal?

Fortaleza de Sagres