Monsaraz in summer from Badajoz: river beach and sunset

The plan

The day at a glance

Any part can be swapped for another without spoiling the day.

09:30
Leave Badajoz 1 h 30 by car
Spanish time · you arrive around 10:00 Portuguese time
10:15 1
Monsaraz river beach on Lake Alqueva
Portuguese time · Nautical Centre, former Moinho do Gato · until lunch
5 min by car3,5 km
13:30 2
Sabores de Monsaraz
Sabores de Monsaraz · inside the walls · home-style Alentejo cooking · €€ · book

Largo de S. Bartolomeu, 7200-175 Monsaraz · +351 969 217 800

Restaurant €€
Book
11 min on foot
17:00 3
Xerez Cromlech beside the Orada convent
at the foot of the hill · 30 min, when the sun goes down
11 min on foot
19:00 4
The walled town and castle of Monsaraz
an hour before sunset · 1 h 30
21:00
Back home
Portuguese time · you reach Badajoz around 23:30 Spanish time

Approximate cost About €20–35 per person

Adds up the activities and meals in the plan at their published prices; travel and accommodation not included.

The route

Monsaraz river beach on Lake Alqueva

When the Alqueva reservoir flooded the Guadiana valley it left Monsaraz overlooking an enormous lake, and at the foot of the hill it opened the lake's first river beach: still fresh water, Blue Flag, lifeguards in season, adapted access and a children's area. An hour and a half from Badajoz, it is a summer Sunday different from the swimming pool. This plan spends the morning and midday by the water, hides from the heat in the bad hours and climbs to the town at the end of the day, when the light falls head-on over the lake and the white streets stop burning.

The day, hour by hour

Stop times are Portuguese time, one hour behind Spain.

9:30 (Spanish time) · Leave. About 90 km from Badajoz; from Mérida, two hours. You arrive around 10:00 Portuguese time.

10:15 · The river beach. At the former Moinho do Gato, the Monsaraz Nautical Centre has the beach, with a jetty and ramp, parking, showers, a children's area and a picnic area. Arrive early to get shade. Ask there whether dogs are allowed: the rule is not published.

13:30 · Lunch at Sabores de Monsaraz. Drive up to the town gate and walk a few minutes to Largo de São Bartolomeu: this small eatery, inside the wall, cooks home-style Alentejo dishes with the lake in view. Roast lamb, migas gatas with cod or grilled Iberian pork. On Sunday it is open for lunch from 12:30 to 15:30: book by phone, as in summer it fills up. If you would rather not move, the beach picnic area works for eating what you bring. Afterwards, a siesta: between 14:00 and 17:00 is the worst time to walk in the Alentejo.

17:00 · Xerez cromlech. Next to the Orada convent, at the foot of the hill, 55 granite monoliths around a 3.6 m menhir, moved here in 1998 from land that the lake was going to cover. Half an hour, free.

19:00 · The town and the castle at sunset. Park by the gate and walk up the two cobbled streets to the castle. In high summer the sun sets after 20:30 in Portugal: with the wall at your feet, the lake turns golden and Spain lies on the other side of the water.

21:00 · Return. You reach Badajoz around half past eleven at night, Spanish time. If you do not want to get back so late, go up to the town at 18:00 and leave at 20:00.

With children

It is a plan designed for them: still water, a children's area, lifeguards in season and showers. Bring jelly shoes, a parasol and sun cream: the natural shade on the shore is scarce. The town, at sunset, is short and car-free.

If you stay the night on a Saturday

Monsaraz is at the centre of Dark Sky Alqueva. From Tuesday to Saturday, the Cumeada observatory, twenty minutes away, runs guided telescope sessions an hour after sunset, for €30 from May to September. See the one-night getaway: a night of stars in Monsaraz.

Time3 h

Vitor Oliveira from Torres Vedras, PORTUGAL · CC BY-SA 2.0

Change the route

With young children, if it rains or if you fancy something else: another stop that fits the same day.

The façade of the Fresco Museum in Monsaraz

For the hottest hour: Fresco Museum, the good and the bad judgeMuseum · 20 min · Medieval mural painting in the town's former Paços de Audiência

If the workshop is open: Pottery workshops of São Pedro do CorvalVisit · 1 h · The largest pottery centre in Portugal, with more than twenty workshops · Free entry to the workshops

Where to eat

Where to eat?

Lunch is half the plan: book before you set off.

Monsaraz from the air, the walled village on the hill where the restaurant stands, with the Alqueva reservoir behind

Sabores de Monsaraz

Restaurant · Monsaraz · €€€€

What to order: the house roast lamb, and to start Alentejo cheese and Iberian pork paio.

A meat dish with a leaf salad, to which the sauce is added at the table

Herdade do Esporão restaurant

Winery · Reguengos de Monsaraz · €€€€

What to order: one of the two menus with the house wine pairing, and book the cellar visit the same day.

Map

The stops, in order

With where to park at each one.

What to do Eat 88 €Stay Services

Getting there

By car or without one?

By car

Essential: the beach, the cromlech and the town are separate and there is no public transport linking them.

When to go

When to go to Monsaraz

From June to September, with lifeguards on the beach on the dates the council sets each year. At midday the town burns: go up at the end of the day. In May and October the water is cold and there is no supervision.

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Tips

Worth knowing first

1
Arrive before eleven
The shade on the shore and the parking fill up on July and August Sundays.
2
Bring plenty of water
In the Alentejo, in summer, temperatures often exceed 35 degrees.
3
Go up to the wall an hour before sunset
That is when the light falls head-on over the lake.