Vanlife in Peniche (Portugal)

After a really awesome time in Nazaré, it was going to be hard for anything to match up with the fun we had there… but Peniche certainly did! We had planned to stay in Peniche for about a week or so and actually ended up staying there for 34 days, way longer than any other place we’ve stayed so far! The only reason is wasn’t longer was because we had to get back to the UK because our 90 allotted days in the EU were running out fast.

I found the real beauty of staying somewhere for a bit longer was that we were able to make some really lovely friends. Because we are often only at a place for a few days, making any real connection with people is really hard. But in Peniche we met a lot of like minded people who we hope to meet again for our next winter sun trip!

Things to do

With Peniche being one of the best surf spots in Europe, we surfed most days. Because there are so many beaches in both Peniche and Baleal, it doesn’t tend to matter what way the wind is blowing as there is more than likely going to be a surfable wave somewhere within a 10 minute drive! I had some of my best and worst surfs here but that’s all part of the joy of surfing I guess!

The best thing about if there really is no waves, and the weather isn’t great, is that you can go indoor climbing in a place which is really accessible for campervans. The West Climbing Center seemed to have been our second home whilst in Peniche! We had never climbed before so had a lesson and then we went most days after that. It has a gym too which we really appreciated having not been near a gym for a while.

Otherwise, there are tons of beautiful coastal walks you can do and we even got to watch the World Surf League competition at Supertubos – otherwise known as Europen Pipeline! So plenty of fun to be had!

How affordable is it?

Similar to Nazaré, we didn’t spend a penny on overnight stays. There are plenty of parkups (in low season) that have plenty of space and no where near any houses. Food was super affordable both in cafes and at supermarkets and all the car parks near the beaches are free.

Driving a campervan or motorhome in Peniche

All the roads are super wide and accessible. We had 0 problems. The only thing I would say is that from the 1st of April we did see the GNR move people on from a spot. We don’t know if they were fined or not but it seems like the rules are enforced from April onwards.

Would we go back?

Yes yes yesssssss. We already know we will be going back in either November or December.

Highlights