Vila Real de Santo António
A grid-planned border town on the Guadiana, with a ferry to Spain and long beaches and pine woods nearby.
Vila Real de Santo António is a town and municipality on the Guadiana river, facing Spain. It was built from scratch after the 1755 earthquake to a neat grid plan under the Marquis of Pombal, and its orderly streets lead to a central square. A ferry still crosses the river to Ayamonte.
Pine woods planted to hold the dunes run along the coast towards the beaches, and the marsh reserve it shares with Castro Marim draws flamingos. The municipality includes the beach resort of Monte Gordo and, to the west, the parish of Vila Nova de Cacela, with the hilltop village of Cacela Velha and the beach at Manta Rota.