[nik at work]

Just got back from a family summer holiday to the Sintra area. Kids were keen to climb so we did some granite bouldering in the forest and limestone routes and bouldering at the coast. Too hot really but we enjoyed it (Praia do Cavalo was prob the fave, steep limestone bouldering off a sandy beach).
Waaaay to hot for the granite so we didn’t explore much but looks good in the guide.
But the point of this is to big up:
https://sintrabouldershop.com/

Where we hired pads (and got extra chalk). They were super friendly and helpful. Only a little place, only been going a year or so I think, but would highly recommend. If you’re on a climbing trip a handy supply of chalk, tape, knowledge or an extra pad or two for the highball project. Or if there surfing throw in your climbing shoes and hire a pad for a day or two of exploring the bouldering.

[SA Chris]

Cheers for recommendation, it's on radar for October. Do the routes at Sintra look worthwhile? We all prefer slabs to steep!

Recommendations for place to stay?

[nik at work]

There’s bolted slab routes on the granite below the castle by Sintra town. They look good and the views from them must be amazing. We tried to drive there one day to climb but got stuck in a nightmare one way system hell and ran short of time and then realised we’d forgotten the rope so gave up…

There’s also a small seaside sport crag just on the edge of Cascais. Notice board on the way down to it will all the routes and names/grades painted at base of routes. Was pleasant place to climb with the kids, bolting on all routes we did was good. Grades from 3 to high 7’s

We were staying in a large villa (8 people) in Colares which was lovely but not cheap. Could walk (down lots of steps) to Praia Grande (popular surf beach, with surf schools/board hire. Excellent restaurant right at the end of the access road). Seemed to catch a morning sea mist here, which wasn’t present further down and round at Cascais. Cascais area seemed very developed and touristy, Colares area less so.

[SA Chris]

Great info thanks.

[thunderbeest]

How does it fare in winter? We just got our second kid and the first one is nearing 2 years old. So as we have a lot of 'vacation' we're looking for a spot between December and February to go for a month. Will it be warm enough for the rest of the family? And is the bouldering safe enough to bring a 2 year old?

[nik at work]

I don’t know anything about the winter weather, that was our first trip and was going to be a summer beach/surf trip but ended up mostly climbing.
Summer is too hot to climb really and I’m sure you could climb in winter no probs. Whether warm enough for kids as well I dunno.
The Praia do Cavalo bouldering is on a sandy beach so child friendly. However access is tidal, there is a high tide access path but it’s pretty sketchy and defo not small child friendly, so would need timing right. Also think in rough seas the sand level can be shifted which might be an issue in winter??
The other seaside boulder spot we tried wasn’t child friendly.
We only sampled one small area of the inland granite boulders but paths were good. I guess similar to font in that some areas are probably not great but the general concept of boulders in a forest works well with small kids.

[dunnyg]

Cheers for the info, Sintra looks like a cool spot. A surf/climb holiday is the ideal!