Portugal's surf capital — Supertubos pipeline, a Napoleonic fortress that held political prisoners, Baleal island, and the finest percebes on the Atlantic coast
Peniche occupies a rocky peninsula connected to the coast by a narrow sandy isthmus, 80km north of Lisbon — a raw, wind-beaten fishing town that has become the undisputed capital of surfing in Portugal (and one of the top surf destinations in Europe) without losing the working-port character that makes it genuinely interesting. Supertubos, 2km south of town, is one of the most powerful beach breaks in Europe — the Portuguese stage of the WSL Championship Tour is held here every October. Baleal, on a small island connected to the peninsula by a causeway, is a calmer beach village more suited t…
Peniche was a major fishing and sardine-canning port through the 19th and 20th centuries; the canning industry at its peak employed most of the town's women in the factories along the port. The Fortaleza de Peniche, built between 1557 and 1612 as a coastal defensive fort, was converted to a prison under the Estado Novo — its most famous escape was in January 1960, when Álvaro Cunhal and nine other Communist Party leaders broke out (their escape was the most celebrated act of resistance to the Salazar regime and is commemorated at the prison museum). The town has significant Jewish history — a…