Ericeira From Sintra: Bus 1633, the Surf Reserve and the Beaches

First and last departures, frequency and journey time from the Carris Metropolitana timetable feed for a September Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Minutes run from Portela de Sintra to the Ericeira bus terminal.

Where the Bus Leaves

The 1633 leaves from the north entrance of Portela de Sintra station, one stop before Sintra on the CP line from Lisbon. It heads north through Terrugem and joins the EN247 coast road near Carvoeira and Foz do Lizandro before ending at the Ericeira bus terminal. Weekday departures from Portela include 08:35, 09:15, 09:50, 10:40 and 11:40, and on Saturday and Sunday they are 08:25, 10:25, 12:25, 14:25, 16:25, 18:25 and 20:25, with a 22:25 on Saturday only.

It is a red Longa line, $1.79 (€1.55) with a pre-paid navegante.

Coming Back

From the Ericeira terminal the 1633 leaves 21 times on a weekday, from 06:10 to 22:30, including 15:40, 16:40, 17:20, 18:00 and 18:50 in the late afternoon. On Saturday the buses back leave at 07:25 and then every two hours to 23:25. On Sunday they run from 07:25 to 19:25, also every two hours, so 17:25 and 19:25 are the only realistic returns after a day on the beach.

Missing the 19:25 on a Sunday leaves no bus to Sintra that night. Both directions end at Portela de Sintra, so check the train on to Sintra if you are staying in the old town, covered on the getting around page.

Driving

No official page we read gives the road distance from Sintra to Ericeira, so we do not print one. No official page we read names an Ericeira car park or a parking price, although the municipality lists a car park at Ribeira d'Ilhas. If you drive, the beach car park there is the one parking fact we can give.

Save The Waves Coalition dedicated Ericeira as a World Surfing Reserve on 14 October 2011, the second in the world and the first in Europe. The designated zone covers 4 km of coastline with seven named surf breaks: Pedra Branca, Reef, Ribeira d'Ilhas, Cave, Crazy Left, Coxos and São Lourenço. The Municipality of Mafra and the Ericeira Surf Club were among the local partners behind the designation, according to Save The Waves.

The organisation's page does not grade the breaks for ability, and we will not either. If you are learning, the municipality's description of Ribeira d'Ilhas mentions surf school spaces in its beach building.

The Interpretation Centre

The Posto de Turismo da Ericeira shares its space with the Centro de Interpretação da Reserva Mundial de Surf, the reserve's interpretation centre. The Câmara Municipal de Mafra lists it as open every day from 10:00 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 18:00, closed on 25 December, 1 January, Easter Sunday, 1 May and Ascension Thursday. No admission price is published.

The lunch closure from 13:00 to 14:00 is worth planning around.

Ribeira d'Ilhas

The Câmara Municipal de Mafra describes Ribeira d'Ilhas as the northernmost bathing area in Ericeira parish, about 3.5 km from town, the stage for many national and international surf competitions and the most media-covered waves in the reserve. Its facilities, per the municipality, are a car park, a beach support building with changing rooms, toilets, a first aid post, a restaurant-bar with a terrace and surf school spaces, a shower, boardwalks, and straw umbrellas and deckchairs for rent. The 1633 ends at the town terminal, and no official page we read gives a bus or walking route from there to Ribeira d'Ilhas, so budget for a taxi or the walk without a time from us.

The Town Beaches

The municipality counts 12 beaches for Ericeira and its coast but, on the pages we read, publishes facilities only for Ribeira d'Ilhas. The 1633 has stops named for Foz do Lizandro and Praia Sul on its way into town. We name no lifeguard season for Ericeira because none is on the pages we read.

For Sintra's own beaches, with the 2026 bathing season fixed at 30 May to 13 September, see the beaches page.

Three day shapes from Portela de Sintra using the published departures. The hours in town are what the bus times leave, not a recommendation from the municipality.

Six hours covers the town, the interpretation centre and a beach, with lunch. If you want Ribeira d'Ilhas as well as the town, leave on an earlier bus, since the beach is 3.5 km from the terminal. On a Sunday, take the 17:25 unless you are sure of the 19:25, because it is the last bus of the day.

The two-day itinerary shows how a coast day follows the palaces.

Carris Metropolitana line 2133 connects the Ericeira terminal with the Terreiro D. João V (Palácio) stop outside Mafra Palace. On a weekday it leaves Ericeira at 07:15, 08:05, 12:32 and 18:20, taking 38 to 49 minutes, and leaves the palace stop for Ericeira at 08:10, 10:10, 13:22, 18:32 and 19:00. It is not in the weekend timetable we read.

The workable weekday plan is palace first: bus 2626 from Portela de Sintra at 10:35, which reaches Mafra about 11:30, a short palace visit of under two hours, the 13:22 bus 2133 to Ericeira, the afternoon on the coast, and the 1633 back to Portela de Sintra at 17:20 or 18:00. Mafra Palace is closed on Tuesdays, so this works on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. The Mafra Palace page has the ticket prices and every 2626 time.

Ericeira is the day trip for someone who wants the Atlantic without the Cascais seafront. Give it a weekday, when the bus runs roughly hourly, and make it the day after the palaces. If you also want one more palace, put Mafra in the morning and Ericeira in the afternoon on any weekday but Tuesday.

If the weekend is the only free day, Cascais has the more frequent bus. The whole set of coast and palace trips is compared on the day trips hub, and where to stay near Portela de Sintra is covered on where to stay.