Villa Belvedere, a villa rental in Comporta, Portugal

Family-friendly Rural Villa in the Rice Fields

A 350sqft villa with easygoing spaces spread across its two stories and a pool deck above the sand, this family-friendly home offers quick access to the dunes and shores of the picturesque region of Comporta. Well placed for access to all the village services of Carvalhal, the home is a casual, comfortable coastal-styled home, with an abundance of bright white and raw wood furnishings offset by straw, seagrass, and cane accents. Baths are ensuite and equipped with showers, and upstairs decks off the bedrooms offer views of the coastal countryside. Numerous seating, dining, and unwinding zones make the house a great spot for low-key entertaining or family gathering.

Around

This coastal area of Portugal has some 40 miles of undeveloped beaches of golden sands with ochre cliffs as backdrops. Grass-tufted dunes insulate the waterfront areas from local communities, and Carvalhal village is rural and slow-moving, surrounded by rice paddies and pine forests. The village is adjacent to the Sado estuary’s nature reserve and is made up of a single main street flanked by homes, hotels, and shops. Carvalhal beach feels a bit lost in time, a quiet stretch of sand located at the end of the village’s main street that’s a favorite of local families, one of seven beaches in the Herdade de Comporta. There’s a small, waterfront restaurant serving traditional fare, and loungers and umbrellas for rent. Pego beach is set more deeply into the pine forest and dunes, a remote crescent of sand that’s home to a locally famed restaurant, Sal, and a pod of dolphins named for the Sado reserve.

Big waves make the entire region a surfing hotspot for pros and beginners alike, and the region is well served by surf schools and local guiding companies. Carvalhal is also known for its boutiques, antique outlets and simple cafes and taverns.

Nearby Melides is more buzzy, a favorite enclave of design-conscious shoppers and patrons of the arts who delight in the burgeoning selection of galleries, studio/workshops, and carefully curated boutiques, and Comporta offers easygoing elegance and trendsetting boutiques and restaurants. Lovers of the laid-back and rugged will thrill with horseback rides along the rolling surf. The area’s golden sands extend for miles, backed by dunes, cliffs, and wind sculpted pines. Beaches not to be missed are Praia da Galé-Fontainhas, Praia da Comporta, the Praia da Melides and the protected lagoons, their waters rich with birds and wildlife, including Lagoa de Santo André and the Lagoa de Melides.