Casa da Palicada Lote 5

Casa da Palicada sits on the Alameda da Praia do Pego, which is the road to one of the two beaches that made Comporta's reputation. Four bedrooms, eight guests, and an interior stripped back to the point where the light does most of the work.

The pool is heated. There are bikes, which on this flat, sandy, pine-shaded stretch of coast is the correct way to reach the beach. An indoor fireplace and a BBQ grill cover the two ends of a Comporta day.

Praia do Pego is wide, Atlantic and usually near-empty outside high summer. The beach restaurants here are the ones people drive from Lisbon for. A seven-night minimum suits the house: it is designed for a week of doing very little, extremely well.