What's on in Ericeira, Portugal through the year

Busy — Christmas holidays in Portugal, school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Winter swell season (15 Sep – 30 Apr), Winter: the town shrinks (1 Nov – 15 Mar)

Busy — Carnival holidays in Portugal, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Winter swell season (15 Sep – 30 Apr), Winter: the town shrinks (1 Nov – 15 Mar)

Busy — Easter holidays in Portugal, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Winter swell season (15 Sep – 30 Apr), Winter: the town shrinks (1 Nov – 15 Mar)

Busy — Easter holidays in Portugal, school holidays in 6 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Winter swell season (15 Sep – 30 Apr)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in May.

Busy — Summer holidays in Portugal, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  The nortada

  15 Jun – 15 Sep · usuallyWind seasonRisk

  The north wind comes up most summer afternoons and chops the water, which is why the surf schools work the mornings and the town eats indoors at lunch.

Peak crowds — Portuguese summer holidays, Summer holidays in Portugal

• Holiday

  Portuguese summer holidays

  1 Jul – 31 AugSchool holidaysCrowdedBook early

  Lisbon is forty minutes away and comes here at weekends all summer, on top of the surf camps. Parking, not accommodation, is the thing that runs out first. Source ↗

• Season

  Sea at its warmest

  20 Jul – 5 Oct · usuallySea warm enough

  Cold Atlantic upwelling means the water only comes round late, and even at its best most people here are in a wetsuit rather than out of one.

Still on: The nortada (15 Jun – 15 Sep (usually))

Peak crowds — Portuguese summer holidays, Festas da Senhora da Boa Viagem

• Festival

  Festas da Senhora da Boa Viagem

  5–18 Aug · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  The fishermen's patron carried down to the water on the evening of 15 August, weather allowing, with salt-and-sand carpets laid through the streets and fireworks off the cliff. Source ↗

Still on: The nortada (15 Jun – 15 Sep (usually)), Portuguese summer holidays (1 Jul – 31 Aug), Sea at its warmest (20 Jul – 5 Oct (usually))

Busy — Summer holidays in Portugal, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Winter swell season

  15 Sep – 30 AprSurf season

  The reason this stretch is a World Surfing Reserve: the North Atlantic lows land here from autumn and Ribeira d'Ilhas, Coxos and Pedra Branca work on the same swell.

Still on: The nortada (15 Jun – 15 Sep (usually)), Sea at its warmest (20 Jul – 5 Oct (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Sea at its warmest (20 Jul – 5 Oct (usually)), Winter swell season (15 Sep – 30 Apr)

Quiet — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Season

  Winter: the town shrinks

  1 Nov – 15 MarOff-season shutdownClosures

  Rentals halve in price and a share of the restaurants close for a month or two, while the surf is at its best. It is the trade the regulars make every year.

Still on: Winter swell season (15 Sep – 30 Apr)

Busy — Christmas holidays in Portugal, school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Winter swell season (15 Sep – 30 Apr), Winter: the town shrinks (1 Nov – 15 Mar)