13km (8 miles) S of Sintra, 24km (15 miles) W of Lisbon
This chic resort with its beautiful beaches along the Portuguese Riviera has long basked in its reputation as a playground of monarchs. Fading countesses arrive at the railway station, monarchs in exile drop in at the Palácio Hotel for dinner, and the sons of deposed dictators sunbathe by the pool. Today's Estoril was the creation of Fausto Figueiredo, who built the deluxe Palácio in 1930. The casino opened in the late 1960s. During World War II, as Nazi troops advanced across Europe, many collapsed courts fled to Estoril to wait out the war in a neutral country.
