Berlenga Island Small-Group Day Trip from Lisbon
Description
Visit the postcard-perfect island of Berlenga Grande on this small-group day trip from Lisbon. Travel to the charming fishing village of Peniche, where you’ll board a boat for Berlenga Grande, an idyllic island in the Berlengas Nature Reserve (Reserva Natural das Berlengas). Visit the 17th-century St John the Baptist Fort and wander along the pretty pathways of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Then, explore the island’s caves on a glass-bottom boat excursion (included). Numbers are limited to eight, ensuring personalized attention from the guide. OPTIONS: All year: 3 hours at Berlengas + Óbidos (October to Mid-May) or Baleal (Mid-May to September) --> Fast Boat Spring/Summer: 5 hours at the island --> Slow Boat IMPORTANT: Since 2019 the control over the maximum number of visitors at the Island has been changed. Therefore, you need to provide personal details to register for the visit.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Start your tour in central Lisbon
The meeting point is right next to Rossio Train Station
Drive by Avenida da Liberdade on the way to Berlengas!
Pass by Marquês de Pombal on your way to Berlengas!
You'll have some time next to the Peniche Fort.
Enjoy the views over Baleal Beach.
Sail past the Carvoeiro Cape!
Join us at the meeting point and depart to the most unique tour you can do in Lisbon!
Our destination: an amazing island 7 miles off the coast!
Pass by the village of Óbidos and admire its Castle in the distance.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- IMPORTANT: From the 1st June of 2022, local authorities are implementing a population control to the island that requires a previous visa. Therefore, we need you to send us the following data for all participants: Name, Country, ID number (an ID you can show locally if requested).
- Wear comfortable clothing and footwear
Reviews(231)
Amazing visit to this protected island. The views and Fort were expertly narrated by our guide. We wished the glass bottom boat ride was longer. Note: the initial climb up to the top of the hill is difficult. Do not wear sandals. There are also 300 stairs to descend to the fort.
The guide was really good funny and knew a lot . It was a wonderful tour and I recommend it to anybody (except if you got weak knee)
Berlenga island is a beautiful place! Our guide Nuno was very friendly and knowledgeable about the island. The caves and rock formations around the island was very interesting and the scenery along the hike was spectacular. Must visit if you are into nature activities!
Great ferry boat ride to Berlengas island and we did a fun hike on the island and toured the fort. We then had a fun boat ride around the island through sea caves. W had time to beach and swim.
We booked this months ago. We spent a lot of money on plane tickets and a hotel. We probably won't ever have another chance in our lifetimes to see this place. I've been waiting for months to see. I'm unhappy with how this was cancelled the day before with no sincere apologies as if my time and money mean nothing. Very unprofessional and disappointing. Also inconsiderate of other people's time. I will likely never book ANYTHING using TripAdvisor again due to the cold, unfeeling, inhuman way this was handled.
Dear friend: We believe this review is posted in the wrong company. We didn't cancel any trip to Berlengas. Please check which operator you booked with, but we can assure it wasn't Around Lisbon Tours. We reported your comments as "Posted in the wrong business".
To start with the positive, The Berlengas were absolutely breathtaking and well worth the visit, our tour guide was very knowledgable and very kind however the lack of communication with this company really took away from the overall experience. Our tickets clearly stated 8am and we were to return by 4pm. We stood waiting an hour and a half for them to pick us up. I messaged them several times and they eventually got back to me stating they moved our pick up time to 9:15. It wasn't until we actually got to the Berlengas that we found out that we were not returning to Lisbon until 7pm, which was inconvenient to us being our last night in Lisbon, we missed our dinner reservations. Once at the Berlengas we hiked a distance to get to the fort, only to be told we only had 12 mins to explore then we had to get on the boat. We did the tour of the caves then got taken back to the starting point and told we now have 2 hours and 40 mins to eat lunch! We couldn't believe that we had 12 mins to explore then we were bored silly sitting waiting on the return ferry for 2 hours and 40 minutes. Bottom line - Berlengas are beautiful but do them on your own time! 12 minutes at the fort was NOT enough time to explore and 2 hours and 40 mins to sit and have lunch and wait to take ferry back was WAY too long
Hi, 294trin...! Please forgive not being able to identify your booking and your name. We'd like to start by highlighting that you were informed almost 24 hours in advance about the meeting time, along with several advices regarding the tour. Our company provides the best tour to Berlengas from Lisbon, but we are still subject to the timings and schedules of local boat operators and cave tours. Therefore, we can't always manage timings as we would wish. Most boats allow you only 3 hours at the island, which we deem as not enough to properly visit the place. The boat we choose allows us 5 hours at the island, but has a single departure per day, 1 hour later during the low season (versus 2 departures in the high season, allowing us to choose). It's a fact that sometimes, and given all these timings to manage, we are left with only a few minutes to visit the Fort before boarding the glass-bottomed boat tour. But you may be dropped again at the Fort to explore more, and walk back to the main harbor (steep walk as you know). All of this to get back to the restaurant before the kitchen closes around 3pm...it's a tight schedule. We're really sorry you felt rushed and then bored, but it is really what Berlengas allows you to do. Believe us, it's even harder if you do it on your own. Anyway, we are glad you loved the place! We love it too! Thanks for all!
BEAUTIFUL site. If you’re looking for “off the beaten path” this is for you!! Our guide Nuno was very informative and knowledgeable about the history of the area. It’s a gorgeous little surprise of an island and not very crowded. What they do NOT tell you is the hike is quite steep so quite challenging (our guide Nino was great and did stop often) so you have to be moderately fit. The glass bottom tour was AMAZING but a bit short wish we could spend more time out in the water. The caves are gorgeous. There is a little beach but the water is a bit cold. GOURGOUS ISLAND with crystal clear blue green water
This was a fairly poor tour. It started off with them pushing off the start time by 1:15. They had sent an email via viator chat that had the 8am start time as part of the chat, but buried in the details they had said be at the start point by 915. They didnt highlight that this was a change. And when we emailed them just before 8, we didnt receive a response till 830 that yes they had changed it. There were a couple of others on the trip and they all had shown up at 8 as well, so not an isolated communication problem. Then there was an hour ride to the boat dock, and then an hour plus out to the island. We had been told that we might get a little wet on the ride out there and the original instructions mentioned that some people get sea sick. Well the little bit wet wasnt just a little spray. we all got completely soaked head to toe and were all freezing. I heard mulitiple people getting sea sick and there were barf bags at every seat, so this was obviously a common occurance. When we got to the island we realized the other boats that come to the islands are big cats which would have been way more stable in those seas. So we get to the island and we do a big hike up and then down to the fortress. Im glad i was carrying my beach shoes as im not sure i could have hiked that in my beach shoes. The fortress was kind od interesting. Then we got on a glass bottom boat, we were the last on so we were facing backwards while they nosed into a few caves which we really couldnt see. Then we went back to the main dock, they never pointed out any fish or coral in the glass bottom boat so i dont know what the purpose of that was. We get back to the main dock and we have several hours to do whatever on our own. So we went to lay out at the cute beach. After 20 minutes the tide came in and we were scrambling with everyone else to find someplace dry. There is also no shade on the island unless you are buying something from the resteraunt or snack bar.
Hi, Steve! Thanks so much for your feedback. We're deeply sorry you had a less positive experience. Regarding start times, boat schedules vary depending on high/low season. We always inform the correct pickup time, together with our advice (including comfortable shoes) and all necessary details. Last Monday the sea was rough and the boat ride was rocky. However, both our guide and the boat crew recommended you and the others to get shelter in the boat cabin. You chose not to. There are several options to get to the island, but we assure you we use the best available. Catamarans are clearly not comfortable on these days, we assure you, and this boat is the one which allows you to enjoy Berlengas Island the best, as it stays at the island for 5 hours (comparing to others that only allow you 3 hours at the island). From our point of view, the island is gorgeous and spectacular. Sometimes (mostly when the sea is bigger or rocky) visibility underwater is very poor, and therefor the glass-bottomed boat is not as nice as on a clear water day, but that's just natural. Usually, our guests enjoy having some free time to swim, sunbath, snorkel, etc. With the high tide, we locals prefer to stay in the peer instead of the beach, and jump in the water directly. Anyway, we hope you enjoyed your stay in Portugal and hope you'll return someday.
Our guide was fantastic. There is an open water trip to the island, may need Dramamine if you are susceptible.
Ferry trip out was a little rough Rest was smooth sailing! Knowledgeable guide an entertaining- Diogo.
