The pristine, white-sand beach is deserted and the wooden walkway has been largely engulfed by huge drifts of sand blown over from the dunes. This picturesque coastline is renowned for its fierce Atlantic wind, but I’ve failed to anticipate its brute strength and am sandblasted on all sides as I trek up the beach. Despite wearing jeans, socks, a sweater and a raincoat I do not remove, I find sand in my bra at the end of the day, such is its force.
Costa Nova is a glorious spit of sand separating the ocean from the Ria de Aveiro lagoon, on Portugal’s west coast. Perhaps surprisingly for somewhere so wild, it’s just 10km away from the centre of a city. The city in question: Aveiro, nicknamed “the Venice of Portugal” for its network of canals, complete with moliceiro boats (known as “Portuguese gondolas”) resplendent with vibrant paintings and curled bows, carrying passengers on scenic tours along the waterways.
The boardwalk, inundated with sand, at Costa Novo (Photo: Joanna Whitehead)
While the comparison to La Serenissima doesn’t hold much water beyond that, Aveiro is an eminently walkable city with its own unique charm – and it was all but absent of British tourists during my visit. The UK is the largest tourism market to Portugal, representing 12.5 per cent of visitors (2.4 million) in 2025, according to the country’s tourist board. And while Porto, the country’s second-largest city, just 70km up the coast, recorded 6.6 million overnight stays last year, Aveiro reported just 452,000.
