Maria was really lovely and welcoming. She was waiting for us on our arrival and showed us around the apartment and answered all our questions. She also provided us with a bottle of wine and a few typical Portuguese pastries as a welcome gift.

The apartment was lovely and clean and bright and looked just as it did in the photos. We were a little disappointed by the swimming pool as it looked a little dirty although the weather was probably a little cold during our trip to enable us to use it anyway.

We really liked the cafe across the road and would recommend it for good quality and cheap breakfasts and lunches.

Estoril itself was a little quiet for us and we found ourselves walking to Cascais for evening meals on the days we were not in Lisbon. This was a nice walk along the promenade.

The coastline nearby is quite rocky and so the sandy beaches are quite small and became quite cramped on the hot days at the weekend when all the locals headed there. Having said that we did enjoy our day at the beach at Estoril.

The train service was also exceptionally good to and from Lisbon, with frequent trains as well as being very cheap.

All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Maria's apartment and our time in and around Lisbon.