The story of Cabo da Roca

You have reached the end of a continent. Cabo da Roca is the westernmost point of mainland Portugal, of continental Europe and of the whole Eurasian landmass. The Romans called it Promontorium Magnum, and in the Age of Sail sailors knew it as the Rock of Lisbon.

Look for the stone plaque on the monument here, which carries the exact coordinates of the spot. Around the cape the cliffs rise more than 100 metres, cut into crystalline rock, and many migratory and marine birds rest along them. The low plants at your feet are adapted to salt and wind, but much of the ground is now covered by an invasive succulent, Carpobrotus edulis, which local residents planted as ground cover several decades ago.

The ocean shapes the weather too: summers are cool, dry and often foggy, and thanks to a seasonal lag, September here is warmer than July. The cape lies within the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, 42 kilometres west of Lisbon, and its lighthouse started working in 1772.