Cabo Mondego Natural Monument

Cabo Mondego is the headland where the Serra da Boa Viagem meets the Atlantic, about 6 kilometres north-west of Figueira da Foz, between Buarcos and Quiaios. It became a Natural Monument in 2007, covering 117.67 hectares, and is part of Portugal’s national network of protected areas.

To a child it looks like a windy cape with striped cliffs. To a geologist it’s one of the most important places in Portugal. The cliffs are a thick pile of sediments laid down on the Jurassic seabed, roughly between 185 and 140 million years ago, in alternating bands of limestone and grey marl. Because the layers are continuous, easy to reach and packed with fossils, scientists use them as a reference section for comparing rocks worldwide.

In 1996 the International Union of Geological Sciences chose one layer at Murtinheira, on the Cabo Mondego coast, as the world reference point for the start of the Bajocian, a stage of the Middle Jurassic about 170 million years ago. It was the first boundary of this kind set for any Jurassic stage. A “golden spike” (Prego de Ouro) marking it was installed on 24 July 2016.

A golden spike is a good idea to explain to children: geologists needed to agree exactly where in the rocks one chunk of time ends and the next begins, so they picked one real layer, in one real place, and this is it.

The Figueira da Foz council lists the fossils found here: bivalves, brachiopods, plants, fish, crinoids (sea lilies), corals, belemnites and, above all, ammonites, the coiled-shell relatives of squid that geologists use to date rock layers. There are also microfossils and trace fossils. A new fossil plant species, Baiera vianna, was named from Cabo Mondego after António Vianna.

The higher layers, from the Late Jurassic, record different settings, with reefs, lakes and river deltas, and fossils of corals, sea urchins, shellfish and plant remains.

Cabo Mondego is a protected site on public land, so this is a place to look, not to collect. Removing rocks or fossils isn’t allowed, and hammering the cliffs is out. Bring a magnifying glass and a camera instead of a hammer.

In 1884 the naturalist Jacinto Pedro Gomes came to Cabo Mondego to report on the coal mine and was told about “some very curious large fossils” on the beach. They turned out to be around 15 footprints of a big meat-eating dinosaur, which he described as three-toed like a bird’s but of extraordinary size. They were the oldest megalosaur tracks described in Portugal, from the Late Jurassic, about 159 million years ago. In 1923 the palaeontologist Nopcsa named the track type Eutynichnium lusitanicum, a name still used today.

The slabs Gomes collected are now in the Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência in Lisbon. A 2021 study documented dozens more tracks inside the monument, but the local guide Figueiradafoz.net says there is no prepared visitor route to them, so don’t promise children they’ll see footprints. The story is the draw; the cliffs are what you see.

For about two centuries the cape was also industrial. Coal was mined here from 1773 to 1967, and a hydraulic lime factory worked until 2013. Turismo Centro de Portugal notes that these industries wore the landscape down, and you can still see their traces. The Cabo Mondego lighthouse stands on land provided by the mining companies.

Treat this as a short stop with a big story: a walk on the headland, a look at the striped cliffs and the sea, and a talk about Jurassic oceans and dinosaurs. It’s free and open.

Safety matters here. The cliffs are unstable, and the local guide warns visitors not to go near the edge or the base of the cliffs, where rock can fall. Keep children well back, and don’t climb. Nearby beaches include Praia da Murtinheira to the north and the Cabo Mondego beach at Buarcos.

Both beaches held Blue Flags in 2026, among the ten Figueira da Foz council won that year. Their bathing season ran from 13 June to 13 September, and the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) lists lifeguards, a first-aid post and toilets at each during those dates. APA also flags a risk of rockfall at both, which fits the warnings about these cliffs: pick a spot on the sand well away from the rock face. For a town beach with more space and step-free access, Praia de Buarcos is a short drive back towards Figueira.

There are no visitor facilities listed for the monument itself, so bring water and snacks, and plan toilets and food in Buarcos or Figueira da Foz. The headland is exposed, so bring a windproof layer even in summer.

For dinosaur footprints you can walk right up to, the Serra de Aire dinosaur tracks near Fátima cover an old quarry floor with sauropod trackways. The Dino Parque in Lourinhã has life-size models. In Coimbra, the Museu da Ciência makes a good wet-weather science stop, and the university’s Earth Sciences department runs a minerals and fossils fair in the city each November (see What’s on).

Can you see dinosaur footprints at Cabo Mondego?

Not easily. The original 1884 tracks are in a Lisbon museum, and there’s no prepared route to the other tracks in the monument.

Can children collect fossils at Cabo Mondego?

No. It’s a protected Natural Monument, and removing rocks or fossils isn’t allowed. Look and photograph instead.

Is Cabo Mondego safe for kids?

It’s fine on the headland if you keep back from the cliffs. The cliffs are unstable, so stay away from both the edge and the foot of them.

Is it free?

Yes. It’s an open protected area with no ticket.