Santini Cascais

Santini is Portugal’s best-known ice cream maker; the brand says some people now say they are going for “a Santini” rather than an ice cream. The company says it uses only fresh fruit and natural ingredients, with no flavourings, colourings, preservatives or thickeners. Its sorbets are made from fresh fruit, without pulp or concentrates. That also makes the fruit sorbets a useful option for a child who cannot have milk; ask at the counter which flavours are sorbets on the day.

The Santini Cascais Baía shop is a short walk from the bay and the town beaches and stays open until midnight every day, so it fits a sandy afternoon or a warm evening stroll.

The classic list on the website includes:

• fruit sorbets: raspberry from Fundão and the Oeste region, mango, lemon, melon from the Ribatejo, kiwi and green apple
• strawberry, made from April to October with Portuguese strawberries, and described as the most popular flavour
• chocolate, vanilla, nata (cream), coconut and caramel made in a copper pan
• Marabunta (cream with dark chocolate chips) and Bolacha Maria, made with Portugal’s classic Maria biscuits
• hazelnut, pistachio, walnut, dulce de leche, torrone and salted caramel peanut

There is also a flavour of the month, so older children who have tried everything have something new to argue about. Santini’s Picolini ice lollies come in eight flavours with vegan, lactose-free and gluten-free options, and the brand also sells tubs and ice cream cakes.

Attilio Santini was born in 1907 in northern Italy into a family of ice cream makers; his great-grandfather had a gelato shop in Vienna. After working in Milan and in Valencia, he came to Lisbon in 1947, and in 1949 opened his own ice cream shop on Tamariz beach in Estoril. On opening day every ice cream was free.

In 1960 he opened a shop in Cascais, in the São José cinema building, and in 1971 the shop on Avenida Valbom, which is still open. His daughter and then his grandson took over, and the family still runs the brand. The cones are made to the original recipe from the first shop, and since 2012 the ice cream has been made in Carcavelos.

For children, the fun detail is that a princess was photographed eating a Santini ice cream for the cover of an Italian magazine in 1954. Tamariz beach, where the first shop stood, now has a free seawater pool built into the rocks, on the promenade from Cascais to Estoril.

• Santini Cascais Baía (Alameda dos Combatentes da Grande Guerra 100) is the one near the bay and the town beaches. Open daily 11:00 to 24:00.
• Santini Valbom (Av. Valbom 28 F), in the town centre, is the 1971 shop. Open 12:00 to 22:00 from Sunday to Thursday and until 23:00 on Friday, Saturday and holidays.
• Santini Corner Cascais, at the Cidadela (Av. Dom Carlos I 246), opens earliest, at 10:00.

Outside the town there are also shops at CascaiShopping in Alcabideche (daily 10:00 to 23:00), useful on a rainy day, at Aldeia de Juzo on the road to Malveira da Serra, and at Carcavelos, on the way back to Lisbon and near Carcavelos beach.

On summer evenings expect a queue. You choose and pay at the counter, so it moves along. The website does not publish shop prices, so check the board when you arrive. There is no seating information online; think of it as a takeaway stop and eat your cone on the way to the beach.

Santini pairs well with a morning on Praia da Conceição or the tiny Praia da Rainha in the centre of Cascais, or an afternoon in Parque Marechal Carmona, the town park with peacocks, a duck lake and a playground.

What time does Santini Cascais close?

The Baía shop closes at midnight every day. The Valbom shop closes at 22:00 on most nights and 23:00 on Friday, Saturday and holidays.

Does Santini have dairy-free ice cream?

The sorbets are made from fresh fruit, and the Picolini lollies include vegan and lactose-free options. Ask at the counter which flavours are dairy-free that day.

Where did Santini start?

On Tamariz beach in Estoril, in 1949. The first Cascais shop opened in 1960.

Is there a Santini near Cascais station?

The Baía and Valbom shops are both in the town centre, a short walk from Cascais station.