ERICEIRA · APRIL · 38.96° N
April is when the Atlantic light comes back to Ericeira before the coast fills up. Portugal’s national weather service puts the average April high at 67.8°F and the average low at 53.2°F, with 2.50 inches of rain spread over 7.7 wet days. That adds up to a walking, surfing and looking month rather than a lying-on-the-sand one, and the long evenings do most of the persuading.
Four weeks in either direction move the arithmetic more than people expect. March runs 2.7 degrees cooler by day and carries a bigger rain total at 2.63 inches. May runs 5.2 degrees warmer and drops to 5.7 wet days. April sits between them, and whether that is the right place to sit depends entirely on what you came to do with the daylight.
ERICEIRA IN APRIL · AT A GLANCE
April gives Ericeira 13 hours 17 minutes of daylight and 67.8°F afternoons on roughly three dry days in four, at the price of 53°F nights and about two proper soakings in the month.
AVERAGE HIGH 67.8°F · 7.7 WET DAYS · SUNSET AT 20:14 ON APRIL 15
Go for: long coastal daylight before the summer crowd, days 2.7 degrees warmer than March, and beaches from Praia dos Pescadores to Foz do Lizandro you can walk end to end without weaving.
Think twice before: booking April as a beach week. About 2.1 days in the month bring 0.39 inch of rain or more, and we could not verify a water temperature for this coast.
Normals: IPMA station 579, 1991–2020 · Daylight: sunrise-sunset.org · full sources at the end
On this page
- Ericeira weather in April67.8°F days, 2.50 inches, 7.7 wet days
- How cold the nights are53.2°F lows and a 14.6-degree swing
- Crowds, prices and the tourist taxAhead of the summer weeks, with no tax figure we could confirm
- Things to do in AprilRibeira d’Ilhas, Foz do Lizandro and the cliff path
- A two-day plan for a spring weekendCoast on Saturday, Mafra if it rains
- April vs March and MayHow the three months compare, degree by degree
- Is April a good time to go?Yes for walkers and surfers, no for swimmers
Every figure here comes from IPMA, Portugal’s national weather service, and specifically from its 1991–2020 normals at station 579, Lisboa Gago Coutinho. That is a working thermometer at an altitude of 103.9 m rather than a model grid cell, and it sits inland at Lisbon’s airport. The high ground behind the coast runs colder and much wetter, and a different stretch of coastline keeps its own weather, so read the numbers below as the regional signal for a low-lying Atlantic town.
Ericeira weather in April: average highs, lows and rain days
| Measure | April normal, 1991–2020 |
|---|---|
| Average high | 67.8°F (19.9°C) |
| Average low | 53.2°F (11.8°C) |
| Precipitation | 2.50 in |
| Days with 0.04 in or more | 7.7 |
| Days with 0.39 in or more | 2.1 |
| Daylight on April 15 | 13 h 17 m (06:57 to 20:14 local) |
IPMA’s April normal for the station is a high of 67.8°F (19.9°C), a low of 53.2°F (11.8°C) and 2.50 inches of rain. The distinction between a station and a reanalysis matters when two weather sites hand you two different Aprils: one is a measurement, the other is an interpolation over a square of map. What you gain in solidity you pay for in location, because that thermometer is a good many miles inland from Ericeira’s cliffs.
Rain turns up on 7.7 days in an average April, counting anything from 0.04 inch upward. Call it one day in four. Of those, 2.1 days reach 0.39 inch or more, the kind of rain that cancels a beach afternoon instead of interrupting it. One caution on the counts: IPMA works to metric thresholds of 1 mm and 10 mm, while most American climate tables start counting at 0.10 inch, so these totals are not interchangeable with the ones you saw on a US site.
Between the 67.8°F afternoon and the 53.2°F night sit 14.6 degrees, and on an exposed coast the wind handles the rest. A packable shell, one warm layer for after sunset and shoes that cope with wet cobbles cover nearly everything April throws. Swimwear travels with neoprene or stays in the bag. Our Portugal packing guide has the full list for a spring trip.
On April 15 the sun rises at 06:57 and sets at 20:14 local time, 13 hours 17 minutes apart. Portugal is on summer time by then, which loads the extra light onto the evening: a cliff walk can start at 6 p.m. and still finish in daylight. Sunrise is late enough that there is little reason to set an alarm for it, and the first two hours after it are the coldest of the day.
How warm is Ericeira in April? 67.8°F days, 53.2°F nights
Daytime settles around 67.8°F on the monthly average and nights around 53.2°F, a spread of 14.6 degrees. Those are 30-year means rather than a forecast, so individual days land on both sides of them, sometimes by a wide margin. What the mean does tell you is the shape of the day: one comfortable block from late morning to early evening, with cool air at both ends of it.
In practice you leave the room in a fleece and carry it by noon. Mid-afternoon on the sand at a sheltered beach is shirtsleeves work when the wind allows, and the wind often does not allow. Once the sun drops toward 20:14 the temperature heads back toward the overnight figure quickly, so dinner outdoors in April is a jacket proposition on most evenings.
Frost is not an April question at this latitude: the average low sits 21.2 degrees above freezing, and we found no frost-day count in the IPMA normals we read, so we give none. The water is the real unknown. Published sea temperatures are usually averages of daily maxima, a shade warmer than a true 24-hour mean, and we could not verify any series for Ericeira, so we give no water figure at all.
How busy is Ericeira in April? Crowds, prices and the demand peak
April is not summer on this coast, and the visitor cycle follows the sun. We found no occupancy series and no monthly rate series for Ericeira, so we crown no month expensive and no month cheap. The calendar is clearer than any of that: the town’s busy weeks arrive with the school holidays and the warm afternoons of high summer, and April comes before both of them.
How many weeks ahead to book is a number we could not verify, so we will not invent one. What helps in April is a refundable rate. With 7.7 wet days in the month, the difference between a good weekend and a washed-out one shows up in a five-day forecast, not a five-month plan, and a bed you can move is worth more than a bargain you cannot.
On the tourist tax we have nothing confirmed. We could not verify whether a per-night municipal charge applies to stays in Ericeira, nor what it would amount to, so we quote no percentage and no euro figure. Ask the property when you book, and ask specifically whether the quoted rate already includes it. Our Portugal cost guide handles the rest of the budget.
The one upgrade that changes April is a car. When rain lands on roughly a quarter of days, being able to drive inland to Mafra or across to Sintra converts a written-off morning into a different sort of day, and nothing else you can pay for does that. Our rental guide covers tolls and insurance before you sign anything.
Things to do in Ericeira in April
April hands over 13 hours 17 minutes of daylight with about three dry days in four, on a coast nobody has queued for yet. Afternoons cap out near 67.8°F, which is walking temperature rather than sunbathing temperature, and the cliff paths above the beaches are the obvious use for it. July gives you warmer water and more company; it does not give you an empty headland at four in the afternoon.
The beaches run in a line you can work through on foot with one short drive at either end. Praia dos Pescadores is the harbor beach below the old town. Praia do Sul is the sheltered one immediately south of it. Ribeira d’Ilhas, north of town, is the reef break that made Ericeira’s name among surfers. Foz do Lizandro, at the river mouth to the south, opens out wide at low tide. None of them are gated, and we hold no admission price or opening hour for any of them.
The sand does not change from month to month; the air above it does. April afternoons average 67.8°F against 73.0°F in May and 65.1°F in March, so the same walk at Foz do Lizandro wants a windbreaker now and nothing at all six weeks later. Anyone going into the water should plan on neoprene, since we could not verify a sea temperature that would argue otherwise.
Most of what April is good for costs nothing: the cliff path, all four beaches, the rock pools at low water and the view down over the harbor as the sun goes at 20:14. The paid half of a Portugal trip lives elsewhere, and our national things-to-do guide prices it.
Ericeira in April: a two-day itinerary
Day one belongs to the coast. The sun is up at 06:57, but nothing opens for it, so start around nine on the cliff path from Praia dos Pescadores heading north toward Ribeira d’Ilhas while the air is still in the 50s. Eat in the old town at one, when the day is climbing toward its 67.8°F ceiling, then take the afternoon at Foz do Lizandro for the wide low-tide sand. With sunset at 20:14, dinner can wait until the light finally goes.
Day two goes inland and stays flexible. Mafra’s palace and basilica are the standing answer to a wet morning, and Sintra is the bigger version of the same idea if the forecast writes off the whole day. If it stays dry, keep the day on the water: south past Praia do Sul, then the river flats at the Lizandro. Averaging 2.1 heavy-rain days in a month, most April weekends spend one morning indoors at most.
Ericeira in April vs March and May
| Measure | March | April | May |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average high | 65.1°F (18.4°C) | 67.8°F (19.9°C) | 73.0°F (22.8°C) |
| Average low | 50.5°F (10.3°C) | 53.2°F (11.8°C) | 57.4°F (14.1°C) |
| Precipitation | 2.63 in | 2.50 in | 2.00 in |
| Days with 0.04 in or more | 7.2 | 7.7 | 5.7 |
Across the three months the air climbs steadily and the rain falls away unevenly. March averages 65.1°F by day and 50.5°F at night with 2.63 inches over 7.2 wet days. April adds 2.7 degrees to the day, 2.7 to the night, and oddly half a wet day more, at 7.7. May is the jump: 73.0°F and 57.4°F, 2.00 inches, and only 5.7 wet days.
Shift four weeks later and you gain 5.2 degrees of afternoon, two fewer wet days and half an inch less rain, which is the difference between packing a shell and hoping to need it. You lose the quiet: May is a step closer to the season the town is built for. Shift four weeks earlier instead and March costs you almost nothing in rain but hands back nearly three degrees, day and night.
Is April a good time to visit Ericeira?
Yes, if you walk, surf or take photographs. April delivers 13 hours 17 minutes of light, afternoons at 67.8°F and a coast that has not filled yet. No, if your Atlantic involves lying next to it in swimwear: nights at 53.2°F, 7.7 wet days and 2.1 soakings do not make a beach holiday, and we have no water temperature to soften the verdict.
If the answer came out no, shift to May rather than June. The gain is measurable: 73.0°F days, 57.4°F nights, 5.7 wet days and 2.00 inches of rain, against April’s 2.50. The cost is that you arrive nearer the season everyone else has picked, and we could not verify any rate or occupancy figure that would tell you how much nearer.
What no other month combines is this: 13 hours 17 minutes of daylight on the 15th with afternoons still capped at 67.8°F, the last stretch of the year when the cliff path at two in the afternoon asks nothing of you.
The last word
Book something you can move, pack the shell, and let the five-day forecast decide which morning goes inland. One figure worth carrying north with you: of April’s 7.7 wet days, 2.1 bring 0.39 inch or more, so better than a quarter of the month’s rain arrives as a genuine soaking rather than a passing shower. Plan a single morning under Mafra’s roof and leave the other days on the coast, where April’s light lasts until a quarter past eight.
Sources & data for this guide
- April normals: high 67.8°F, low 53.2°F, 2.50 in · IPMA climatological normals 1991–2020, station 579 Lisboa Gago Coutinho, altitude 103.9 m · checked Sep 23, 2026
- Rain-day counts: 7.7 days at 1 mm (0.04 in) or more, 2.1 days at 10 mm (0.39 in) or more · same IPMA normals, metric thresholds · checked Sep 23, 2026
- March and May normals used in the comparison · same IPMA station and period · checked Sep 23, 2026
- Daylight on April 15: sunrise 05:57 UTC, sunset 19:14 UTC, converted to local summer time · sunrise-sunset.org · checked Sep 23, 2026
- Scope caveat: the station is inland at Lisbon’s airport, not on Ericeira’s exposed coast. Ground behind the coast is colder and considerably wetter, and other stretches of coastline behave differently.
- We could not verify a sea-surface temperature series, an occupancy or rate series, or a municipal tourist-tax figure for Ericeira, so we give none. Beach and itinerary notes are editorial; hours and tickets at Mafra and Sintra change, so check operators when you book.
To plan your stay
- Best Time to Visit Ericeira: Month-by-Month Weather, Rain Days and the Quiet Season
- Ericeira in March: Weather, Rain Days, Daylight and How It Compares to April
- Ericeira in May: Weather, Rain Days and How It Compares to April and June
- Ericeira in February: 60°F Highs, 7.8 Rain Days and a Surf Coast at Local Size