Obidos and Nazare
Obidos and Nazare – 2 Days
April 14
Obidos
Another great breakfast at the LR Guesthouse! We’re really going to miss the wonderful service here. Our host had bacon ready for Em, and eggs for me both mornings. It’s amazing how quickly you can become accustomed to being spoiled.
Before heading out, we had one last bit of glamorous travel to take care of: laundry. We found a laundromat about three minutes away and worked out a system. One of us tackled the laundry while the other headed back to the guesthouse for a shower, then we switched. Nothing says European adventure quite like coordinating showers and spin cycles. We finished just in time for checkout.
Clean clothes in our packs, we walked over to the nearby square and grabbed an Uber to take us to the Lisbon airport to pick up our rental car. Our rented Ford Focus had no working a/c., and the gear shifting wasn’t too smooth either. They told us the a/c would kick in eventually, and that it was not working now because it had been so hot, which it really was. Well, the a/c never did come on. So, we ended up driving through Portugal during one of its hottest Aprils in a car with no a/c…ugh!
Our first stop about 1.5 hours away at 2:30 p.m. was Óbidos, a wonderfully preserved medieval town still enclosed by imposing castle walls.
We spent about two hours wandering its narrow streets, admiring the old buildings, and exploring the precarious walkway along the top of the walls.
The views were lovely, but parts of the wall had very little in the way of protective railings. It was one of those places where you appreciate the scenery while remaining very aware of where you put your feet. Medieval architects apparently weren’t particularly concerned with liability insurance.
We had lunch in town before continuing toward Nazaré.
Nazare
Nazaré is a seaside resort town famous for some of the biggest surfable waves on the planet, and home to the annual Big Wave Challenge. The town’s extraordinary waves are caused in part by an underwater canyon that funnels and amplifies incoming Atlantic swells. A record-setting 86-foot wave was surfed here in 2020, making Nazaré one of the most famous destinations in big-wave surfing. The biggest waves typically arrive in the fall and winter, so we were a little outside peak season.
Nazaré has two distinct personalities: the lively beachfront neighborhood below and the older village perched high on the cliffs above. A funicular railway connects the two, sparing visitors the steep climb between them.
Arriving around 5:00 p.m. we first drove up to the Fort of São Miguel Arcanjo (now a lighthouse) in the old upper village, although finding a parking spot was a challenge.
Unfortunately, the fort had just closed, so we couldn’t go inside. We walked around the area and made our way down toward the caves below the cliffs.
The tide was too high to enter the caves, but we were treated to a spectacular display of enormous waves pounding against the rocks. The Atlantic was putting on quite a show, and we were happy to watch.
By around 6 p.m., we decided that Nazaré deserved more than a quick visit, so we abandoned the plan to drive onward and booked a night at the pleasant Hotel Maré, conveniently located near the beach and the action.
After securing a room for the night, we walked down to the beach and watched the sun set over the ocean.
For dinner, we followed a hotel staff member’s recommendation and found Tabernassa an excellent restaurant across the street from the beach. The sidewalk was bustling, the food and service were terrific, and the beach and people-watching was almost as good as the meal. We had wonderful dining companions on both sides: a young Turkish doctor and a ministry employee on one side, and an American expat couple on the other.
What began as dinner turned into an international exchange of stories and conversation. We got so engrossed in talking with the American couple that we failed to notice the restaurant gradually closing around us. By the time we finally called it a night, it was about 10 p.m.
We took a short walk afterward and headed to bed, happy we’d decided to stay. Nazaré had given us dramatic scenery, a beautiful sunset, excellent food, and the bonus of meeting some interesting people.
April 15
The hotel kindly allowed us to leave the car in its garage—which was about a quarter-mile away—past checkout time, and they held our luggage while we went exploring. That gave us the chance to ride the funicular up to the old village and visit the fort we’d missed the day before. It was a generous bit of hospitality and saved us from having to rush.
We grabbed a quick breakfast at a small café near the funicular’s upper station, then headed to the Fort of São Miguel Arcanjo.
This time the fort was open! But before getting to it people must pass the surfing sentry on guard!
We went inside and out onto the deck overlooking the massive waves and jagged rocks below. The views were spectacular, and the sheer power of the ocean was humbling. From up there, you could see why Nazaré has earned its reputation among big-wave surfers. Though the waves weren’t necessarily at their winter peak, they were still impressive.
The tide was still too high to explore the caves below, so we admired them from above rather than risking an unplanned swim in the Atlantic.
Coimbra
After our second look at the fort, we hit the road toward Porto, with a planned stop in Coimbra, only an hour from Nazare.
Coimbra is one of Portugal’s most historic university cities and was once the country’s capital. Its university, founded in the 13th century, is among the oldest in Europe and has played a major role in Portuguese academic and cultural life.
We parked, and with one or two wrong turns first, found our way within the labyrinth city center toward the university. The architecture was worth getting disoriented.
The walk took us over the Rio Mondego.
Eventually we began the long climb up, up, and then further up toward the university. Everything in Portugal is uphill. Sweating, we made it to the top, and were rewarded with beautiful historic buildings and a sense of having earned our lunch.
We’d hoped to visit the university’s famous Joanina Library, renowned for its ornate Baroque interior and remarkable collection of old books. Unfortunately, tickets were sold out. We had to settle for exploring the exterior and the surrounding university grounds.
One highlight was seeing a group of students dressed in their traditional academic robes, posing for photographs. Their long black capes made the scene look remarkably like something out of Harry Potter. It was easy to imagine a few of them heading off to class for Advanced Potion-Making.
After exploring the university, we began the long descent back into town. We walked down, down, down through the streets and eventually made our way back to the car, parked across the river.
Coimbra had given us history, beautiful architecture, a glimpse of university traditions, and a few thousand steps we hadn’t necessarily planned on taking.
With our legs thoroughly exercised and our sightseeing quota temporarily satisfied, we were ready to continue on toward Porto.
Next: Porto
