Central Portugal

Us in the cobbled streets of ancient and pretty Óbidos, Portugal

After our time in the Lisboa region, we headed for Óbidos in the Centro region of Portugal. Óbidos is a beautiful medieval village with narrow winding cobbled streets, lined with whitewashed houses, and colourful flower boxes. This small village (3000 people), dates back to the 4th century BC.

It sits on a hilltop with its impressive castle, surrounded by a well-preserved 12th century wall.

We arrived in Óbidos to discover they were having their annual medieval festival. Everyone in the village was dressed up in period costume, and we felt quite out of place.

But we’d heard of an 18th century Portuguese azulejos tile mural in Óbidos, and hoped to see it.

Azulejos tiles in Porta da Vila, Óbidos, Portugal 

We found it as we walked through the Porta da Vila, the main gate into Óbidos. This tilework, especially the blue and white, is prevalent in Portuguese architecture.

They often display a history, and this one depicts the ‘Passion of Christ’, with the ceiling displaying the crown of thorns. It was quite eye-catching.

While exploring Óbidos, we purchased a bottle of the local and famous sour cherry liqueur known as Ginja de Óbidos, for later. Then we wandered back to our motorhome, Vanni and moved on.

Our next stop was Nazaré, a small fishing village with a beautiful long sandy beach.

Nazaré beach and sun-dried octopus 

We cycled from our campsite to the beach when we arrived, and were fascinated by the hundreds of little fish and octopus drying in the sun.

The next day, we cycled into Nazaré village, to find lots of holiday-makers, and we joined them wandering the shops, enjoying the beach, and eating great seafood.

Our lunch was a big plate of cockles, mussels, shrimps, and black and white clams, along with a couple of beers; all of which kept us occupied for quite some time!

We stayed in pretty Nazaré for several days, which gave us a chance to tune our TV into New Zealand’s wonderful results at the Olympic Games.

The cable car between Sitio and Nazaré beach, Portugal

On one of our trips to Nazaré, we took a cable car up to Sitio, a very small village that sits on the cliffs above Nazaré. We spent a lovely afternoon there, enjoying amazing views of the beach below and visiting the 12th century church and local bullring.

Catching the cable-car back to Nazaré, we then returned to the campsite to spend time with a Nederland couple whose company we enjoyed, and who spoke English.

Most of the motorhome travellers we’ve met in Portugal have been non-English speakers, and we’ve had no success trying to speak Portuguese (luckily, we are great with hand signals though!), so it was lovely to converse in English for a while.

Leigh at Alcobaça Monastery (UNESCO), Portugal

Feeling more relaxed after a long break in Nazaré, we drove east to Alcobaça which has a stunning cathedral established in 1153.

The monastery along with the church, were the first Gothic buildings in Portugal, and are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Later, we visited Alcobaça city’s small old quarter where we found a plain-looking restaurant with no outlook but a lovely menu.

We ordered baked octopus with potato and garlic, and it turned out to be one of the best meals that we have had on this trip – it was very delicious, as was the local wine.

Marg at Batalha Monastery (UNESCO), Portugal

After lunch, we drove about 30 minutes north to Batalha Monastery, which is actually an amazing Dominion Convent.

Architecturally, it is one of the best and original examples of what is called ‘Flamboyant Gothic mixed with Manueline' styles in Portugal, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It took over a century to build, starting in 1386 and ending around 1517, spanning the reign of seven kings.

After wandering around this amazing monastery, we kept driving north, heading for Coimbra and a campsite there. We found the Coimbra camp much quieter than Nazaré’s, and enjoyed a peaceful night, then cycled into Coimbra city the next morning.

Praça do Comércio, Coimbra, Portugal

Coimbra is built on a hill alongside the Mondego River. It is full of attractive buildings, monuments, churches, libraries, and greenspaces, and is a very lovey city. We found it to be compact and easy to walk around, although the uphill bits got the heart rate going!

It is one of Portugal’s oldest cities, with a history dating back over 2000 years, and was Portugal’s capital from 1139 to 1385.

Coimbra is noted for its university. Founded in 1290, it is now the one of the world’s oldest, and is the cultural centre-piece of the city. 

It is quite stunning and on UNESCO’s tentative list.

Typical street in old Coimbra, Portugal

We cycled into the town several times, then walked around the narrow, winding, hilly streets, visiting many of the sights.

A favourite was the Sé Velha de Coimbra (the old cathedral). Built in the Romanesque style while the Portuguese were still warring with the Moors, it is austere, sturdy and fortress-like. We also saw the Sé Nova (new cathedral), which was more ornate.

We liked the ­12th century Church of São Tiago, the Santa Cruz Monastery and park, Manga Gardens, the Arco de Almedina, a 12th century gateway to the city, and the ­Torre de Anto, a 16th century tower. 

We saw so much, and there was much to see.

Fado concert in Coimbra (UNESCO), Portugal

We cycled back into the city one evening to attend a Fado concert at the nationally famous Café Santa Cruz.

Fado is a type of popular Portuguese song, usually with a melancholy theme, accompanied by mandolins or guitars. It is very soulful and mournful and unique to Portugal.

Fado music has been recognised by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. We found it fascinating and quite different to anything we had heard before.

The next day, we wandered around again, paused for a coffee in one of Coimbra’s vibrant cafés, then headed back to camp ready to move on.

Guarda Cathedral, Portugal

Leaving Coimbra, we passed through lots of lovely small towns, and some bigger ones to arrive in Guarda, near the Spanish border. We did a quick drive around, admired its cathedral and praça (main square), then headed for the border.

However, we had a problem finding a non-toll road to get us across into Spain. We think they work on the principle that if they don’t signpost the minor roads everyone will pay to go on the toll road because that’s where the streets signs direct you!

Tolls are recorded by camera, there are no toll booths, so we are not sure if we incurred an automatic toll or not.

Ah well…….our next stop will be in Salamanca in Spain’s north-western region, where we will go online to find out about Portuguese and Spanish toll costs.

This blog describes part of our 6 month campervan trip around western Europe, which began in Prague in April.