Weekend Wanderings: Day Trips along the Silver Coast of Portugal
During our month-long stay on the Silver Coast of Portugal we’ve done a number of day trips. We used both public transportation and private tours to visit five cities in the region. Read along to learn more about Caldas da Rainha, Alcobaça, Óbidos, Peniche, and Aveiro Portugal!
Caldas da Rainha
Our first weekend wandering was to the neighboring town of Caldas da Rainha. Once again, we mastered the bus. For intra-Portugal day trips we found the national bus line of Rede Expressos to be easy and inexpensive. We bought our tickets online 2-3 days before our trip and the roundtrip to Caldas da Rainha was only $20 for two round trip tickets. The bus ride took about 30 minutes.
Caldas da Rainha is a town of 50,000 people and is high on the list for expats looking for all the amenities you need along with mild weather, close proximity to the beach, and an affordable lifestyle. The town grew in popularity in the 15th century when Queen Dona Leanor visited and credited the healing mineral waters for curing something that ailed her. Over time, hospitals (aka spas) formed and Caldas da Rainha grew in popularity with the wealthy. Many of the old hospital buildings remain, adjacent to Parque Dom Carlos I. This is a beautiful park with sculptures throughout, a central lake, and an art museum. Unfortunately we were there on a Monday and the museum was closed. But we did enjoy a glass of wine in the park’s cafe, Cais do Parq. They have lovely tables outside on the park’s edge. There are many local restaurants to choose from. We found a small pasta and pizza restaurant and had a fantastic meal.
Caldas da Rainha is also well known in the area for its daily market in the main square of the city center. The Praça da Fruita das Caldas da Rainha (fruit square) has been open since the town’s founding in the 15th century and provides the daily produce for many in the town. It is a must see and a great place to pick up some local produce!
Alcabaça Monastery
There were a few places along the Silver Coast of Portugal that we knew we wanted to visit that weren’t readily available by public transportation from Nazaré. Since renting a car would have been a bit challenging here, we decided to book a private tour. When I started searching for tours, they all departed from Lisbon. So I had to get creative! I found a private tour out of Lisbon on GetYourGuide that went from Lisbon to Óbidos, Nazaré, and Alcobaça Monastery. Since we were already in Nazaré I thought we might be able to make it work. I found the company’s website and sent them a WhatsApp message asking if they could do a custom tour. We just needed them to pick us up in Nazaré instead of Lisbon, and then take us to Alcabaça and Óbidos. It worked! We were picked up by our driver and we set off exploring. For $200 USD we had a full day of site seeing, history, and some very interesting discussions about recent politics lol!
Our first stop was Alcobaça Monastery just about 15 minutes inland from Nazaré. The monastery was established in 1153. Yep, you read that right, 1153! At its peak in the 1300s, there were over 1000 monks who lived and worked here. It is a Cistercian Monastery and it was built as a sign of the power of the church after the area was reclaimed from the Moors. It had a long storied history, including a time when it was occupied by Napoleonic troops in the early 1800s. All monasteries in Portugal were dissolved in 1834 and the monks were disbanded. For a period of time during Portugal’s dictatorship in the 20th century it was a barracks for soldiers. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage site and a beautiful museum. Mass is still held three times a week in the church.
We had a great time walking through the vast cloisters, kitchens, dormitories, and the church. Our guide had lots of stories to tell us about the history! There were very few tourists at the monastery on the day we went. We spent about 90 minutes here and would highly recommend it if you are in the area! Much of the signage is only in Portuguese so it was great to have a guide with us.
According to our guide, this was the door into the dining hall. It is a very skinny door to make sure the monks were not eating too much!
In the church are the tombs of King Pedro I and his fiancee Inês de Castro. It is a love story for the history books. She was assassinated by his father in 1355. Pedro was so heartbroken that he brought the body of his beloved Inês to the church, crowned her queen, and had all the members of court kiss her (dead) hand in allegiance! At the base of Inês’ tomb you can see the faces of her murderers. Sadly, when Napoleon’s army sacked the monastery they broke into each of the beautiful tombs looking for treasure and caused extensive damage.
Óbidos
Óbidos is a medieval walled city about 40 minutes by car south of Nazaré. It is a highly touristed site from Lisbon. Even during the relatively low season in late March, there were numerous coaches in the parking lots full of visitors. It is free to enter the city. When we were there, they were having their annual chocolate festival, so we weren’t able to access parts of the city without buying a ticket. While it is very touristy, about 100 people actually live inside the city walls! There are a lot of restaurants, souvenir shops, and several churches, in addition to the castle. People have been living here since the Paleolithic times, and there are ruins from the Phoenicians and the Romans nearby. The last conquest was during the Reconquista in 1148 where the Christians took the city and the castle back from the Moors. It was given to the Queen of Portugal in 1210 and ever since it has been known as the town of queens.
View of the town from the top of the walls
We spent about 3 hours in Obidos, including a leisurely lunch in the sun, walking along the top of the walls, and enjoying a glass of Vinho Verde in a quaint boutique. While obviously a tourist destination, this is a storybook European city to enjoy and soak up the atmosphere. I would imagine in the summer it would be incredibly busy. As with most popular tourist destinations, the shoulder season is a great time to visit Óbidos!
Peniche
Peniche is a traditional fishing city west of Óbidos. We joked that it is a peninsula on a peninsula. We took it even one step further by visiting Baleal…which is a peninsula on a peninsula on a peninsula! Baleal is another major surf spot in Portugal. We enjoyed soaking up the sun here and watching the surfers while enjoying a cold beverage.
Peniche’s city center was formed by the fisherman and as you drive through the town you can see the canned fish factories along the road. The city was protected by Peniche Fort during the 16th and 17th centuries. In the 19th century it was a famed prison for those who dared to fight against the fascist regime.
We only stayed in Peniche for about an hour as the last stop on our private tour but we’d love to come back for a longer stay. The beaches are picturesque along the miles of shoreline surrounding the city. We’d loveo to do a day trip to the Berlengas Islands which form an achepelego 15km off the Peniche coast. They are known for their beautiful rock formations and bird life.
Aveiro
The old Aveiro train station
Our last weekend wandering was to Aveiro, which is located 90 minutes north of Nazaré. It is also only a 30 minute train ride south from Porto and would be an excellent day trip from there. One day is plenty of time to see this delightful city and it is easy to do it independently.
Aveiro is known as the “Venice of Portugal”. Funny how any city with canals is the Venice of somewhere? Aveiro has several canals that snake through the city and come complete with moleceiros…long narrow boats. Historically they were used to clear the seaweed and algae out of the canals but today they are purely for tourists! And like everything in Portugal, they love Christian Ronaldo! Along the canal are numerous moleceiros companies offering 45 minute canal tours for about €15. Along the way you’ll learn about the history of Aveiro.
We love to just wander a city and discover its hidden corners. There are some wonderful narrow streets lined with cafes that open into squares lined with…more cafes! We were there on a beautiful spring day and enjoyed sitting outside for a traditional Portuguese lunch. There was a city wide Scouts scavenger hunt happening when we were there and it was fun seeing all of the kids and their troops searching for clues in the city.
There are no shortage of churches to see while in Portugal so we decided to stop in a few. Our first stop was Igreja de Sao Joao Evangilista which was built in the 18th Century. The gold work here was absolutely stunning!
We also visited the Cathedral of Aveiro which was founded in 1423. It has been undergoing a major renovation. It was fascinating to see such an old building have modern upgrades. Including the old and the new organs!
Because Nazaré itself is fairly small, we knew that during our month long stay here we’d want to get out and see other cities along the Silver Coast of Portugal. As slow travelling digital nomads, we like to balance our work life with some fun! We’d definitely recommend seeking out Caldas da Rainha, Óbidos, Alcabaça Monastery, Peniche, and Aveira if you find yourself in central Portugal!