A view of the castle from our small boat.
From Sintra, we drove north to our next destination, Nazaré, a town on the central coast of Portugal. We chose Nazaré as our base for exploring this region of the country due to its location, choice of hotels and natural beauty. Since there is much to see in this part of Portugal, I will cover some sights in this post and others in Part II.
Almourol Castle
This scenic, small medieval castle sits on a rocky outcrop in the Tagus River, the same river which flows through Lisbon.
A view of the castle from our small boat.
The castle is located 110 km (68 miles) east of Nazaré. Not much is really known about the castle’s history, but it was likely built prior to the Christian conquest of the Iberian Peninsula in 1129. The Knights Templar had stewardship of the castle and surrounding lands until their disbanding in the 1300’s.
The massive walls of the castle.
Entrance to the castle.
To reach the castle, you have to take a small boat, and you are given about 45 minutes to visit the castle before the boat returns to the mainland. The castle is in a rural area–there is a small snack shop near the parking lot, but not many restaurants around. Also, the boat operator takes a 1.5 hour lunch break, so plan your visit accordingly.
Leiria
This town would be another good base for visiting central Portugal (it’s just 37 km northeast of Nazaré). Even though Leiria is surrounded by many tourist sights, the town itself is not on the tourist map, but is still worth a stop. Sitting on a prominent hilltop overlooking the town is an old castle (which was turned into a palace).
Leiria’s town square with its castle on the hilltop.
The town square below (known as Praça Rodrigues Lobo) has a nice view of the castle. The town also has some quaint streets, a cathedral, an old 15th century paper mill and a little 11th century church (near the castle).
Street scene in Leiria.
Just 15 minutes south of Leiria is the stunning monastery of Batalha, which I will cover in Part II.
Obidos
About 40 km south of Nazaré is Obidos, a medieval town encircled by a high wall. At the south end of the old town is a beautiful gate and at the north end is an old castle watching over the town and surrounding countryside.
At the north end of of the old town of Obidos with its castle.
Main Gate, Obidos. A 14th century gate, with 18th century tile work.
You can walk on the walls around the whole town for free.
One of the entrances to the wall by the castle.
On our walk around the walls of Obidos.
We made it one half the way around the walls and then decided to do some shopping and have lunch in this magnificent setting.
Obidos Town Square. There are several interesting old churches is the town.
Street scene in Obidos.
I would consider Obidos on the “must see” list in Portugal.
Nazaré
Nazaré itself is an interesting town and was our home for a few nights as we explored the region. It is a fishing village and a summer destination for the Portuguese, given its good beaches and central location. Nazaré doesn’t really have a “surfing vibe” like spots in Southern California, but I understand it has some of the best waves found in the Atlantic Ocean.
Looking down on the lower part of Nazaré with its wide expanse of beach. (The funicular tramway is in the lower part of the photo).
The beach is wide and quite beautiful, but unfortunately, we were there in the fall time (October) and didn’t get to enjoy the water. The town is split into two distinct parts, with the lower part hugging the beach, and the oldest part of the town sitting on a bluff overlooking the ocean, lower town and beaches.
Old Town Square, “upper” Nazaré.
Lots of good restaurants down by the beach. We stayed at the Hotel Magic, a great boutique hotel in the lower town.
The lower part of Nazaré has a nice promenade along the beach.
In my next post, I will cover our visits to the world famous Alcobaca, Bathala and Tomar monasteries.