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Day trips from Leiria and Caldas da Rainha

Posted by (MD) on

Hi everyone. I'll be in Portugal in the spring, starting in Porto and working my way down to Lisbon, with a plan to explore more of the Silver Coast/central Portugal area. I'm using public transportation including train/bus/Bolt/Uber. I'll be spending several days in Leiria as well as Caldas da Rainha. There are so many smaller villages/towns to visit from these bases. I hadn't considered Fatima or Santarem for instance, but in my research I've seen both places come up a few times . As so often happens when I start planning my next trip, the more I research, the more I want to see. I was hoping you might let me know if there are any places in particular that you think are definitely worth a day trip so I can look into it further.

Thank you!

Posted by
1768 posts

From the silver coast area there are several lovely places to visit but they aren’t easily accessible by public transport.
Places of note are Alcobaca, Batalha, Tomar, Coimbra and Obidos. Coimbra is the only one on the main train line. I have no idea how much the others would be from where you are staying via Bolt/Uber. But, you might check them out to see if they interest you.

Posted by
585 posts

kathyrn, I was hoping you'd see this since you obviously know the area. From my research so far, it looks like the bus system is fairly good so I could probably use a combination of bus and Bolt/Uber. I'll most likely do a day trip to Coimbra from Porto. I hadn't considered Batalha, but will look into that as well.

Is a day trip to Ericeira realistic from Sintra? I'll be there several days as well and just came across a more detailed look at Ericeira last night that intrigued me.

Posted by
1768 posts

Yes, Ericeira is doable as a day trip from Sintra. I’ve done Ericeira a couple of times from Cascais, which is a bit further. I forgot about including it in the list I sent earlier. It’s quite nice.

Glad you found the buses a better option. I’ve only done the local buses and very long distance ones.

Posted by
1 posts

Hi KRS
I live in the area and may confirm that you will not regret the time dedicated to it. I may help you with specific information and I have a site about my traveling experiences called Touristrips with a post with useful notes about the best places in Portugal. You may check it in Trips in Portugal.

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