I am finalizing my two week trip to Portugal. After reading RS guidebook it does not seem that the Nazare area is all that interesting, while the Evora area appears to have more to see. I had planned on one night in Evora and two in the Nazare area. We like to mingle with the locals and get a real flavor of the people and the area. Obidos seems like a good place to stay, and some have said that Tomar is a good base. Some thoughts would be appreciated as to where to stay and for how long. Hotel recommendations are always appreciated.
Posted by
Tunbridge Wells
6113 posts
I am not a Nazare fan. Evora is worth an overnight stay. Obidos is good for a 2 hour visit, but I wouldn’t want to stay there.
I stayed in Caldas da Rainha when I stayed in the area, which was a good base for seeing Tomar, Obidos, Alcobaca and Batalha. I rented a villa.
Posted by
Cascais, Portugal
1663 posts
I am also not a big Nazaré fan. And, while I’ve heard people say they liked staying in Obidos, there are so many tourists during the day, I wouldn’t want to fight the crowds getting in and out.
I stayed in São Martinho do Porto on my scouting trip before moving here and really liked it. From there we visited, Obidos, Caldas da Rainha, Nazaré, Peniche, Foz, Alcobaça and Batalha. We spent a week there - which may have been 1-2 days longer than necessary.
Tomar is quite nice but I’m not certain about driving times from there to other areas. If you look at estimates, add at least 1/3 more time than stated.
Evora is one of my favorites. If you stay two nights, you would have time to do the Megalith tour, which is very much worth your time.
Posted by
Portland, Oregon
5687 posts
I loved Nazare - only spent a few hours there, wished I had spent at least a night. It's kind of a tacky tourist town, but it has a nice character to it. Definitely more low-key than Cascais (a lovely beach resort town near Lisbon).
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15576 posts
By car? I spent 3.5 weeks in Portugal late last spring. Nazare was the one place I really wished I'd skipped completely.
Obidos was somewhat of a let-down, but that's probably because I'd already been to several hill towns in the much less touristed areas of eastern Portugal. It's also kind of a pain to drive in and out of. You'd probably have to park the car outside the walled town and walk uphill to your hotel. I spent 3N in Tomar, daytripped to Obidos, Navare (wish I'd chosen any other coastal village - I'm sure there are lovely ones) and the wonderful monasteries of Alcobaca and Batalha. Tomar was easy to drive in/out. I stayed at Thomar Story in a studio. They don't have parking, but I was able to find nearby street parking or used the large lot about a block away.
I spent one night in Evora and that was all I needed. I enjoyed a visit to a nearby cork factory and learned a lot, bought a couple really nice gifts at very good prices. You may want to visit some of the megaliths in the area.
Posted by
7642 posts
Evora is definitely a place to visit, but you can do it on a one day trip from Lisbon.
Nazare is good, but not sure it would be a good base. Don't miss Batalha Cathedral.
Posted by
Calgary, AB, Canada
479 posts
Evora was also one of my favourites. We stayed 3 nights, daytripping to smaller Alentejo towns. Tomar is also a nice town, although I preferred Evora. We stayed in Obidos for our final night with a car, and left early the next morning to drive to the airport. Thought it was a lovely way to end the trip. It was busy in the day, and I'm not sure i would have liked it as much if we only daytripped in.