Evora - is it worth it?

I enjoy Evora more than Setubal myself. The city center of Evora is quite historic and lovely, with the ruins of a Roman temple and a nice cathedral. If you have time, you can also visit the Megaliths outside of Evora which predate Stonehenge.

Setubal seems newer, to me. The thing I enjoyed the most in Setubal was a dolphin tour.

The megaliths around Evora are worth keeping in mind too. They’re much older than Stonehenge, so if there’s enough time, that could be a really interesting addition to the trip.

Will you have a car? or relying on public transport?

We will have a car, driving south from Tomar area.

Evora is worth a day trip from Lisbon.

Evora is definitely worth at least a day or two if you can swing it. Here is an excerpt from a report of my trip last year.

Evora: July 4-7
Accommodation:

Casa do Menino Jesus: really wonderful apartment with easy access to town center, host was very kind- even gave me a ride to the bus station on departure day; full kitchen, nice sized bathroom, shared laundry facilities and great tips for local bakery/ cafe. Only small downsides: musty odor and construction mess at entry.

Meals that Stood Out:

Pateo, Pork Cheeks w/rich red wine reduction w/side of purple sweet potato purée
Pateo, Seared tuna on a bed of avocado garnished w/fresh tomato salsa & wasabi peas
Violeta, pastry shop and cafe - candies purchased to share with my family

Activities/Events:

Evora was on my radar when planning this third trip to Portugal as I was researching possible places to live and I wanted to explore the ancient sites. Turns out this was too far inland for my liking and much drier and hotter than I could get used to. However, seeing the megalithic stones, marveling at the Roman ruins and seeing the grand cathedral were worth the 3 night stay. It ended up that I had a personal “tour” of the stones (another story under “What Went Wrong”). There are many cobbled and narrow streets that were rough on my knees and hips but the hills were not bad.

Church of San Francisco is beautiful but the bone chapel eerie and musty smelling.

Evora Cathedral - rose granite gothic cathedral is largest and oldest medieval cathedral in Portugal of 11th and 12th centuries; amazing rooftop with many stairs (some circular) to climb, but the view of Evora not to be missed. I took the stairs very slowly.

Jardin Diana at top of hill not far from Roman Ruins was a cooler area which had a nice little cafe for a cool refreshing beer and tapas

University of Evora - beautiful grounds, but didn’t explore- this was part of the taxi “tour”

Sounds like I need to try and fit it in, and we'll get to see more countryside, but I think one night is all we will have. So much to do in Portugal!