My wife and I will start a journey on the morning of Sept 23 from Peso da Regua, reaching Lisbon on the late evening of the Sept 25. We will have a car.
In these 3 days we are considering visiting Coimbra, Tomar, Obidos and Evora. We can not do it all, so I would appreciate your thoughts on what are the 2 or 3 most interesting places to visit out of these 4. Or maybe you have different ideas all together. We are not beach people so I did not add Nazare.
We have been to Tomar and Obidos. We stayed in Tomar as a base for day trips. We had a car. Except for the templar castle, there really isn’t anything else to see in Tomar. We spent half a day in Obidos. It’s interesting, but small. You could definately see both in one day.
If driving from Coimbra to Evora, I would stop in which ever place resonates with you. Check them both out on YouTube.
Thank you Barbara
Evora is the outlier from the other listed places. Since Óbidos can be seen in a couple hours, there’s no reason you couldn’t see all your other options. I enjoyed Coimbra and Tomar more than Óbidos. I haven’t been to Evora in decades so cannot comment on it.
The castle and Convent of Christ are the main sites in Tomar and the castle is really a ruin. The convent is one of the nicer ones I’ve visited. We too used Tomar as a base to visit Batalha monastery, Fátima, and Almourol castle. We visited Alcobaca monastery between Tomar and Óbidos and Conimbriga Rman ruins between Coimbra and Tomar.
Thank you jaimeelsabio.
I agree with the idea that Evora is the outlier simply in terms of being out of the way. But, it’s more interesting to me than Tomar.
No one mentioned Conimbriga. It’s the remains of a Roman settlement with some lovely intact mosaic floors. It’s close to Coimbra, so easy to visit once you leave there. Very much worth the slight detour IMO.
I was just in Obidos for the first time in 11 years. Agreed, it’s only worth a couple of hours, but there seem to be more shops and restaurants than the last time I was there. Parking is easy and it’s close to the main highway.
What about Sintra?
Thank you all for your feedback.
We will do Sintra as a day tour from Lisbon.
Having lived here for several years, I have been to every place under discussion here one or more times. So I have some opinions, LOL As with so many travel decisions, much depends upon your interests.
Dvorak is, route wise, an outlier, but has some things of interest. In addition to the often photographed Roman columns, there is an aqueduct. The main cathedral is somewhat interesting because of its hodgepodge construction with different styles over different centuries. Also in town is the somewhat macabre Chapel of Bones. In the surrounding area are several excellent wineries and a few km to the west, there is a prehistoric stone circle (not as spectacular as Avebury or Stonehenge, but if this sort of thing interests you).
Coimbra is a pleasant university town, but, aside from a tour of the Joanina Library (not as spectacular photos allowed inside) and a tour of the university or botanical garden, tourist options are a little limited.
The Convento do Cristo in Tomar is quite fantastic. The Templar chapel inside is amazing and the Manueline window gives a taste of that architectural style too. (BTW Princ Henry the Navigator - who never left the country - lived most of his life at this complex.) someone also mentioned the Batalha Monastery as a side trip and I concur. (I would skip the Fatima circus unless you are really devout - too commercial for my taste.)
Obidos, is, as others have noted, quite small. (My dentist is in Obidos, so I am there a lot.) It can also be crowded, touristy and parking can be difficult. But if you are determined to go there, not too far away is the Buddha Eden Peace Garden, a wild anomaly you might not expect in Portugal (do some internet searches that include images), that we frequently take visitors to spend a few hours.
A day trip to Sintra is a good idea from Lisbon. Try to get one that will pick you up at or near your accommodations and one that includes a visit to someplace like the Regularia (there are four palaces in and around Sintra from different eras). If you also plan to visit Belem from Lisbon (for the monastery or the tower) consider the Royal Coach Museum as well. Hope this helps.
I've stayed overnight in all 4, it is a few years however ( 2018) . My favourite of the 4 is Evora, but I agree with the others it is a longer drive, and we found enough to do there for 3 nights. Coimbra is our second fav and there is lots to see there. Obidos can be very busy in the daytime, we enjoyed our arrival in late afternoon, and stayed overnight. Not sure if that would work for you.
Tomar is nice, but less sites than the others somehow. We enjoyed the castle, and it has a nice town feel, but not sure I"d choose it over the others.
I would probably decide between Evora and Coimbra, and then add in the other two if they fit.
Thank you Bnelson 210 and Lisa for your advice.
Bnelson210 - The Budha Eden Gardens looks very unique and interesting. Certainly worth a visit. Strange that I have not seen them mentioned in any guide.
