Nazare or Aveiro

I stayed in Aveiro for 2 nights and although it was pleasant enough, I felt it was underwhelming and not the best use of my limited time in Portugal (in 2019). One of the reasons I chose it was that the beach sounded nice and much less touristy than Nazare (where I have not been). However, it took longer to get to the beach by public transportation than I thought, and then, for my bad luck, it started raining as soon as I arrived. I also went for the art nouveau buildings and museum but those took very little time to see. I visited the nearby Vista Alegro Pottery factory and museum which I found interesting but probably not worthy of the amount of time it took due to infrequent busses. I did have excellent very fresh locally caught fish at Aveiro restaurants.

In 2023 we spent one night in Óbidos, two in Nazaré, and stopped for less than two hours in Aveiro. We had a rental car. Public transportation schedules will possibly dictate which places you visit.

Óbidos can be adequately seen in a couple hours. During the day the principal street through town is full of day trippers and it’s hard to enjoy. The other draw is walking around the city walls. Once one has walked the wall and strolled the street, there’s little else to see.

Aveiro advertises itself as Venice like, but don’t believe it. There are a couple canals and a tourist-oriented boat ride that goes past parts of town and out to the marshy tidal area. The historic center isn’t large and doesn’t take long to see. After walking around for about 1.5 hours we had seen enough. My opinion was partly influenced by the huge construction area near the boat docks that was an eyesore.

I consider Nazaré to be a typical beach town. The lower town has the preponderance of shops and restaurants. A funicular (cash only) takes one to the upper town where there are good view of the town and beach area. There is an old fort in the upper town with some exhibits, but is overpriced. The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Nazareth is pretty, but doesn’t take long to see. The town is very busy with tourists even into late September. It would be more interesting if one was there when the giant waves crash ashore.

We found Aveiro kind of like Disneyland: not very authentic and seemingly designed for tourists. A couple of hours is enough.

On the other hand, we love Nazaré. It's our favourite place in all of Portugal! The beach is lovely and the shops, restaurants and promenade are wonderful... even in high tourist season. Also it's fun to walk up to Sitio rather than take the funicular. It's not too bad of a hike and you get great spots for photos.

We go back to Nazaré every year, booking a BnB fairly close to the beach. That allows us to enjoy the town like locals... shopping for local produce at the municipal market and making some of our own meals. The restaurants away from the beach are great to visit as well.

Being right on the ocean is also a benefit for Nazaré in terms of weather. The summer is significantly cooler than Lisbon, Porto or other inland cities. Winter can be windy and cool, though. So wear layers.

Finally, we love the people of Nazaré. So warm and friendly, even in tourist shops. Also, we find most of the tourists are Portuguese, which makes the town more authentic than places like Lisbon or the Algarve.

We love Nazaré and hope to retire there some day!

Thank you for your input. I have reconsidered my Itinerary and have eliminated Aveiro.

@midmedia Would you please share where you stayed in Nazare…we are looking to spend 2 weeks there in January and I’m quite overwhelmed with researching! Thanks.