nazare & tomar

We stopped at Nazare on drive north and had a seafood lunch by the beach. This was in June. It was very crowded and we were happy to leave.
We did not include Tomar in our itinerary.

I would not miss Tomar! Castle/convent/church/walled town of Knights Templar. Very interesting and worth a few hours. 15th century synagogue built by Henry the Navigator. Charming town.
Fatima, Batalha, Alcobaca are along the one hour drive to Nazare. We did not stop in Fatima, but the other two cities have monasteries worth seeing.

We stayed in Nazare 2 nights near the beach. Relaxing little beach area and good place from which to visit the areas mentioned above. However, in October may want to stay in Tomar and skip the beach depending on weather.

I liked Tomar (and many of the nearby towns) and was underwhelmed by Nazare. Mid October isn’t likely to be beach weather, so stay inland.

I just left Nazaré last week. If you can avoid the weekend there that will help some. Keep in mind that parking can be very difficult. Tomar was very nice, I wish I had a little more time there and that the weather had been better, but there’s no way to control that!!

My daughter and I enjoyed our stay in Tomar.
Here’s my trip report which mentions the highlights of our visit.

Enjoy your trip!