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Sao Do Martinho Porto

We are planning a trip to Portugal this June. we will be staying 2 weeks in Salir Do Porto, right by Sao do Martinho Porto. Any ideas about things to do. One thing we want to do is go to a bullfight. Is there one close to us.

Posted by
1669 posts

I stayed a week in São Martinho two years ago and drove all over the area during the week. You will definitely want a car. São Martinho is quite nice with a number of nice restaurants. Alcobaça and Batalha are close, as is Nazaré and Óbidos. All of these make nice day trips. There is a lovely beach at Foz and Peniche has great seafood. It's a very nice area that can easily fill a week.

I don't know of any bull rings in the area. The only place I've seen working bull rings is in the Alentejo region and the number of bull fights is small. You might try googling bull fights Portugal. The Andalucia region of Spain is a better place if bull fighting is high on your list.

Posted by
233 posts

Bullfights are (slowly) ending allover Portugal. Unfortunately they will still exist by June. However, if you a find a bullfight to go, you will not see the death of the bull (it is not legal in Portugal to kill the bull in the arena), just the torture. If you want to see the real thing, you're in the wrong country, Spain is better.

Near São Martinho you can find some windmills still working, one of them (between Óbidos and Peniche) even sells flour. If you like flying, you'll find paragliding at "Praia dos Salgados", and of course if you like surf, Nazaré is a few kms north São Martinho, with it's giant waves (not so giant in June). The road between Salir and Foz do Arelho is really beautiful! From there you may visit the Óbidos lagoon. You can visit the beautiful Monastery of Alcobaça, wich kitchen has a cross from the river so it was easy to catch fish for the monks meals. And at "Caldas da Rainha" you can visit the ceramic factory "Bordallo Pinheiro". There's a lot to do in the area, but it depends on what kind of things one wants to do.

Posted by
2 posts

The Bullfights in Portugal are more about the equestrian aspect. They don't kill the bulls in Portugal! They actually release the bulls to the pasture after the fight.