My family and I are driving from Lisbon to the Douro Valley, and we'd like to break up the drive with a lunch roughly halfway through the trip. Most of the blogs I've consulted suggest Aveiro, Coimbra, or Obidos, but all of those options take us significantly off our path. We're just looking for a nice place to have lunch rather than a significant detour. Does anyone have any recommendations? Thanks very much!
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Mid-Atlantic area
7930 posts
Coimbra is about in the middle between Lisbon and the Douro Valley. If it’s not along your route, then it would be helpful to know what your route is. It may be easier not to plan a stop and depending on the road you take (freeway type or rural) just stop in a small town that looks interesting. When driving, remember you’ll need to slow down to 30kph/18mph every time you enter a town. In some towns it may even be slower.
If just stopping for lunch trying to find parking and navigate in cities like Coimbra or Viseu might be a pain and parking will probably be in pay lots or garage. Most small towns will have free parking and will be easy to get into and out of. Even when we knew where a free lot was in Viseu, it took a while to find alternate parking because a festival was taking place and the lot we identified was filled with amusement rides.