We will be traveling from Porto to Evora on Saturday May 11 with a stop in Tomar for sightseeing and lunch. We are interested in a tour of the Knights Templar Castle, Convent of Christ and the town of Tomar. Any recommendations for a tour guide for those sights, preferably including admission prices? Any lunch restaurant recommendations?
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
7172 posts
That’s a lot to see for a lunch stopover. There’s little to the castle as it’s really just a couple walls that remain. It is beside the Convent of Christ. We spent a couple hours in the Convent. As convents go, it was one of the more impressive ones I’ve visited. The other sites in town are the Plaza of the Republic and Igreja de São João Baptista, and the Templar church Church Santa Maria do Olival. There is a pay parking lot right at the convent. There are a couple free lots in town and you can walk up to the convent in about 20 minutes.
Since you’re driving, about 30 minutes from Tomar is Templar built Almourol Castle. You take a boat out to it. It’s a few Euros round trip. The castle is small and can be seen in 30 minutes.
We spent 4 nights in Tomar and took days trips from it.
Posted by
Washington, DC USA
496 posts
The RS tour book was especially helpful for knowing what to look for and what I was seeing in different parts of the Convento becasue there was no audio guide (or maybe not one available in English) when I was there several years ago. So if you don't find a tour guide, do make sure you have a good guidebook.
Posted by
OP
28 posts
Thanks All! Update: we have a 1/2 day (4 hours) tour set up with Templar Knights (https://templarknights.eu/). They've been very responsive and easy to work with; payment is 40 euros pp (there are 4 of us) and in cash at time of tour.
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
7172 posts
Good for you. It should be an informative tour.