Which city to stay using public transportation to explore coastal towns- Coimbra or Obidos?

I liked staying in Coimbra and couldn’t wait to leave Obidos. Coimbra wins.

Hi Linda,

Without a car, I suggest Coimbra. It is centrally located. Coimbra has the advantage of having some bus and trains to visit the nearby towns you mentioned. Rick Steves wrote an article on Coimbra. Take a look.

https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/exploring-colorful-coimbra

Don't forget to add the town of Tomar to the Itinerary. It has the famous the Convento de Cristo

Strictly because there’s more to do, I’m in the Coimbra camp or maybe even Tomar. For an upcoming trip we have a night in Óbidos and that should be plenty. I’ve read the town is good for a few hours. Ditto for Nazaré. We will have the advantage of a rental car.

jaimielsabio, so you are also saying that Coimbra is better connected public transportation wise compared to Obidos?

RJean, thank you. I’ve been thinking Coimbra must have better transportation connections since it is a University town. But I dunno

We did not go to Obidos, so I can't compare but I can say that we loved Coimbra. We arrived by train from Lisbon and stayed 3 or 4 nights before renting a car to head to the Duoro valley. While in Coimbra we used https://www.gowalksportugal.com/coimbra-walking-tours to take a day trip that included Tomar, Batalha and Alcobaça. The guide was a graduate student in history. We also did a short historical highlights of Coimbra walk the first day after we arrived with the same guide. This was in 2019 and Coimbra felt delightfully un-touristy when we were there.

Syd, appreciate the suggestion of a guide for some of the places I’m interested in. Might make my travel so much easier. I did this in Scotland last year using Rabbies.

I will echo the recommendation to stay in Coimbra. However, before you get too far into your planning, be sure to check out the bus schedules I have a little experience, but I’ve always had the impression the public transport in that area was very limited. I stayed in São Martinho do Porto a number of years ago, and the train to that small town was really kind of comical It was so small. My memory is that it also ran maybe once or twice a day.

The idea of a guide to take you to the other small towns in the area might be your best bet.

Since we’ll have a rental car I can’t speak to public transportation and schedules. I was speaking strictly about town/city size, and things to do and see.

Thank you Kathryn. I recall your suggestion early in my planning to rent a car but I just don’t want to drive by myself. I will probably book a tour to explore the area.

I do plan on spending some time in Cascais before leaving Lisbon heading North.