ÓBIDOS - 20 KM | 20 MIN
The mediaeval town of Óbidos is one of the most picturesque and well preserved in Portugal. You will find a well-preserved castle within the walls, and a maze of streets and white houses that are a delight to stroll amongst. Along with the Manueline porticoes, the colourful window boxes and the small squares, many fine examples of religious and civil architecture from the town’s golden days provide a host of reasons for making a visit.
Nearby, Obidos lagoon, the largest natural seawater lagoon in Portugal, offers the opportunity to practice other water activities: SUP, kite surfing, canoeing and sailing on calm waters.
You can also walk or cycle along the reserve, or have a romantic picnic in the silence of the lagoon
NAZARÉ - 60 KM | 45 MIN
Nazaré is unique in many ways. It doesn’t contain the architectural treasures or grandiose monuments prevalent in other Portuguese towns, but it has an atmosphere of times gone by, contentment and traditions which continue to thrive, which make it a special place to visit. The long sandy half-moon shaped beach, which is also the town’s sea front, is known for its grandeur and for the brightly-coloured awnings that decorate the white sandy beaches, contrasting with the blue of the water. This is the beach in Portugal that retains the more colourful fishing traditions, where the wooden fishing boats still used today are colourful and narrow with curved prows and decoration evocative of the first fishermen of the area, and where is still to be seen women wearing traditional costumes with seven flannel skirts in different colours. Facing the sea on the right, you will see an impressive headland. Located on a rocky promontory over 100m above the main part of the town, Sitio provides wonderful views over the bay and beach of Nazaré, and from here the walker can continue northward along the stretches of beach where the Atlantic regularly pounds creating ideal conditions for many a shore fisher to cast a line. Along the seafront of Nazaré, people still dry their catch of fish in the sun and mend their boats alongside sunbathing holidaymakers and playful children enjoying the many attributes of the beach. A throng of craft shops and cafes stretches the length of the Avenida Marginal, as well as restaurants serving a great variety of the local specialty, which is of course fish.
Nazaré became famous in the world of surf thanks to its giant XXL size waves. The year 2011 in November, a Hawaiian surfer Garret McNamara surfed a giant wave of 23,4 m (from trough to crest). Since that, Garret McNamara and other big wave riders are present in Nazaré every year when the big winter swells come. These impressively giant waves form in Nazaré, because of the underwater “Nazaré Canyon”. The Nazaré Canyon has up to 5 km depth and is about 230 km long. Thus, it causes very high breaking waves which are amazing for big wave surfing.
SINTRA - 95 KM | 75 MIN
Sintra, the Moon Hill, is a place full of magic and mystery, where Nature and Man have combined in such a perfect symbiosis that UNESCO has granted it Word Heritage Site status (the first "cultural landscape" in Europe to be listed). Sintra looks like a fairy tale, an ethereal or enchanted forest that has bewitched poets throughout time. It's where Lisbon cools off, thanks to a Twilight Zone-like microclimate that also attracted nobility to build palaces over the centuries. The result was Europe's first centre of Romantic architecture. It's where the Celts worshiped the moon, the Moors built their "great wall," and royalty erected their dream palaces. The most spectacular of all is Pena Palace, looking like a Disney extravagance but an actual royal residence from the 1800s. Other almost surreal constructions include Quinta da Regaleira, the Capuchos Convent and Monserrate Palace, plus fountains and waterfalls further adding to the mystical atmosphere whose spell no one is able to resist.
