Óbidos and Nazaré Day Trip: Walled Town, Rough Surf, 1 Day

This post contains affiliate links. If you book or buy through them, I earn a commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

In this post Day 8 of our two-week Portugal road trip: an Óbidos and Nazaré day trip by car. We walked flower-scented lanes and one railing-free stretch of the town wall in Óbidos, then spent a long while on the cliff trail above Nazaré’s north beach watching rough waves, and ended the day in Coimbra.

WhenSunday, March 24, 2024, day 8 of our trip
Route
1. ~11:00 a.m.Leave Vendas Novas
2. ~1:15 p.m.Óbidos: town gate and lanes, one stretch of the wall walk, a net hammock with a view, coffeeA little over an hour in town
3. ~3:00 p.m.Arrive in Nazaré, late lunchAbout 2 hr 45 min in Nazaré in all
4. ~4:30 p.m.Waves from the cliff trail at Praia do Norte (North Beach)About an hour of that
5. ~8:30 p.m.Arrive in Coimbra, dinner at a buffet on the edge of town
AdmissionPaid · Nazaré lighthouse fort (Forte de São Miguel Arcanjo) €3 (checked October 2026); we didn’t go inFree · Óbidos lanes and wall walk (we paid no admission), Nazaré cliff trail and viewpoints
BookingWe booked each night’s stay as we went, which the off-season made easyNo reservations for Óbidos or Nazaré
WeatherSlightly overcast but not cold. Óbidos smelled of flowers and felt like spring; in Nazaré, the wind off the sea was strong.
WhoThe three of us: my wife, our kid and me
Where we sleptNH Coimbra Dona Inês, Coimbra, one night

North from Vendas Novas

We had breakfast at the B&B in Vendas Novas where we’d spent the night, then got into the rental car. Before leaving town we stopped at the local Lidl for snacks.

The plan for the day was to drive up the west coast, stop in Óbidos and Nazaré, and reach Coimbra by evening. The whole route came to about 285 km (177 mi) on Google Maps, a little over three and a half hours of driving.

From Vendas Novas we drove north to Óbidos and Nazaré on the coast, then turned inland to Coimbra. The line is simplified, so the real route differs.

Óbidos and Nazaré day trip, starting out: an orange tree on a Vendas Novas street — An orange tree on a Vendas Novas street

A bunny decoration at the Lidl entrance, a week before Easter

Óbidos, a walled town full of flowers

We saw it from the road first: a castle on a hill, a long wall circling it, and white houses with terracotta roofs packed inside. That was Óbidos.

According to Visit Portugal, Portugal’s first king, Afonso Henriques, took the town back from the Moors in 1148, and King Dinis later gave it to his queen, Isabel (Rainha Santa Isabel). The town and the land around it stayed in the hands of Portugal’s queens until 1883, which is why it is known as the “queens’ town.” Walking through it, I could see why: it is lovely enough to give to a queen.

We left the car outside the walls and walked in through the town gate, and the scent of flowers hit us right away. Purple wisteria hung over white walls, and houses trimmed in yellow and blue lined the cobbled lanes.

The “Welcome to Óbidos” sign outside the town gate

A town whose scent you want to remember

In this season the whole town smelled of flowers. I suspect that years from now, just thinking of Óbidos will bring that scent back. My wife put it this way:

“I wish there were a way to remember a scent, too.”

Our kid seemed to feel the same, picking up fallen petals all along the way and collecting them in one hand.

The wall walk with no railing

A walkway runs along the top of the wall. The wall walk around the town is about 2 km (1.2 mi) long. Up top it was narrow, and in many places there was no railing, which made my stomach drop. I was nervous the whole time, so we walked just one stretch, and I only relaxed once we were back on the ground.

After coming down we sat in a wooden-framed net hammock at a good viewpoint and looked out over the town. It was quirky seating, and a nice touch. The castle on top of the hill is now a hotel, a pousada, which is what Portugal calls a castle or monastery converted into lodging.

A net hammock and a fruit tree beside it

The stone wall running along the wall walk

A coffee and a loquat tree

Before going back to the car, we rested over coffee at a café attached to a guesthouse. Meanwhile our kid noticed other tourists picking fruit off a tree and got curious. We were told it was a loquat tree, and that the fruit tastes a bit like apricot.

Óbidos and Nazaré in a day, without a car

We drove north and linked the two towns ourselves. If you don’t rent a car, day trips from Lisbon also cover both towns. These two stop in Óbidos and Nazaré (along with Fátima). We didn’t take either one, so compare group size, language and what’s included on the booking page.

Small groupFátima, Batalha, Nazaré and Óbidos small-group day trip from LisbonA small-group van tour listed at 9 hours, with stops in Fátima, Batalha, Nazaré and ÓbidosView on GetYourGuide →PrivateFátima, Nazaré and Óbidos private day trip from LisbonA private tour with your own vehicle and guide, listed at 8 hours, with stops in Fátima, Nazaré and ÓbidosView on GetYourGuide →

Getting there

We drove from Vendas Novas: about 131 km (81 mi), roughly an hour and a half on Google Maps. The lanes inside the walls are narrow, so we left the car outside and walked in. The main street, Rua Direita, runs from the town gate (Porta da Vila) up to the castle.

Tickets and costs

We didn’t buy any tickets for the lanes or the wall walk. The only thing we paid for there was coffee, $2.72 (March 2024).

Time spent

From the first photo at the gate until we drove off, it was a little over an hour, enough for a slow walk through the lanes, one stretch of wall and a cup of coffee.

Good to know

The wall walk is narrow, with no railing in many places. With a young child, a short stretch is plenty; spend the rest of your time in the lanes.
In late March the wisteria was in full bloom, and the scent in the lanes was strong.
There are viewpoints around town where you can sit and rest.

After taking in Óbidos, we got back in the car and headed for our next stop, Nazaré.

Nazaré, a fishing town and a beach of big waves

Nazaré was a small, quiet fishing village for a long time. Since the early 2010s it has been known worldwide for big-wave surfing. The big waves break at Praia do Norte (North Beach), on the north side of the headland with the lighthouse.

A late lunch and the last toy

It was a 30-minute drive from Óbidos to Nazaré. We stopped at Burger King for a late lunch. There we finally completed the Kung Fu Panda 4 toy set we’d been collecting all trip. Looking back, I think we wanted to finish it more than our kid did.

Parking in Nazaré was hard to find. We circled town several times before we spotted a space tucked away in a corner.

Calm sand on one side of the headland, rough surf on the other

The town side still looks like a fishing village. The beach promenade is known for the sight of fish drying on nets.

The beach in front of town, Praia da Nazaré, was a calm stretch of sand. But once we crossed the headland with the lighthouse, white spray kept rolling in at the north beach. It was hard to believe it was the same sea.

The calm Nazaré beach seen from the hill

Spray rolling in toward the north beach beyond the headland

Late March is after the big-wave season, so these weren’t the monster waves from the famous photos. They were still rougher than any I had seen before. Our kid wrote in the diary that day (in Korean; this is my translation):

“The wave was about five times taller than me.”

We had tried surfing on gentle waves in Bali, so we wondered how surfers stay on their boards in waves like these. We’d love to watch them here in person during big-wave season.

Waves breaking at the north beach, below the cliff with the fort

The cliff trail instead of the lighthouse

On rough days, a lot of people seemed to watch the sea from the fort with the lighthouse. We followed our kid’s lead along the cliff trail by the sea, which got us a little closer to the waves. The wind was so strong that I marveled at a seagull hovering in place.

We watched for a long time as the waves came in, some of them looking like they could swallow anything in their path.

Waves crashing white against the red cliff

In the Nazaré wind

The wind on the cliff was strong. A light jacket that cuts the wind makes it easier to stay out by the waves longer. These aren’t the jackets we wore; the links open search results so you can compare several.

KidsKids’ windbreakerA light windbreaker that folds into a bagView on Amazon →AdultsPackable windbreaker jacketA lightweight adult windbreaker that packs smallView on Amazon →

A wave T-shirt in the souvenir shop

After watching the waves, we walked down the hill into town and stopped at a souvenir shop. A T-shirt hanging in the shop showed the very sea we had just seen.

A “Praia do Norte” T-shirt hanging in a souvenir shop

The reason the north beach is famous for big waves lies in the seabed. Offshore there is an undersea canyon about 230 km (143 mi) long and more than 5,000 m (16,400 ft) deep. The canyon amplifies incoming swells into giant waves. In 2011 the Hawaii-based surfer Garrett McNamara rode a 23.77 m (78 ft) wave here, and world records have been broken in these waters several times since. The big-wave season is said to run from November to February.

A plush sheep with a Fatima ribbon

In that shop our kid spent a long while deciding what to buy with the last of the trip’s pocket money, then spotted a small plush sheep and picked it right away. It rode in our kid’s pocket for the rest of the trip.

After buying it we noticed a ribbon on the sheep that read “Fatima.” Later we learned that Fátima, not far inland, is a famous pilgrimage site, and that it has some connection to sheep.

A plush sheep with “Fatima” on its ribbon