I will be traveling solo by car from Porto to Lisbon. I leave Porto on Oct 3 and will be dropping the car off at the airport in Lisbon in the evening of Oct 4. I thought an overnight in either Nazare or Obidos would be nice. Which is a better base?

I plan to make some brief stops along the way from Porto (Coimbra, Baltaha, and Alcobaca). Brief because I just want a taste of those places and don't want to spend lots of time there.

Would love some advice from other Fodorites.
Thanks!

I would stop in Nazare, perhaps over lunch, but I would stay in Obidos. We enjoyed Estalagem Do Covento.

Well I guess you are leaving from Lisbon Airport late on October 4th.

Nazare and Obidos are only 25 miles apart., so not much of a driving difference for you.

Nazare is along the ocean and has a lovely beach, but you do not have time for this.

In Nazare I would visit Oliveira Square (Lunch)
then take funicular up to the Panoramic Lookout Point,

then go to the Lighthouse, St.Michael Archangel Fortress and the Stone of Guilhim.

All the above are close together.

Then stay overnight in Obidos.

You wake up in Obidos, have breakfast and tour the town's quaint shops and then head for Lisbon.. BUT

you have time to see Queluz Palace on the outskirts of Lisbon, since it is not really out of your way.

I would not miss it if you have time, or I should say make time. !

Good Luck

Only visited Obidos but used Nazarre as a base and loved it - seaside makes it nice and in the warren of old lanes locals sells fresh caubght fish freshly grilled - from grills in the streets but Obidos is significantly farther towards Lisbon - why not also hit Sintra en route to Lisbon airport.

Hi

Definitely Óbidos, we just had a guest that stayed in the Pousada Castelo Óbidos and he told wonders.

Best regards

As I type this email I am currently trapped inside the walled city of Obidos. We are at a lovely 3 bdrm house we have rented for 2 nights, (Casa Dos Frutos Divinos)located one street below the Pousada and castelo.

The reason for being trapped inside the city walls is a very large Mercedes 9 passenger van that I rented for my family of 5. Big mistake!

Beware! Due to recent construction, there is only one way to enter the city through the walls of Obidos, and there is only one way out.

The entry is a small opening into the wall that requires an up hill cobble stone drive of some 20 feet into the wall, and then a 90 degree tight right turn out through the exit hole into the walled city. My guess is that I had about 1 to 2 inches of space on either side of the side of the van. The advice I received from my screaming wife, who was outside the van giving me frantic hand and arm signals did little to calm my heart which was pumping blood very rapidly as I tried to use the clutch, brake, and gear shift levers to keep the car from rolling backwards into the walls.

To make matters worse, inside the van were 2 terrified teen age grand kids and a daughter all wanting to be out of what appeared to be the impending destruction of a very expensive rental car.

The van was a 6 gear, standard shift, which I managed to stall about 3 times trying to move forward and back as I tried to negotiate the 90 degree turn. This white knuckle part of my driving experience in the ancient cities of Portugal came to an abrupt end about 30 yards ahead where I found a parking place where I could stop and finally calm my nerves.

I have decided to leave the beast parked until we leave in the morning for a one way trip to Lisbon and never try to reenter the city in anything but a small car.

As a retired USMC helicopter pilot from the Vietnam era, I reflect back on the times when I hovered my CH-46 with 2 wheels on the ground an a nose wheel in the air hanging off a 700 foot rock pile drop off. Maybe I'm getting too old, but that situation 50 years ago seems much easier than getting into the city of Obidos.

With a smaller car you'll be able to enjoy this beautiful city and I would definitely want to walk the walls, visit the squares and sip some wine or ginja in a chocolate cup as you stroll the one big shopping alley in town. Socal sends










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I'm sorry to say, Socal, that i had to laugh at your expense. You may be the new Rick Steves or the best trip reporter on the site. Thanks for the chuckle. Hope you made it out unscathed.

Lisakinnear....We did, but the trip out the front gate was just as close as it was going in, and thankfully, it only took a little spit and hard rubbing to get that little scratch off the right rear bumper. We are finally back home in California trying real hard to recover from jet lag. I may sit down and put out a trip report on the places we visited when I'm back in shape adeus..

Socal's remarks made me laugh- having been in similar circumstances albeit not with such a big expensive rental (Arcos de la Frontera, I'm looking at you) we always rent the smallest car we think we can get away with AND every bit of insurance offered (which usually doubles the cost of the rental) so that in case we incur the inevitable scratch in tiny spaces we can just walk away from the rental office without distress.
Obidos IS very small- we were there in May- and we stayed just outside at Casa d'Obidos, which was not without its own issues (inexpensive and lovely but quirky management, unreliable hot water and a mediocre breakfast). The location of the Pousada is indeed hair raising. Best strategy is to park outside the walls and walk in, but hauling luggage along would be a bummer!

social looking forward to that trip report from a fellow Californian.

BTW: I decided to spend the night in Sintra. I so appreciate all the advice. With that booking, I finalized all my accommodations for my 35 day trek. Couldn't have done it without this site.

Thanks again!