Nazare

The coastal town of Nazare is renowned for its sandy beaches and was an ideal stop over location for us on route to the south of Portugal. 

The original settlement of Sitio happened to be where we had chosen to stay so ideally away from the centre and just a short climb down and over a rock face into the touristy bit. 

As all the guide books suggest this little town has become swallowed up by tourism in recent years and now the traditional dress adorned by the locals is merely as rouse to lure you in to buy their overpriced souvenirs or fruits and nuts which are available around the original square as well as along the seafront. The peanut cookies are fab, that is as long as you like nuts!

A trip on the funicular costs €1.20 each way but I recommend taking the more scenic stairs at least in one direction as it is certainly good for your budget as well as keeping you in shape!

Parking isn't too much of an issue, we found a space in the square of Sitio where one of the locals took it upon himself to guard the car for us... and along the seafront there is some free parking if you venture up far enough, but I can imagine it is packed during peak season.

An hour or two here is enough to take in all that is on offer... unless of course you visit here during the summer and want to join the sun worshippers as it looks like that sort of place ;).

Obidos
 
We headed to Obidos for the afternoon, on our way to the capital, and on arrival wished we had booked a night here to enjoy it after the tourists had left for the day.

Another highlight for me, the medieval fairy tale town of chocolate and cherry liqueur... there is clearly a theme developing for this trip ;). There is also a castle here :).

We were a day early for the start of the chocolate festival (disappointing!) which is hosted here until the end of march but still took part in the obligatory cherry liqueur tasting from chocolate shot cups at €1 a go... and of course purchased a souvenir 'large' bottle of this famous tipple.

If you are with car, park opposite the tourist office, where the aqua duct resides, as its free unlike the public car park directly opposite.

Just down the road from the town itself, is a rather large church (Santuário do Senhor Jesus da Pedra) that is worth poking your head inside... it has a hexagonal layout and a stone cross at the alter, which is something I haven't seen before.

After driving here I'm now much more confident on the road so headed off to Lisbon without hesitation, although handed over to my co-driver as we neared the city and the complicated road layout, which is not for the faint hearted!