Portugal – Nazaré (En)

We arrived in Nazaré last Thursday and went to Lidl to park as it has motorhome places in its parking. Thank you very much to Lidl as here in Portugal it has motorhome places in their parking, there are no facilities but you can do the shopping, use their toilets and use a laundry. It provides us with parking to see the towns and beaches, and it is free! So we will be using more Lidl parking in the future.

Nazaré is one of the finest beach towns of Portugal’s Silver Coast and has grown from a little fishing town to a popular tourist destination due to its huge waves that attract daredevil surfers who come to surf the colossal waves that break off the Norte Beach. It is the setting for some of the world’s largest waves, which can reach over 30 m (100ft) in winter. Things to see are the Nazare beach, sheltered from the strong Atlantic winds and currents; the Sitio district, a historic and charming district that sits at the top of the Sitio headland. The district was historically an important pilgrimage destination, and inside the Sanctuary of Nossa Senhora de Nazare, is a unique holy icon. This small, black wood and the painted statue is believed to be one of the earliest carved statues of Mary and depicts her breastfeeding the Baby Jesus. And the Lookout do Suberco which is situated 110 m above sea level. There is a funicular that goes from the Sitio district to the beach below. We went first to the Sitio district to see the Sanctuary and the Lookout, 20 minutes walking from Lidl. The Sitio district has a square with typical shops, bars and restaurants and a chapel with the Mary statue inside.

We did not take the funicular instead we went walking down with amazing views and a place where was a swing hanging from the cliff, really scary. We arrived at the beach and the paseo full of shops, bars and restaurants and we went to Nova Casa Cacao Restaurant which our Portuguese friend Paulo recommend and where his childhood friend Evelio works. Evelio is a really nice guy and invited us to some shots. They did not have barnacles, maybe because there were no waves, the beach was really flat, and they told us that it is the season for crab (the season is the months with R), so we decided to share the seafood platter, really good price and delicious! With clams, prawns, lobster and crab. The best is the crab! So if you go to Nazare go and see Evelio in his restaurant, the food is yummy!

And after lunch, we went wandering the 25 minutes up back to Lidl, near all uphill so our lunch was already gone and we arrived back late evening.

Yesterday Friday we arrived at Foz de Arelho a natural wonder. To one side of the large sandy strip is the Atlantic Ocean, and to the other side are the tranquil waters of the Óbidos Lagoon, where we are going to stay until Monday. And you can see it in the next post!