Obidos Portugal
Just an hour south of our destination of Leiria, and about an hour north of Lisbon, sits a quaint medieval town called Óbidos. Unable to check into our AirBnb until 4, we had some time to kill so off we went to wander old narrow cobblestone pathways. Because why not? The first thing to catch the eye from the highway as you look off to the west is the aqueduct built around 1570 under the orders of Catherine of Austria, Queen of Portugal.
The main attraction here is the well preserved castle and walled city. Apparently, this setting became well known for a rather interesting 600-year tradition that started in 1210 whereby the king would gift this establishment to his wife, the queen. That’s why this area is also known as Casa das Rainhas, the House of Queens. Interestingly, the Portuguese version of Romeo and Juliet also took place here with the forbidden love to Dom Pedro and Inês de Castro.
We visited during the general time of the famous chocolate festival. But having visited on a weekday, there was no chocolate festival going on. Still, to remind us, there were incredibly cheezy candy decorations all around.
Another famous locally produced foodie item that was very popular everywhere here is the ginja liquor produced from local sour cherries.
We also took a quick visit to a filigree museum. I had never heard of this local jewelry before. Impressive!
And if you like Portuguese books, this is your version of heaven. Local landmarks have been transformed into book shops, including an old church. Obidos has been dubbed by UNESCO as “The Literature City”.
There is a big parking lot just outside of the main gate. When we visited, multiple tour buses were there and the upper parking lot was pretty full. A pay station is located on site, but coins are needed. (An attendant can be coaxed into providing change if needed, but don’t expect to use any plastic.) When we asked a British couple how much time to expect to spend, they were sure everything could be seen in less than two hours. But that’s really rushing it, in my opinion. 3-5 hrs feels more a reasonable speed to enjoy what this amazing place has to offer.
