Nazare - Obidos - Peniche

Our program for today has been expanded due to our originally unplanned stays in the Douro Valley and the second night in Coimbra.

First, after an early start in Nazaré, we visited the beach (Praia do Norte), which is well known for all world records in surfing giant waves. Every year in late autumn, waves up to 30 m high are conquered here. However, when we were there, the sea was relatively calm and offered us waves only 1-2 m high. Considering the visible currents, you think twice before jumping into the sea there, or rather take the quieter beach, Praia da Nazaré. We decided to just have breakfast and continue driving. Since we discovered the street food stalls too late, at the parking lot towards the lighthouse and the viewpoint of Praia do Norte, we enjoyed grilled salmon for breakfast on the hill in a restaurant 🙈😬.

In particular, the northern beach is definitely worth seeing because of its seclusion from the town and its naturalness. Many wild surf campers in their fully equipped VW vans can confirm this 🚌.

Strengthened, we continued along the Atlantic coast via Obidos towards Peniche, where we wanted to spend the night. The coast is truly breathtakingly beautiful and offers constantly changing landscapes. Here you should definitely leave the main roads and simply orient yourself as much as possible along the coastline, even on initially impassable roads.

Obidos was once again described in advance as a historic town with a castle and many buildings, which limited our anticipation due to having already visited places of this kind several times. When we arrived, you could already see the old castle triumphantly perched on the hill from a distance. However, as we approached, we realized that Obidos is different from what we had seen so far. Because Obidos is a village made up of many small quaint white houses, which were essentially built into the old castle. As a result, the entire town is surrounded by a huge protective wall, which is also fully walkable. However, this old wall has the disadvantage that there is only a parapet on the outside. The inside has no safety railing, and in some places it drops more than 10 m below 😳. This is definitely not for the faint-hearted or people with a fear of heights. The families coming towards us on the wall also stayed cramped on the outer wall and thus challenged us to an "overtaking maneuver" on the inside. Something different 😂. Otherwise, the delicious cherry liqueur Ginja d'Obidos is advertised everywhere in the touristy Obidos, which you should treat yourself to either with a chocolate cup or in a sangria 😊. Naturally and 😉. In conclusion, Obidos can also be viewed as a worthwhile open-air museum.

In the early evening, we finally reached the Peniche Peninsula and thought that we could also enjoy the sunset by the sea. Christian therefore chose a spot where this was possible and we set off. The walk was supposed to take about 35-45 minutes on foot. However, no one told us that the path only led along the outer fence of the local fishing port, including the adjoining industrial area. That wasn't really worth seeing. But it became really unpleasant when the air took on an increasingly strong smell. Apparently, somewhere in the port area, the fish innards were stored or disposed of, which led to us experiencing real choking attacks even outside the area for more than 5 minutes 😂🤢🤮🤧. That was really close...

Well, when we finally arrived, we were able to enjoy the sunset in front of Peniche at the very good Xakra Beach Bar, wrapped in blankets and surrounded by hundreds of seagulls, with a glass of sangria and some Ginja d'Obidos 😊. That made up for the journey there, but we still took a taxi back 😬 and ended the day in a cocktail bar.