Coimbra, Nazare and Obidos

These three cities can be covered in a single-day trip from Lisbon. Each of the cities has its charm. It is best to drive from Lisbon to Coimbra first and then on the way back visit the towns of Nazare and Obidos.

Coimbra ♿️ ♿️

Coimbra is a beautiful college town by the banks of the Mondego River. You can get a stunning view of the old town from Ave. Conimbriga. This place is by the side of Ponte de Santa Clara, where you can park your car and stroll along the Mondego River.  This is a perfect place to click pictures with the university town in the background. You can drive across the bridge and follow the signs for the university, one of the oldest in Portugal. The university is located on the hilltop.

The university buildings are spread all across the town. If you have time you can explore the old town and the little restaurants.

Wheelchair accessibility ♿️

  • There are a few accessible parking in the parking lot just next to the bridge. The street is cobbled but there is a slope to reach the parking spot.
  • Across the street on Av. Conimbriga there are slopes to get up to the walking trail along the river bank.
  • The University is drivable and there is accessible parking near the entrance

Nazare ♿️ ♿️ ♿️

Nazare is a fishing town on the Atlantic coast with its traditional and beach-friendly charm. You can drive to the Beach front and stroll around the main market area. Here you can see how the townspeople follow the old-school way of drying and preserving fish. The old woman folks maintain the tradition of wearing the seven-layered skirt while selling fish. If you stroll along the promenade you will find the colorful traditional boats and mackerel drying zone where ladies still sun dry their mackerel, sardines, and other fishes.

Wheelchair accessibility ♿️

  • Drive towards the direction of Beachfront. There is accessible parking at the cross-section of Av.da Municipio and Av. Da Republica.
  • The beachfront is entirely wheelchair accessible and so is the fish drying area. You can stroll the rectangular loop to see the drying fish area.

Don’t forget to click pictures with those traditional boats and the cliffs in the background.

Sitio ♿️ ♿️ ♿️

Nazare has an upper town, Sitio. Sitio seats at a hilltop and this neighborhood is a totally separate village that believes in farming more than fishing. You can follow the directions to Sitio and drive up there or you can also take the funicular. Sitio has a dominant square and the whole neighborhood is around that square. The beautiful church of our lady of Nazare sits in between the square and there is a market around it.

From the edge of the terrace, you can get a stunning view of Nazare and its golden beach stretching all the way to the town harbor. You can watch several seven-petticoat women selling munchies. Grab some munchies and enjoy the sunset overlooking the golden beach.

This place is completely accessible. You have to be careful as the streets are a little hilly and cobbled. There is an accessible parking spot near Restaurante Casa Pires.

Obidos ♿️ ♿️

Obidos is a castle town located on the hilltop. The walled city is very beautiful with white-washed houses decorated with flower buckets. This is Portugal’s one of prettiest little towns. This place is famous for being one of the biggest Christmas markets. During holidays the walled city is lighted all along and the view is stunning from the highway. As we have a wheelchair in the family we prefer to drive by as the inside of the castle is very hard to navigate in a wheelchair.

Wheelchair accessibility ♿️

There is an accessible parking spot at the entrance. There are a few other parking lots while driving to the castle from where you can get a beautiful view.

Porto ♿️ ♿️

Porto is one of the lively cities in the North of Portugal. This is the birthplace of port wine. Porto is on the north bank of the Duro river. This place is very hilly and cobbled stones all around which makes it very challenging for wheelchair users. The picturesque riverfront has very narrow streets with colorful homes and arcades. It’s a better idea for wheelchair users to drive around. There are a few places across the River where you can view picturesque Porto and the Ponte Dom Luis1. There is a Funicular also which connects Ribeira to up ill Gaya.

Across the River is Vila Nova the Gaya, a separate town, where you will find most of the port wine cellars. You can tour those cellars sampling Port wine. For an easy Port wine tasting you can visit Wow (The world of wines). They have a fantastic Museum which shows the history of wine and winemaking and at the end of the tour, you get to sample some port wine.

Wheelchair accessibility ♿️

There is ♿️ accessible parking in the parking lot from where you can take the elevator and go to the museum. The museum is completely accessible. they have accessible bathrooms too