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The best independent guide to Central Portugal
MyPortugalHoliday.com
The best independent guide to Central Portugal
Obidos Intro - Obidos Sights - Day Trip to Obidos - Lisbon to Obidos - Lisbon day trips - Nazaré - Batalha
A day trip to Obidos in 2024
Obidos is a pretty and historic walled town, which is one of the most popular day trips from Lisbon. Lisbon is connected to Obidos by an express bus service, and this makes the day trip is suitable for all.
This article will detail a day trip to Obidos, and focuses on the practicalities of the day trip, along with a suggested walking tour.
Related articles: Sights of Obidos – Lisbon to Obidos - Lisbon day trips
Obidos is one of the prettiest towns of Portugal
Traditionally, Obidos was a present to the queen of Portugal on her wedding day
Quick details for a day trip to Obidos
• Typical cost for an adult - €35 (bus fare 2x€8.00, lunch €15-20, no admission fees, a glass of Ginja €1.50)
• The bus journey from Lisbon to Obidos - 60 minutes
• The typical length of time in Obidos 2-3 hours
• A day trip is suitable for adults, children, teenagers and older visitors.
• There are cobbled streets and hills; therefore visitors with limited mobility may experience problems.
• Obidos is a very touristy town!
Why visit Obidos?
Obidos is considered as one of the most charming and picturesque towns of central Portugal. Within the town are traditionally painted houses, narrow cobbled streets, and an imposing castle. Obidos is a highly recommended day trip and is ideal if you have a longer holiday in Lisbon.
Obidos is the quintessential Portuguese town, just when there are no other tourists about!
The houses were painted white to reflect the intense summer sun, and blue and yellow to (supposedly) keep insects away!
An organised tour of Obidos?
There are many organised tours that leave from Lisbon and include Obidos. These day-long tours combine Obidos with other popular tourist destinations such as Fátima, Nazaré or Batalha.
The advantage of an organised tour is that they provide knowledgeable tour guides, and are great if you are limited for time.
The advantage of an organised tour is that they provide knowledgeable tour guides and are great if you are limited for time. The main disadvantage of the organised tours, is that they only schedule 40-60 minutes to explore Obidos, which is not really long enough.
An independent day trip to Obidos means that you can avoid the peak hours and spend as long as you like within the town. Some of the best tours that include Obidos are shown below:
• A Popular tour of Fatima, Obidos, Batalha and Nazaré (€65)
• Fátima, Nazaré, Óbidos & São Martinho do Porto Full-Day Tour (€60)
• Óbidos, Fátima and the Atlantic Coast (€65)
Obidos does get crowded with tourists......
Photos of Obidos make it seem idyllic and picturesque, but it is a very popular tourist destination, and the experience of exploring the town will be shared with many hundreds of other tourists.
In the summer, the main street (the Rua Direita) will be crowded with tourists and coach tours. We always advise to start any day trip early in the day and try to avoid the peak hours (between 11am-2pm). An alternative idea is to spend a night in Obidos, as the town is peaceful from after 5pm.
The Rua Direita on a quiet spring day, but there are still lots of tourists!
Obidos is only a small town
Obidos is a relatively small town and all of the tourist attractions can be easily seen within a couple of hours of sightseeing. There are many more tourist attractions in Sintra, Cascais and Setubal than Obidos, but the main appeal of Obidos is its charm.
If the day trip to Obidos is too short, we suggest combining it with the town of Caldas da Rainha, which is briefly discussed at the end of this article.
A day trip to Obidos
Lisbon to Obidos
There is an express bus service between Lisbon to Obidos, which leaves from the Campo Grande bus station (yellow and green metro lines). A single ticket costs €8.00 (there are no return tickets for the route), and the journey takes 1 hour.
There are over 30 daily departures Monday to Friday but only 13 at the weekends or public holidays. The only hassle with the bus, is that the bus stop in Campo Grande bus station is hidden on a side road, and we would recommend reading our guide so that you know the exact location.
The bus stop in Obidos is to the south of the town, close to the Porta da Vila gateway (GPS: 39.359263, -9.157364)
Related articles: Lisbon to Obidos
Lisbon to Obidos by car
Obidos is 1km from the A8 expressway, one of the major routes connecting Lisbon and the north of Portugal. There are two large car parks to the south of Obidos (GPS: 39.357661, -9.158142 and GPS: 39.357352, -9.157378) and are served by junction 15 of the A8 expressway.
Advice: Obidos makes a great detour when travelling from Lisbon to Coimbra or Porto.
Where for lunch?
Obidos is a very touristy town, and the cost of food reflects this. There are many good restaurants along the Rua Direita, but they will be very busy in the summer.
For some of the better value establishments, head outside of the town walls to the Largo do Santuário, close to the Santuário do Senhor Jesus da Pedra. The Restaurante Vila Infanta, serves good priced food and is where the locals eat.
A suggested walking tour of Obidos
The following section provides a suggested walking tour of Obidos, which covers the main sights of the town. For a more detailed description of the sights, please see this article.
Below is an interactive map for a suggested tour of Obidos. The green section is the recommend tour, and the grey section is the optional walk to the Santuario do Senhor Jesus da Pedra.
• Arrive by bus or car
• Head to the tourist office to get a map of Obidos (GPS: 39.358183, -9.158091)
• Enter Obidos via the decorative Porta da Vila (GPS: 39.359512, -9.157827)
• Climb to the top of the battlements inside the Porta da Vila, for a view over the town.
• Head down the Rua Direita, the main shopping street of Obidos
• See the Igreja San Pedro and the Capela de São Martinho
• Turn left from the Rua Direita and head uphill (west) to the battlements and the Miradouro Jogo da Bola viewpoint (GPS: 39.361213, -9.158102). These cobbled side streets are very pretty.
• Walk the Rua da Talhada towards the castle; this path also provides great views over Obidos
• Exit the town walls at the gate (GPS: 39.362924, -9.157783), and see the surrounding countryside. Up until the 16th century the valley below this gate had access to the sea and was a major port.
• Walk downhill to the castle entrance (GPS: 39.363092, -9.157185)
• Visit the courtyard of the castle (GPS: 39.363768, -9.157388) for some of the best photos of the castle
• Wander down the Rua do Coronel Pacheco (GPS: 39.362546, -9.156722), for more pretty cobbled streets, which away from the tourist masses.
• Visit the Igreja de Santa Maria (GPS: 39.362005, -9.156986) – the most important church of Obidos.
Insight: This church was the venue for the royal wedding of King Afonso V to Queen Isabel in 1444 – the strange fact about the wedding was that, at the time of the wedding, Isabel was eight and Afonso, ten!
• While in the Santa Maria church, look at the paintings by Josefa de Obidos, one of the only prominent women artists of the 17th century
• Opposite the church is the Museu Municipal de Óbidos.
• Back on the Rua Direita, stop at one of the little bars or cafes for a drink Ginjinha d’Obidos, a sweet cherry liqueur.
• (Optional) Head up to the town walls at the Porta da Vila, and walk either the western or eastern perimeters.
Warning: the town walls are uneven and pitted, with no handrails – take caution, and they are not suitable for children.
• (optional) Visit the hexagonal Santuário do Senhor da Pedra church.
• (optional) See the stone arches of the Aqueduto de Óbidos.
This whole tour can be seen within two to three hours
Obidos combined with Caldas da Rainha
To extend the day trip, we would recommend visiting the town of Caldas da Rainha, which is 5km to the north of Obidos. Caldas da Rainha is on the same bus service as Obidos and is only a 10-minute journey away.
Caldas da Rainha is little visited by tourists, but has a pretty town centre and a large park, the Parque Dom Carlos I. In the morning there is a traditional fruit market (Mercado da Fruta). From Caldas da Rainha the bus goes directly back to Lisbon.
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