It was a rainy morning so we decided to wait it out and took a ride on the famous 28 tram around the castle hill.
The traffic was not too bad initially but after 45 min we bailed and hit the toll road for 35 km. This was only 2 Euros.
Most of the day was headed north and then west to hit the coast. We wanted to stop at the famous point at Nazaré. There were no 30 meter waves forecast unfortunately, but it was cool to see it anyway.
From here we headed north east to the lovely city of Coimbra. This 241 km took all day.
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We had planned to spend just one night here, but the forecast is for rain tomorrow. There is a particularly curvy road planned on our route south east and so we stayed another night as the sun will come back in full force. This gave us some time to explore this nice city. One thing there is a lot of is steep roads and staircases. One famous stair is near us and on the way up to the botanical garden.
We are so glad we waited out the rain it a beautiful sunny cloudless day. Our day today is half curvy mountain roads and half riding thru medieval castles. We are generally headed south east and toward Seville. We were optimistic on our time line and after Marvao we opted to try for a hotel in Portalegre but on a Saturday night they were all full and we finally arrived to our agroturismo 35 min south just after dark.
We began the day with the very narrow and curvy N236 which passes thru Lousã and then Castanheira de Pera. We continued over another mountain pass and then had some secondary highways for about 40 km.
We made our way on the small roads to Castelo de Vide. This town is perched on the hill with a Medevial castle at one end and a lovely white washed town at the other. We managed to follow the signage up the narrow cobble streets to the centre of the castle. This can be a bit hairy at times as the road is narrow and the turns can be quite sharp with little warning. Riding at slow speed on cobbles up and down these narrow passages is quite something. There is a nice chapel to visit and you can climb on the battlements.
Just 20 minutes farther is the castle at Marvão. This castle is much more impressive as it been restored, but also more touristy. We did also ride up to the hill top on the switchbacks and then in thru the castle gate. There are far more pedestrians here so a bit more nerve racking. We managed to get here after 3 and all the restaurants are closed.
So we pushed on to Portalegre to find a restaurant, but all the hotels are full so we found a agrotourismo 35 km south and on our general route.
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Beautiful travel pics you sent. Thank you so much! I am glad you experienced Coimbra and it’s University with the Library of St . John. One of our favorite spots.
Loved the nod to surfing…at Nazare .
Enjoy the south and Spain.
You are missing atmospheric rivers and bomb cyclones off West coast of Van Island! Don’t be too disappointed. Lots of power outages. I wonder what new phrase they will adopt for the next weather event!!
Hugs,
D&D