Óbidos is a small walled town on a hill an hour north of Lisbon, and it is almost absurdly complete: a full circuit of medieval walls you can walk around, a castle at one end, a single cobbled main street of whitewashed houses trimmed in blue and yellow, and bougainvillea over most of it. It takes two or three hours and it is on every coach itinerary from the capital, which means the difference between a lovely visit and a slow shuffle past souvenir shops is entirely a question of when you arrive.
The town
The walls are the reason to come. The circuit runs the whole way around the town, with views over the roofs inside and the countryside outside, and it takes around half an hour to walk.
The main street runs from the town gate to the castle, cobbled, whitewashed and lined with shops, cafes and liqueur stalls.
The castle at the far end is now a hotel, so you see it from outside rather than tour it.
The back lanes either side of the main street are where the town is quiet and residential, and they are five steps away from the crowd.
The town gate itself, tiled inside, is the entrance and one of the prettiest things here.
Ginja
The local drink and the thing everybody tries.
What it is. A sour cherry liqueur, sweet, strong and dark red, made across this part of Portugal and closely associated with Óbidos.
How it is served. In a small cup made of chocolate, which you drink from and then eat, sold from little shops along the main street.
It costs very little and is sold everywhere, so there is no need to hunt for a particular place.
It is genuinely nice, and two is enough at eleven in the morning.
Timing the visit
Go early. The first coaches arrive mid-morning, and the town before them is a quiet whitewashed village.
Or go late, after about four, when they leave and the light on the walls is at its best.
Avoid the middle of the day in summer, when the main street is a queue and the walls are hot.
Two to three hours is genuinely enough for the town itself.
Then go somewhere else, which is the key to making this a full day.
What to combine it with
The coast to the west, including the town famous for its enormous winter waves, which is half an hour away and a completely different kind of sight.
The great monastery towns to the south, which hold two of the most impressive gothic buildings in Portugal and see far fewer foreign visitors than they deserve.
A beach town on the way back, if the weather is warm.
None of these are convenient by public transport from Óbidos, which is why a car or an organised trip makes the day work.
Practical notes
Coaches leave from a central Lisbon terminal and run through the day; there is no fast direct train.
Shoes with grip for the walls and the cobbles, which are polished and slippery when wet.
It is small, so do not plan lunch, two museums and a walk. The town is the walk.
Festivals fill the town periodically, including a medieval fair in summer and a chocolate festival, which are fun and extremely busy.
Cash for the liqueur stalls, though most take cards.
How it compares with the other day trips
Sintra is the big one, with palaces, timed tickets and a full day required.
Cascais is the easy seaside train ride, covered in our guide to Cascais and Estoril.
Évora is the long one into the plains and the one worth an overnight, covered in our guide to Évora and the Alentejo.
Óbidos is the smallest and prettiest, and the one that most needs pairing with something else.
For the city itself, our Lisbon guide covers how many days it needs and what to do with them.
The short version
Arrive before the coaches or after they leave, walk the full circuit of the walls carefully in proper shoes, and get off the main street into the back lanes where the town is quiet. Try the cherry liqueur in a chocolate cup, which costs almost nothing and is the local thing to do. Give the town two or three hours rather than stretching it to fill a day, and pair it with the wave coast to the west or the monastery towns to the south to make the journey from Lisbon worth it.
