Things to Do in Óbidos

Castle walls, Óbidos

By Christopher Minster

Most visitors to Óbidos don’t stay too long, as the town is easily visited on a day trip from Lisbon. This is a pity, because there is more than meets the eye in this fantastic walled city. Adventurous visitors will want to take one of the stairways up to the top of the wall and, using the same medieval walkways used by guards centuries ago, walk around the whole city.  The wall is about 1600 meters (or approximately one mile) long, and if you walk it at a leisurely pace, you can do it in about 2 hours or less.

If the very notion of walking on top of a wall that was built several centuries ago (with no guardrails!) gives you the willies, there are still things to do in town. Head over to the main drag for some shopping, and be sure to try the cherry wine. The town museum is worth checking out, as is the Santa María church, where in 1444 King Afonso V married his cousin Isabel. The interesting part? He was ten and she was eight.

Although the entire city is walled, there is a castle, further walled off from the rest of the city. This castle has been converted into a world-class inn, or pousada. Even if you’re not staying there, it is worth a visit: there is a restaurant there, where you can eat if you make reservations, and the staff is used to tourists poking around a little bit. See if you can talk them into letting you explore the high inner castle walls.