Aveiro, Bussaco and Coimbra

Route description

Leave Porto south on the A1 and turn off after about 30 km for Santa Maria da Feira, whose castle stands in a wooded park above the town. Then continue to Aveiro, a small city on a lagoon crossed by canals. Painted moliceiro boats, once used to collect seaweed, now take visitors round the canals, and the town is known for ovos moles, sweets of egg yolk and sugar.

From Aveiro cross the lagoon to the coast at Barra, with Portugal’s tallest lighthouse, and Costa Nova, where the old wooden fishermen’s houses are painted in bright stripes. Then drive inland, about 60 km, to Luso and the Bussaco forest on the ridge above. Cars pay an entry fee, motorhomes a higher one; the roads inside are narrow and shaded.

The forest was a Carmelite retreat and later the site of a battle against Napoleon’s army in 1810. Walk the stairs of the Fonte Fria and the Via Sacra to the Cruz Alta viewpoint. Coimbra is 30 km south-west. The university sits on the hill above the old town, with the baroque Joanina Library, which you visit on a timed ticket. Park below the hill and walk up, or take the lift.

Coimbra’s old town is steep, with the Romanesque Old Cathedral and the fado houses where students sing. The Roman town of Conímbriga is 15 km south, near Condeixa, with floor mosaics and a good museum. Finish at Figueira da Foz, a seaside resort with one of the widest beaches in Portugal, about 45 km west. The whole route is about 250 km on easy roads.