Obidos is a medieval castle and walled town walled town in the Portuguese district of Leiria municipality. (wikipedia.org) It can be traced back to Roman times, although the signature viaduct is not Roman at all but dates to the 16th century, built at the direction of the queen of Portugal.
The town walls are essentially complete and you can walk around most of them. There are no safety barriers though and the path is as narrow as 3 feet in some places and there are also steep steps where the town wall rises with the contours of the hill on which the town sits.
Inside the town the building are mainly white rendered with blue accents and to say they are picturesque does not do them justice. Of course, they all make money the same way by selling things to the tourists. Even in November there are tourists here by the coach loads – literally!
Of course the modern town has expanded beyond the city walls, but there are not too many buildings close to the old town and it retains the feel of a medieval hilltop town. In fact, every July, the town hosts a full two week medieval festival with rousting, jousting, theatre and probably much drinking too.
We explored the lanes and alleys of the town and walked the walls. We could not tour the castle proper as it’s a hotel these days – must be gorgeous! We found a couple of awesome bookshops – one in a converted church and the other with the walls covered in shelves made from wine boxes.
Back to mothership and scrabble and pasta for dinner. The next morning and a brief visit to the (closed) church and we are off towards Sintra.
