Nazaré, Portugal: Some tourist towns are just fine
It seems that no one likes a tourist town. But I must say that there are some towns that are great despite the number of tourists and my brother and I have been visiting one such beach town in Portugal. We’ve been in Nazaré between Lisbon and Porto for the past few days and we’ve totally enjoyed ourselves.
Let me tell you a bit about Nazaré and check out the photos, below.
Nazaré has been a tourist town for many years, but it is only in the past 15 years that it has jumped onto the world map. That is when international suffers “discovered” that the waves here could be the largest ever surfed in the world. During our stay we enjoyed watching surfers on substantial 10-foot waves, but the record wave to be surfed here is 86 feet, about the height of an eight-story building.
You watch the suffers from atop a ridge that extends down from the old part of town. A lighthouse there provides great viewing. The largest waves are between October and March, pushed to Portugal by North Atlantic storms.
So Nazaré is a town with something to do beyond just lying on the beach: You can watch the surfers.
There is also a long stretch of beach (where the waves are smaller) and a promenade that extends for a few miles. And it seems like much of the town dates back to when Nazaré was a fishing town, giving the town real roots in history and an authentic feel.
We also spent time watching the large fishing boats arrive in the harbor to unload their catches, and the solitary fisherman casting their lines from the break walls that protect the harbor. A large public market is open six days a week. My personal favorite here has been the fish drying down by the beach.
We don’t plan to have any Travel Fever trips here. We’re not scouting. We just came here to relax and it sure has worked well.
(Click/tap to enlarge any photo)
