Caldas da Rainha and Obidos, Portugal

We decided to rent a car for the next 10 days. I usually don't like to do that because I'm not that into driving and because public transportation is so awesome in Europe. But, car rentals are so damn cheap here I couldn't pass it up. It will also allow us to do more trips outside of cities and to nearby parks. The average cost for a rental with a stick shift is going to be $34/day including tolls and gas. The base rate was about $18/day! That's cheaper than if we took buses, trains, and taxis.

So I picked up the car after checking out of Lisbon and we headed north to a touristy castle town called Obidos. It's about an hour north if driving. First, we stopped in the nearby town of Caldas da Rainha to check it out. There's a beautiful central park with a pond and a palace that makes for great pictures. Sadly, the palace is falling to ruins and we're starting to see a lot of that in Portugal. They just don't have the money to maintain all of the mansions in the country and are probably waiting for EU funds to fix them up.

We walked for about an hour in town. We're keeping our eyes open for places we may want to retire to, and this town was recommended. It's about 50,000 people but cities that size always seem so much bigger because everyone walks! There are blocks after blocks after blocks of shops selling anything you want and lots of knicknacks you don't. It' s not a tourist town, but it is a ceramic center. We liked it and it's got a good vibe.

Then it was a short drive south to Obidos. It's a walled medieval city on a steep hill and the center is for pedestrians and local cars only. We parked at a free lot and made our way up to a charming little hotel in the center. For off season, there were a fair amount of day trippers and bus groups. Along the 200 or so meters from the castle gate to our hotel, we passed lots of tourist shops. Most of them were selling Ginjinha in the street, the local cherry liquer. Except here, you could get a shot served in a small chocolate cup. Delicious, but one will do.

The town prescribes that the buildings are whitewashed with a blue stripe of paint at the base. It makes for great photos. We walked the streets and saw the sights in probably an hour. It's a good thing we only stayed one night and there's a reason most people do it on a day trip. But we have time and spending the night allowed us a chance to see the castle and ramparts at night and also again in the morning before anyone else was up.

More photos and videos are here. https://photos.app.goo.gl/TFuJkC61ePZiVzSTARead more