So a little bit of background here before we dive in. Having already been to Portugal last year, I came again as it was on the green list. Of course a few days before flying out, Portugal was moved to the amber list which meant quarantining on return. By that point I stopped worrying about the traffic light system or giving a shit and decided to enjoy the trip. 

I based myself in Lisbon for the first week of this trip because of the day trip opportunities. You could say that applies to where ever you stay in Portugal. Lisbon being a small place which you can see in 3 days but it’s worth staying for longer for the day trips.

The first day trip was to Obidos which is in the Leiria district. To get to Obidos from Lisbon you need to get the metro to Campo Grande which is where Sporting Lisbon’s Jose Alvalade Stadium is and take a bus. The journey takes between 45 minutes to 1 hour and costs 8 Euros for a one way journey (you can’t buy a return ticket).  

The first thing you notice when you get off the bus is the old aqueducts which carried drinking water for the people of Óbidos. Its arches crossed 3km of vineyards and orchards, starting in a spring in nearby Usseira, and its water ended up in the town’s fountains. The aqueducts are still intact today.

From there it’s a short walk to the old town proper which has approximately 3100 inhabitants. As of 2011 the municipality population was below 12,000.  

I arrived before 9am where the streets were dead. It was a ghost town and it was nice to have a peaceful stroll through. Not visiting here before I thought for a moment that this place was deserted.

The first thing you notice are the surrounding city walls which are reminiscent of York. It’s a very small town which at a slow pace you can see everything in an hour without a break.

If you head straight to the other side, you will get to the castle. From there I would say it’s the ideal place to get on the city walls and follow the trail. There are other points you can get on, including when you get through the city gates as you go through the town but it made sense (or at least in my head it did) to start from the end. 

It goes without saying that there are nice views you will see. If you are scared of heights then it might not be for you.

The city walls in Obidos aren’t like the ones in York where you have protection from both sides with a wall. The majority of the city walls in Obidos isn’t protected so if you decide to walk it and you hate heights, just don’t look down and stick to the side that has a wall. 

If you are with someone, walk in a single file.

In all honesty I didn’t feel uneasy walking it. I can imagine in high winds you would think twice (even if it wouldn’t put me off), but I didn’t notice it at the time. If you walked continuously on the walls without stopping you are looking at 20 – 30 minutes. But there are many photo opportunities and views to take in so of course you are going to spend longer. 

It was around 9:45 when I finished walking on the walls and got some breakfast. Along the way you will see a traditional Obidos drink, ginja advertised on shop windows. This will inevitably peak your interest to the point to try it. 

Ginja is a cherry sour liquor. Although it is produced around the Lisbon area, there is a distinctive way that it’s made in Obidos. 

The cherries are picked at the orchards in the town’s countryside and macerated for at least one year. When the liqueur is extracted, it has an intense ruby tone, and doesn’t require any dyes or preservatives. 

After breakfast, I asked for a ginja. It was 10am but hey when in Rome (or Obidos in this case). And the best thing about it? It’s served in a edible chocolate cup! 

Yes you read that correctly! 

I hate shots but if they were all served in an edible chocolate cup it would entice me to drink more. 

I didn’t realise the thing about the edible chocolate cup at first. When I finished the ginja, I put the cup down. The lady who served the drink and a couple of locals instantly pointed to the cup to eat it. I was bemused, I wasn’t sure if they were being serious or trying to wind me up. 

After one bite, I thanked them a few times because I would never have known of this had they not told me.  

Apparently, there are 2 ways to take a ginja shot. First way is how you probably think, drink the ginja and then eat the chocolate cup. The second way is drinking a bit of ginja and then putting the chocolate cup in your mouth with the remaining ginja and eating it.

I’m not sure the second way sounds that appealing. I think I would cough and probably choke trying to do this.

You will find many shops selling bottles of ginja and chocolate cups by the packet so that could be something to bring back to your loved ones. 

It was lucky I arrived when I did because from 9:30am – 10am, Obidos was filling up with tourists and tour groups so it was good to have the place to myself while I did. 

Getting lost exploring in the little side streets I bumped in to a local, Luis. We crossed paths several times exploring (that’s how small Obidos is!). He lives several miles outside of old town Obidos.

He kindly gave me a tour and went over a bit of history of the place. He showed me the house his Sister bought and a plot of land he wants to buy to build his own place.

How cool is that?

To my surprise he told me houses here cost nearly as much as property in Lisbon. Maybe this is down to the location or the demand in a popular, historical place.

At I got my box of smints out, Luis’s eyes lit up, I offered him one but a smint wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted the box. I found it a bit odd at first but then he got a collection of colourful boxes out of his bag. He liked the colour and how it looked. 

Strange or not there’s no judgement. I mean it’s not like he asked for money or made any weird requests. I was happy giving him the box. There was a little niggle, he didn’t want the smints so we searched places in Obidos that had spare boxes until we found somewhere that one of those small paper bags that we would use for a pick-a-mix.

I mean come on, why not just take the smints?

I wasn’t fussed about the smints, I was happy to give them to Luis but he didn’t want them and it seemed pointless throwing them away and wasting them.    

After sitting for a coffee (a hot chocolate in my case) we part ways as I took the bus back to Lisbon.  Obrigado Luis, it was fun hanging out and appreciate your company, the tour and history guide.     

If you are only going for a trip to old town Obidos, you don’t need long, it’s a day trip if you want to really take your time. If you want to stay and check out the municipal then you could spend a few days. It’s a cute little place that I would visit again. It looks like the original old town has been untouched and kept its originality.

Generally with day trips you want apart from visiting somewhere new, you ideally would want something that gives you something you have never experienced amongst other things. It is an added bonus if it’s somewhere unique and historic.

Obidos ticks those boxes.