HOME TOUR

After an eventful winter trip to Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, we headed back to Portugal for an easier summer trip, this time exploring the north. It was a 6 hour direct flight into Porto from Boston on TAP Airlines, we rented a car and a lovely AirBNB, spending the majority of the time in Costa Nova with a two day stay in Porto before flying home. All other stops were day trips out from Costa Nova. Come along with me to Costa Nova, Portugal on our summer wanderings in northern Portugal.

We landed in the morning after a red eye flight to Europe and couldn’t check in until 4 pm. So we spent our first few hours in Braga, a town north of Porto, to see the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Bom Jesus and the oldest cathedral in Portugal.

BRAGA HIGHLIGHTS

All a bit jet lagged, the kid’s fell asleep on the 45 minute car ride despite our best efforts occasional poking and putting the windows down. But they rallied like world-traveling troopers, we drove straight to the Bom Jesus which is up a windy mountain road above the town to walk the famous steps, explore the church and enjoy the warmth.

We then drove into the town of Braga to see the oldest cathedral in Portugal, Santa Maria de Braga, with portions dating back to 1128. It was glorious and the town of Braga, fun to wander around. We got bread and pastries at a bakery for the next morning’s breakfast, Acai bowls for a late lunch and lingered before hoping in the car and driving down to Costa Nova.

COSTA NOVA’S CHARMING RENTAL

We loved our AirBNB in Costa Nova. We checked in on a Monday and stayed through Saturday. Which felt nice because longer stays in one spot make for way more relaxing trips. Matt would walk to the market in the morning for breakfast foods and then we would walk to the beach, which was the whole reason (besides the striped houses) to come to this part of Portugal.

CHARMING COSTA NOVA

This is a sleepy little seaside town in early June but gets busier as the summer unfolds. We found a favorite beach club, Sètimo, and ate there 3 times. It was all very reminiscent of San Diego for Matt and I, a little bit gritty with a 60’s vibe at times.

THE BEACHES

The beaches, with their charming dunes and board walks, were wonderful and the reason we came. I had read that this area of the coastline can get very windy. They sell wind guards you stake into the sand all around your towel at the local beach shops and stands. We never actually used one but it seemed like most people had them up. These are lovely beaches with soft sand and lifeguards on duty (which we appreciated with little kids).

We walked all the way to the pink striped lighthouse via the boardwalks (about a 45 minute walk, 3.5 km) but had to divert a few times where the boardwalk was closed due to repairs. I wish we had had warmer weather. Weird for Portugal but they had a cold front come through (I think just us again, remember Barcelona last year?). There were pockets of sun (20 minutes here, 30 minutes there) but never long before clouds would move in and we’d be running from rain. We had one warm day when we went inland on our road trip day (another blog post coming soon) and on our very last day in Porto. But 65 degrees with wind, clouds and rain at the beach is less than ideal for a family beach trip. It made for some chilly swims and a cranky Vit D-deficient mom.

CLIMBING THE LIGHTHOUSE

The Farol da Barra is the tallest lighthouse in Portugal (203 ft) and has beautiful pink stripes. They only let you climb the lighthouse on Wednesdays so pencil that into your itinerary. The lighthouse keeper was so kind.

MINIGOLFE COSTA NOVA

A charming mini golf course just across the street from our rental. We picked a cooler day and enjoyed playing a round as a family. This is a great kid-friendly activity in Costa Nova.

EXPLORING AVEIRO

A quick 12 minute drive over the bridge from Costa Nova is Aveiro. This town is often referred to as the “Venice of Portugal” with its canals and gondolas. We were there on a Friday night around sunset and assumed that would be the perfect time to take a lively gondola ride around town. But they were already all docked up and closed for the night. So get there earlier if you want to ride them! The pictures painted on the sides of the gondolas can be a little bit “spicy” for little eyes, fair warning. I loved the “Calçada Portuguesa” (black and white cobblestone) patterns in this town.

THE UMBRELLA SKY PROJECT IN AGUEDA

We drove 40 minutes to Agueda to see the famous umbrellas from the Umbrella Sky Project.  An art installation that puts up hundreds of umbrellas over the streets in Agueda. But like inept travelers, we didn’t research this enough in advance. Because they don’t get installed until July 1 and only run through the end of September. We missed them by 2 weeks! We did saw some lovely countryside, huge stork nests everywhere and the bird art installation by Bordalo II. The street art in this country is spectacular.

In an effort to keep this one relatively well-sized post, I’m going to do a separate blog post on Porto and then our day trip out to Monsanto and Òbidos, both great parts of this itinerary for a northern Portugal trip. I’ll link them here when they are up. But I hope you’ve enjoyed this summer wandering to Costa Nova, Portugal.