Wandering around the town of Aveiro gave us a nostalgic feeling that we were  in Venice, but in smaller dimension. The charming town is surrounded by canals and streets are connected by lovely small bridges, some of which are from wood, others from concrete materials. These canals are the Canal do Cojo, Canal Central, Canal das Piramides, and Canal de S. Roque. What made Aveiro even more charming are the colourful boats, the Moliceiro, which sails along the canals, which never fail to draw the attention of passers-by, turists and locals alike. The town has also a small historic quarter, where the streets are narrow and paved, and where numerous small bars and restaurants, and yes, also souvenir shops are to be found.

 Coming from Barcelos, we drove about 140 kilometers, following the inner roads which was not so fine at all. It took us about 3 hours to get to Aveiro! Anyway, there is a special parking area for RVs, just 500 meters from the center, under a viaduct. We stayed here for 2 days (November 24-25, 2015)

 Campsite : Cais das Falcoeiras     3800 Aveiro   Portugal

Coordinates : N: 40.64421   W: 8.65917

 OUR IMPRESSION OF AVEIRO

Hans and I spent a day in discovering the town of Aveiro. We strolled along the town’s historic quarter, got lost in its small narrow streets, and took a look at the numerous small souvenir shops we passed by (not buying anything, though). Arriving at the Canal Central, there were a lot of boat owners who were trying to get attract tourists to take a cruise with the Moliceiros. We resisted the temptation which saved us 16 euros that day. Crossing the canal, there is a big shopping center. We took our break here, made a mistake of grabbing a quick lunch which easily cost us 20 euro for a simple lunch! Recovering from that short shock, we continued our tour. The remainder of the day, we were able to visited the Church of Misericordia and the Cathedral. These two religious buildings are both old, dating back as far as the 17 th century . We then retraced our steps to the old center, wandered from one street to another, looking at the numerous offers on drinks and food. It is noticeable that the prices are a bit higher than in Barcelos. Thus, no more café for us here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aveiro is a charming town, no doubt about that. The colorful boats which sail along the canals are beautiful. But after strolling around the town for a day, we ended up not so impressed by it.

True, there are some monumental buildings which are quite impressive, and lots of houses are decorated with painted tiles, which added more color and charms to the town. But we missed the feeling of being at ease which we had in Barcelos. Because of this reason, we decided to leave the following day.

                                                                                               Tiles seen in Aveiro

 BEACH VISIT

About 11 kilometers south of Aveiro lies Costa Nova, a beach area in Aveiro. We drove here, hoping to at least enjoy the sea and relax a bit. Costa Nova is a touristic place. Cute charming striped houses are found along the boulevard by the river. I have never seen so many cute houses like there before.

They are very colourful, in green, blue, red, yellow, pink to mention a few, and with horizontal stripes. It was good for picture taking. However, because it was already late November, the season is over and almost all of the establishments were closed. It was still. There was also a very cold wind in the air, and it was not easy to get to the beach. After having some lunch and taking some pictures, Hans and I left the place, and drove on to our next destination….