Zig-zagging down a hilly valley, following the Paiva River, the Paiva Walkways or Passadiços do Paiva as it is known locally, is a wooden walkway that takes visitors on a geology, history and nature journey through an area of abundant deposits of quartz crystals, fossils, rare flora and fauna.
The wooden walkway is designed to interfere as little as possible with the surrounding environment, but still letting visitors enjoy the topography and natural environment which would otherwise be inaccessible
Leaving the Sanctuary of Fátima behind we found ourselves heading towards the small town of Tomar (or Thomar in English). We had not heard much about this town before our visit, but it was enthusiastically recommended to us by someone we have met on our travels in Spain. The driving there from Fátima was mostly quite dull, flat, through small towns and some industrial areas. We were kept entertained by the many sights of pilgrims and their heavy backpacks walking at the side of the busy main
Continuing on with our road trip exploring Central Portugal we arrived at the impressive Mira De Aire Caves (Grutas Mira de Aire) near Fatima.They are the largest underground caves in Portugal, formed during the Middle Jurassic Age more than 150 million years ago. The caves were only found in 1947, and in 2010were elected one of the “Seven Natural Wonders” of Portugal.
The tour starts with a short film explaining all about the history of how this cave system was found. We then followed
Óbidos is a precious and charming gem in Central Portugal. Wrapped up within the remains of its high ancient walls, it is a visually beautiful town. Being very popular as an easy day trip from Lisbon, it is inundated by tourist crowds during the day, but virtually empty by night time and that was when we enjoyed it the most.
But I am getting ahead of myself here, before I tell you more about our stay in Óbidos, let’s rewind back to my last blog post as we left Sintra
Sintra is one of the most popular day trips from Lisbon, but in my opinion you can not do it justice on a day trip – it will be an exhausting and frustrating experience. Stay overnight in Sintra to give this town the attention that it deserves.
Sintra is packed full with UNESCO World Heritage sites – fairy-tale castles, unique things to see, nature, history and old world charm. Plus, staying overnight in Sintra would probably not cost any more than paying for an overnight stay in
Évora, capital of the Alentejo region, has a compact historic centre where most of the attractions are conveniently located within the ancient city walls. And one of its main attractions is a chapel decorated entirely with human bones.
The city is a treasure of a place with a UNESCO protected historic centre since 1986 and a wealth of interesting attractions including the rather chilling Chapel of Bones, one of the main reasons why I was keen to visit this town. Yet we soon found that there was