Alcobaça

Alcobaça is a small city in Portugal's Oeste region. The popular bayside beach town of São Martinho do Porto is located in the municipality.

For other places with the same name, see Alcobaça (disambiguation).

Understand

Alcobaça (ahl-koo-BAH-suh, /aɫ.ku.ˈba.sɐ/), on the banks of the rivers Alcoa and Baça, dates back to the 12th century. The municipality has 54,981 residents (2021 preliminary), with about 7,000 living in the city. The municipality includes seven towns: Alfeizerão, Aljubarrota, Benedita, Cela, Pataias, São Martinho do Porto, and Turquel.

Visitor information

Get in

By car

The main Lisbon–Porto route is the A1 motorway, but the A8 comes closer to Alcobaça.

By train
  • Comboios de Portugal (CP , Trains of Portugal), ☏ +351 707 210 220. PDF timetable. Multiple daily Regional and InterRegional trains connect Alcobaça municipality with other locations along Portugal's west coast on the Linha do Oeste (Western Line), including Lisbon, Caldas da Rainha, Torres Vedras, Leiria, Coimbra, and points in between. Old infrastructure and meandering around hills mean that the train is usually slower than the bus. Four stations serve the municipality. (updated Jul 2020)
  • 🌍 Valado–Nazaré–Alcobaça train station, Valado dos Frades. The train station nearest Alcobaça is in an outlying village in an adjacent municipality. (updated Jan 2021)
  • 🌍 São Martinho do Porto train station (just E of the beach). (updated Jun 2020)
  • 🌍 Pataias train station. (updated Mar 2021)
  • 🌍 Martingança train station. (updated Mar 2021)

By bus
  • 🌍 Alcobaça bus terminal, Av. Manuel da Silva Carolino 1. (updated Jan 2021)
  • 🌍 São Martinho do Porto long-distance bus stop, Rua Marechal Carmona 58, São Martinho do Porto (adjacent to the Intermarché supermarket). (updated Jun 2020)
  • Rede Expressos (Rede Nacional de Expressos), ☏ +351 707 223 344, . This national coach company offers express service from several cities. (updated Dec 2020)
  • Rodoviária do Oeste (RDO), ☏ +351 262 767 676, . This regional coach company provides service to nearby cities, towns, villages, and beaches in the Oeste region. It also offers some special "rapid" services. (updated Jun 2020)
    • Rápida Rosa. RDO offers Rápida Rosa (Pink Rapid) service between São Martinho do Porto and Caldas da Rainha, Nazaré, Leiria, and select stops in between. (updated May 2020)

Get around

See
  • 🌍 Monastery of Alcobaça (Mosteiro de Alcobaça, Mosteiro de Santa Maria de Alcobaça). A 12th-century Cistercian Gothic monastery, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was founded by Afonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal. The monastery holds the tombs of King Pedro I and his mistress, Inês de Castro. Inês was killed on orders from King Afonso IV, Pedro's father. After Pedro became king, he had Inês's body dug up and crowned as queen. He took revenge on her killers. (updated Apr 2018)
  • 🌍 Wine Museum, Rua do Olival Fechado, ☏ +351 968 497 832. Tu-Su, 11AM-3PM. 

Do
  • 🌍 Baía de São Martinho do Porto (Bay of São Martinho do Porto), Avenida Marginal, São Martinho do Porto. The calm waters of the bay are favored by families with small children and others who just want to relax in the sea. If sand and saltwater are not your speed, you can walk along the cobbled sidewalk and take in the nearby cafés. (updated Jun 2020)

Events

In November, the Monastery hosts the International Exhibition of Conventual Sweets & Spirits (Mostra Internacional de Doces & Licores Conventuais). Producers of sweets, pastries, and liqueurs from Portugal and elsewhere sell their goods inside. Some of the exhibitors are monks and nuns from convents. There is a light projection (at night) on the walls of the cloister inside the monastery, demonstration cooking, and some performances. In 2024, the dates will be November 14-17, and the daily entrance fee is likely to be €1. Entrance to the event is through the usual monastery entrance, near the north-west corner, facing the square.

Eat
  • 🌍 Restaurante António Padeiro, R. Dr. Maur Cocheril 27 (near the main square). 12:00–15:30 & 19:00–22:00 daily. (updated Jan 2021)
  • 🌍 Nova Caravela, Rua Cândido dos Reis 25D, São Martinho do Porto, ☏ +351 916 159 976, . 12:30–15:30 & 19:00–22:00 (closed Th). Fresh fish and seafood right on the seashore. €15–€60. (updated Jun 2020)

Sleep

Go next
  • Fátima (Sanctuary of Our Lady) – Place of the worldwide famous Marian apparitions.
  • Batalha – has a nice monastery.
  • Caldas da Rainha – charming, unassuming city to experience authentic daily Portuguese life
  • Leiria – with its famous castle.
  • Nazaré – a picture-postcard beach town, lately noted for its surfing
  • Óbidos – walled hilltop medieval town
  • Peniche – beaches and water sports, access to the Berlengas archipelago
  • Pinhal de Leiria, pinewood forest.
  • Tomar – Convento de Cristo, UNESCO World Heritage Site
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