Obidos Travel Guide

Midway between the royal towns of Coimbra and Lisbon, the castle in Óbidos was a regular stopover for the royalties. During one such stay, in 1282, the queen Dona Isabel fell completely in love with the whitewashed hilltop town inside medieval walls. Consequently the king, Don Dinis, gave it to her as a gift. Since then and up until the 19th century, every portugese queen got Óbidos as a wedding gift.

It is not too hard to understand Dona Isabel's fascination. Óbidos is a perfectly walled city north of Lisbon, reputably [and believably] terribly crowded in high season but wondrous at other times. And outside of the two main streets you can have a minute to yourself even when the town is brimming with tourists. The old castle at the top of the town is now  a pousada and it is worth going in,  if only for a coffee - which is regarded as quite legitimate. Th old stocks are in the village streets.

There is a strange Palm Sunday procession. On this day of rejoicing in the Church calendar, the procession is led by a barefoot figure of gloom.