Being and feeling in Nazaré, the land of giant waves

When it comes to unique places in the world, I am the first to want and explore them. Nazaré, from Portugal, is one of these places. Maybe having huge waves at your disposal is not something that happens only here, but having recorded the biggest waves in the world, indeed grants a stamp of a special place to Nazaré. After the Valencia Marathon, we decided to explore not only Lisbon, but also this wonderful place. It is beginning of December 2023, a period of the year when giant waves can be spotted. Unfortunately, in the few days in which we could have visited Nazaré, the giant things didn’t show up, but, regardless, the place proved to be a wonderful experience, to maybe repeat as soon as possible. Do I recommend Nazaré, even if you can’t see 7-8 meters and even above waves? Absolutely.

Great journey to the view point

The journey from Lisbon was booked via Flixbus, so in around 2 hours and a half, if I am not mistaking, we disembarked in the small city. A very cozy location, but few… cafes. At least we struggled a lot to find a place in the late morning, to drink a coffee. We did manage, wandered a bit thru the village, and started the mild ascension to the actual place, the famous red lighthouse, now circled by a metal fence, to keep people away from getting too close. The edge of the terrace offers also some great views – even if the waves are medium, not even big, let alone giant. The place is legendary, and it also hosts a small surfing museum, because surfers are, inf act, the ones who added the biggest value to this small location.

Nazaré, a place to explore for longer days

After enjoying the lighthouse location at its full, we took a short trail walk to a path that went a bit deeper in the landscape and offered a different perspective of the natural wonders of the place, but from a different perspective. You need at least 3-4 hours to spend here, one of the westernmost places from Europe. You don’t need to see for real the biggest waves there can be, as this, in principle, is a mater of fate, but nobody forbids you, while being there, and seeing the breathtaking landscape, to imagine the best edited pictures that circulate on the Internet. The road to the lighthouse itself is great, as it passes thru the center of the village. The view from the top of the beaches that are packed in the summer, most likely, is stunning. And this breeds thoughts of a longer visit in Nazaré in the future, with a two-three day accommodation.

Here are some pictures!

This time, we spent only six hours, or so. Walking way from the main attraction, we enjoy the road back and settle for a well-deserved delicious lunch. It happened in the exact core of Nazaré, and I can say both the food, the wine, and the service were great. You should explore that! Unfortunately, after one hour we needed to get going to buy some souvenirs and depart to our main base, in Lisbon. That, is another, wonderful story, but for now, let me show you some great pictures from the location we’ve explored for a couple of hours.