I visited Porto last November and it became one of my favorite places in Portugal. Now I have another favorite, Aveiro!

I stayed at the great Triade Apartments. I had a studio apartment, kitchen, it was a great location and there is parking on the square. There is a small grocery store around the corner so I picked up some items for breakfast.

I arrived too early to check in; I left my car, and went out exploring.

I headed to Igreja de Sao Joao Evangelista/Igreja Carmelita de Aveiro. I paid €1 for entry to the beautiful church. The church is on the large Praça do Marquês de Pombal with various zodiac signs around the plaza.

I learned about the “perfection” of gold over blue, meaning the heaven over the earth. This is the design of many Portuguese churches.

There is a combo ticket for the Museu de Aveiro Santa Joana or Museum of Aveiro (this is different than the City Museum).

I showed my ticket from the church and only paid another €2,50. The museum is in the old convent. Joan, daughter of the king, Dom Afonso V, died in 1490. She was beatified in the 1690s, but she has not been canonized, despite the Portuguese calling her “saint”.

The museum is gorgeous. I followed the “monumental tour” through the convent and saw the Chapel of Saint Augustine, the cloisters, chapter room, and Santa Joana’s tomb. She asked to be buried in a “unadorned” tomb and initially was. However, in the 17th c, after she was beatified, they moved her to a huge, very ornate, ceramic tomb that people can visit. After the monumental tour, I headed upstairs to see all the religious art.

I walked to the city center, visiting Praca de Republica. The town hall is on the square and a large statue of José Estevão Coelho de Magalhães. I met here the next morning for the start of my walking tour, Aveiro All-in-One Free Tour, with Sergio.

Misercordia Church is just across from the square. It has a beautiful facade and supposed to be beautiful inside, but was never opened in my 3 days here.

Aveiro is called the “Venice of Portugal” due to the canals in the city. The main Street, Rua da Coimbra runs down to the central canal and the Praça General Humberto Delgado. This is a large and busy traffic circle.

There are four statues on both sides of the canal, standing on the four ends of the bridge guardrails of the Central Canal. According to the Aveiro city site, they represent four traditional figures of the region: the Salineira and the Mamoto with their respective traditional costumes and work tools, both people who worked with the production and transport of the salt trade. The other two are the Fogueteiro and the Parceira do Ramo with their party costumes.

Crossing the canal leads to the Praça do Doutor Joaquim de Melo Freitas with the Obelisco da Liberdade.

The Rua João Mendonça runs along the canal and has dozens of gorgeous art deco houses with beautiful facades. A tourist information center, the city museum, Museu da Cidade de Aveiro, and the Museu de Arte Nova are located here. Plenty of reviews said the best thing about the Arte Nova Museum was the facade, so I didn’t pay for a ticket.

From the other direction, walking along the canal, I found the Ponte dos Lagos de Amizade. All the bridges along the canal are covered in ribbons (no locks allowed). It’s quite lovely. I also found the large open mall, the Forum. I didn’t do any shopping but there are stores for every taste, and it’s a nice area just off the canals. There are many restaurants, some food trucks, and it’s a good walking area. On Sunday there was a large flea market along the canal.

I returned to this area my last day, crossing the city from my apartment to see Escadaria “I Love Aveiro” (staircase). This is at the end of the canal by the ceramic factory.

Using the great map I had picked up at the tourist center, “Aveiro, Find the City Center”, I continued across the city to the old railway station. Built in 1864 c, it is right next to the new railway station. It has a gorgeous tile facade, it now contains special exhibits to promote local and regional products; it had a large selection of wines when I was there.

While out wandering I also visited the Igreja do Senhor das Barrocas, from 1722, the Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Algeria, from the 16th c, and, arriving back at the Canal de San Roque, the Convent of Nossa Senhora do Carmo de Aveiro. There is a nice walkway here and several bridges, too.

I continued down the canal to the Carcavelos Bridge then the Bridge of the Botiroes, the circular walking bridge. This great bridge connects three water channels.

I cut down the small Canal dos Botiroes to see the Church of St Goncalinho of Aveiro and the Praca do Peixe (fish market, now a cultural center). I found the small, round Capela de Sao Bartolomeu or “The Mysterious Chapel” built in 1568. It is closed except for one day of the year, August 24th, when St. Bart, who has kept the devil chained all year round, lets the devil loose.

I visited the Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Apresentacao, Church of Our Lady of the Presentation, from the 17th c. It has the oldest bell tower in Aveiro. The tiles on the facade, depicting the presentation of Jesus at the temple, were added in the early 1900s.

On Sunday I took a Moliceiro Boat Cruise, booked through Civitatis. We started in the Canal Central then went down the Canal de São Roque past both the circular bridge (great opportunity for photos from underneath) and past the Carcavelos Bridge before turning around and going back down the Canal Central and Canal do Cojo and the Canal da Fonte Nova, all the way to the end. We had great weather and I loved the tour. The guide spoke in Spanish, Portuguese for all the other guests and English just for me moving back and forth along the boat.

The moliceiro is named for moliço (seaweed) which was used as fertilizer.
The beautiful, colorful boats have become synonymous with Aveiro.

My last afternoon in town I enjoyed the Infante Dom Pedro City Park. I had walked past here many times coming and going from my apartment. I was glad to have time to enjoy it. I visited the Igrejas Geminadas de Santo Antonio e de Sao Francisco, Twin Churches of St. Anthony and St. Francis and the Mae de Agua, or water deposit building.

Churches and Museums

• Igreja de Sao Joao Evangelista
• Museu de Aveiro Santa Joana
• Church of St Goncalinho of Aveiro
• Capela de Sao Bartolomeu
• Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Apresentacao
• Igrejas Geminadas de Santo Antonio e de Sao Francisco
• Igreja do Senhor das Barrocas
• Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Algeria
• Convent of Nossa Senhora do Carmo de Aveiro
• Misercordia Church

Plazas

• Praca de Republica
• Praça do Marquês de Pombal
• Praça General Humberto Delgado
• Praça do Doutor Joaquim de Melo Freitas

Tours

• Moliceiro Boat Cruise
• Aveiro All-in-One Free Tour

Costa Nova

I took a Bolt out to see the lovely coastal town of Costa Nova after my walking tour of Aveiro and spent all afternoon here. I was dropped at Costa Nova de Prada to enjoy the great striped houses and enjoyed the waterfront. I walked along the boardwalk from Praia da Costa to Praia da Barra before catching another ride back to Aveiro. A lovely, lovely town.

Restaurants

• O Bairro really fantastic risotto. Would definitely return to try more of their menu.
• Maldita excellent Mexican food from Elena and great beer, too. Went twice (it’s hard to find good Mexican in Portugal!); they have a buffet on Sunday’s.
• Iron Duke Pub I had an okay burger and a couple okay beers. Maldita is much better, both food and beer.

** All photos (except where indicated) are property of Lisa, not to be copied or reproduced**