The city of Aveiro is a must-see destination located in the center north of Portugal.
This beautiful coastal city that Nuno and I call home has a lot to offer: Art Nouveau, soft sand beaches, ovos moles, free bicycle rides, and one of the brightest blue skies you probably ever seen.
We wrote 3 posts about Aveiro. In full, they compile the outright best information for an excellent time in the city. To curate all this info we dug deep, knocked on doors, and asked friends for advice to create a travel guide made of worth-seeing classics, trendy spots, and tips only locals know about.
Keep reading part one or jump to:
→ Aveiro Travel Guide: the best food, bars, and accommodation
→ Discover Barra and Costa Nova: the beach getaways by Aveiro.
How many days do you need to visit Aveiro
You’ll need at least 2 days to visit Aveiro. It’s the perfect weekend destination.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll find:
The Weather and When to Visit
The best time to visit Aveiro is between March and September. But considering that Portugal has on average 300 days of sunshine, don’t worry too much about it.
However, during the winter months (December to March) temperatures hover around 9ºC. We recommend packing a windbreaker — the city is VERY windy and gets cold at night.
How to get to Aveiro
By train:
Being located between Lisbon and Porto, Aveiro is conveniently served by the Northern Railway Line.
A train ride from Lisbon to Aveiro will take around 2 hours and 20 minutes (255 km). Train ticket prices start at €21 up to €39,60. Check the train schedules here.
Porto is 76 km from Aveiro. If your trip starts from Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (Oporto), first you’ll have to take the subway to Campanhã railway station (35 minutes for €2).
From Campanhã or São Bento railway stations, get the urban train to Aveiro (yellow line, 1 hour trip for €3.55). Urban trains run hourly and every day of the week, you can check the train schedules here.
By car:
If you’re planning to drive a car, many freeways will bring you to Aveiro: A1, A5, A17, and A29.
Lisbon to Aveiro toll rates start at €17,50
Porto to Aveiro toll rates start at €4,75
There are free car and caravan parking facilities near Rossio, free of charge.
What to do and see in Aveiro
To help you navigate the city, here’s a map of Aveiro. All the spots mentioned in this post were marked with dark blue pins.
All the pins are also marked on Maps.me.
Ria de Aveiro
The saltwater canals permeating through the city center are an extension of the Ria, a coastal lagoon that gives Aveiro a unique appeal. Walking along the canals and crossing the footbridges guarantees you won’t miss the most picturesque parts of the city.
Bairro da Beira-Mar
This is the most typical neighborhood of Aveiro established by the hardworking fishermen, salt workers, and their families.
It’s an esteemed city quarter, assembled by narrow streets and simple houses, embellished by a mishmash of colors and patterns of Portuguese tiles.
Here’s also where São Gonçalinho celebrations happen every year.
São Gonçalinho (January)
Hands down the most random and entertaining celebration in town.
Every year, in January, people go to the top of the São Gonçalinho chapel— patron saint of Aveiro—to throw sugary hard cakes as a way to fulfill their vows.
The crowd below tries to catch the rock-hard cakes called ‘cavacas’, not necessarily to eat them, but because they’re said to bring good luck.
We made a video about it:
Praça do Peixe e o Mercado José Estevão
It’s a small Eiffel-style iron and glass building in the Beira-Mar neighborhood, and one of Aveiro fish markets, opened Tuesdays to Saturdays from 7 AM to 2 PM.
There’s a restaurant on the first floor.
At night, the vicinity comes alive with bars, cafes, and terraces: starting at 10 PM to approximately 3 AM-ish.
Fábrica Campos and the Fonte Nova Quay
Now a repurposed building Fábrica Campos was a manufacturing plant of paramount importance for Aveiro during the XIX and XX centuries.
In front of it is the Fonte Nova Quay, a beautiful urban space widely used by locals and perfect for a late afternoon stroll or lawn rest.
There are cafes, a supermarket, restaurants, and a sushi place called Subenshi to grab dinner after the sunsets.