Aveiro, Portugal

Aveiro, Portugal is sometimes called little Venice or the Venice of Portugal. Aveiro is about 40 minutes south of Porto and a couple of hours north of Lisbon making it the perfect spot for a day trip though I highly recommend taking a night or two in this sleepy but colorful town.

Go For a Ride in a Moliceiros

The water canals that run throughout Aveiro are dotted with colorful boats called “moliceiros” similar to gondolas and you can take a ride in one for about 10 Euros. They take you through town and out towards the outskirts lasting for about 30-45 minutes.

The quaint streets were easy to navigate making it a great place to just walk around and explore. Sometimes there are little markets in the center with hand-made or hand-crafted goods.

Try Ovos Moles

Almost every city and little town in Portugal has a dessert or pastry that is unique to that place and majority of them are made with eggs. Aveiro has “ovos moles.” A hard shell of a pastry that is filled with think sweet yoke like cream.

Costa Nova

Of course, a trip to Aveiro wouldn’t be complete without visiting Costa Nova. Costa Nova is famous for its striped houses and buildings along the water! This is where you see all those lovely Instagram photos being taken of the beautiful women in their sundresses eating ice cream in front of the cutest little striped houses. lol I may have one or two of those similar photos… how could I resist?

You can walk along the boardwalk in front of all of these houses and even stop into the fish market along the way. There is also little dessert stands along the boardwalk where you can try a specialty waffle dessert that is similar to ordering a Belgian waffle.

Be sure to take a look at some of my other posts about fun cities in Portugal to explore, like Coimbra, Agueda, and the Douro River.

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