Caldas da Rainha

This bustling and vibrant market town in the District of Leiria on Portugal’s Silver Coast in the Estremadura region is fast becoming popular as a tourist destination and the ideal place to own a second or holiday home. Its location only 8km from some of the region’s finest beaches and its central position only an hour’s drive north of Lisbon make it the ideal place to be based in order to set out and explore some of the charming medieval towns and fishing villages in the environs.

This thermal spa town, with its sulphur rich waters famous for treating skin and bone ailments, and excellent shopping district, was founded at the end of the 15th century by Queen Leonor, consort to King João II. Not only is it great for rural tourism and water sports, including ballooning, hand-gliding and paragliding, wind surfing, jet skiing and horse riding, it also boasts some first class golf hotel resorts nearby including the Praia d’el Rey Marriott Golf & Beach Resort and Westin Campo Real Golf Resort. Situated in what has justifiably been called the Garden of Portugal, the town has a lively and colourful fruit, vegetable, fish and flower market in the main square while the stunning and dramatic saltwater lakes at Praia Foz do Arelho and Salir do Porto combine with miles of clean, golden sandy beaches which are perfect for a family day out.

Alcobaça
An imposing Medieval monastery town which is worth making a day-trip to not just because it holds the largest cathedral and monastery complex in Portugal but also because of the sad and romantic tale of Pedro and Inês – Portugal’s answer to Romeo and Juliet. The monastery of Santa Maria de Alcobaça, with its austere architecture, was founded in 1153 and is a World Heritage Site. Not only is it linked to the religious order of the Cistercian monks, but it is also a town associated with the birth of the Portuguese nation. Portugal’s first king, Afonso Henriques, conquered the town of Santarém from the Moors in 1147 and in gratitude for the deliverance founded the monastery for the Cistercian monks, which was finally completed in 1223. Today visitors can not only admire the ornate sacristy in the Manuelian style and King Denis Cloisters, but also can see the tombs of King Pedro I and his murdered wife Inês de Castro which spawned Portugal’s most tragic legend and has been the stuff of numerous books, plays and films.

Batalha
This amazingly intricate Dominican monastery and cathedral, with its countless carved figures of saints and soaring flying buttresses, is undoubtedly the best example of High Gothic architecture anywhere to be seen in Europe. A World Heritage Site, the monastery celebrates the victory of King João I over Castile at the Battle of Aljubarrota in 1385 and is particularly notable for its Manuelian decorative motifs. Inside the chapel are the tombs of King João and his English-born Queen Phillipa of Lancaster – called Lencaster in Portugal - who spawned the ‘Illustrious Generation’ including famous explorer Prince Henry the Navigator, while the Royal Cloister, with its intricate gothic arches, is one of the best of its kind on the Iberian peninsular.

Óbidos
Perhaps the most visited historic site outside of Lisbon in Portugal, this charming walled medieval fortress city with its narrow, winding cobbled streets, quaint white-washed cottages surrounded by colourful bougainvilleas and geraniums is the perfect living, working museum town. The whole complex, which is surrounded by steep 14th century granite walls, formed part of the wedding present of King Dinis to his wife Isabel of Aragon in 1282. The town also contains a lovely boutique hotel or pousada dating from the middle ages and a museum which tells the story of how this hilltop fortress was taken from the Moors by Portugal’s first king Afonso Henriques in 1148.