O little town of Aveiro - Calm and Canels | Aveiro in A Day

O little town of Aveiro – Calm and Canels

During our epic road trip throughout Europe in January, when we departed from Spain and crossed into Portugal border, we swinged by the pretty little town..with the name of Aveiro.

Introducing the little town of Aveiro

Aveiro is a lovely tranquil city/ town on the west coast of Portugal, a great 2-3 Days stop to include for a little serenity and some gondola watching. It is also widely known and describe as ‘The Portuguese Venice’. However, if you are short of time, Aveiro in a day is also possible, though a little rush.

Posing with this skinny man statue in Aveiro Town | Aveiro in a day
Posing with this skinny man statue in Aveiro Town.

We arrived rather late in the evening at Aveiro Portugal after a long drive, and went straight to check in at our lovely nautical theme guesthouse – Aveiro Rossio Bed & Breakfast.

We didn’t manage to see much of Aveiro that night given it was already too dark, but we were very thankful for the cosy and warm welcome of our guesthouse that helped us to recharge for the night before we could check out the beautiful town the following day.

Chilling out in our double bed room in Aveiro Rossio Lodge Bed and Breakfast
Chilling out in our double bed room in Aveiro Rossio Lodge Bed and Breakfast.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bdzh8zODWBd/

Aveiro in A Day

Mornings: Gondolas and Chanels

Bright and early the next day at sunrise, we went out to explore the lovely Aveiro city. It is beautifully quiet and peaceful if you start out early before all the hustle and bustle of the daily commute begins. The colourful gondola boats line the river and are all painted beautifully with different designs and motifs. They are callled ”barcos moliceiros”, and it used to be the type of fishing boats to harvest for seaweed. Its long narrow shape enables it to navigate the canels while transporting as much seaweed as possible. Reminded me a lot of Myanmar Inle Lake as well.


However these days, the boats are used to ferry tourists for a tour of the canels in the pretty city.

Aveiro canels and long gondolas. These gondolasa also known as ''barcos moliceiros'' | Aveiro in a day

Aveiro Canels and long gondolas. These gondolas are also known as ”barcos moliceiros”

One of the many long colorfully painted gondolas along Aveiro Canels
One of the many long colorfully painted gondolas along Aveiro Canels

Taking a relaxing walking tour of Aveiro Town

We decided to skip the river cruise and just walk around the little cobbled streets and alleys instead.

Some of the art nouveau buildings you can see here in Aveiro are the Cathedral of Aveiro, with its prominent bell tower at the top. The Museu de Aveiro is also a beautiful place to visit, which used to be a convent school. The building’s secret – house a rather intricate and lavish tomb made of marble. Pity we didn’t have time to see it.

So try to weave in at least 1 full day to check out the lovely town of Aveiro when you are driving around this part of Portugal, you won’t regret it.

—-

Highlight: Join the Portuguese Festivals in Aveiro

Epiphany (Dia de Reis) in the Month of January

We were lucky to have witness this super peculiar yet interesting festival they have here in Aveiro. Epiphany is also known as ‘ Three King Day ‘ which many Europeans celebrate around the world. Different countries have different practices or ways to celebrate, so despite missing it in Spain, we made it over to Portugal in time for it.

The days leading up to the festival, there were street stalls selling this white hard cake/ flour thing which I subsquently found out it is designed to look like the Portuguese king’s crown bolo rei. These white cakes are bought in bags and are used at night when it turns dark. And thats when all the activity happens.

Throwing of the cake from the top of the cathedral | Dia de Reis Festival
Throwing of the cake from the top of the cathedral | Dia de Reis Festival

Once it turned dark, we started walking towards a specific cathedral that was mentioned where the Dia de Reis action will begin.

To our surprise, we discovered there has already been a crowd of people gathered there with crazy long nets and upside down umbrellas. What is happening??

Super long nets all ready to catch the falling white cakes and biscuits | Epiphany Festival in Portugal
Super long nets all ready to catch the falling white cakes and biscuits | Epiphany Festival in Portugal
Upside down umberallas to catch the cakes being thrown down from the top of the cathedral. Wow
Upside down umberallas to catch the cakes being thrown down from the top of the cathedral. Wow

And we soon found out, during this pre-Lenten celebrations, this king cake made out of sweet brioche dough and then glazed, after being purchased, they will bring it up to the top of the cathedral and throw it down over the edge to the sea of catchers below, all prepared with their nets, umbrellas and full enthusiasm.

Collecting our king cake catches | Dia de Reis Festival
Collecting our king cake catches | Dia de Reis Festival

Cez was intially just standing by observing and being a spectactor, but before long, he was running around trying to catch some falling King’s cake, acting as crazy as the locals there. I on the other hand was trying to capture some really cool shots but spend half the time just dodging falling King’s cake and resulting in a whole bunch of blur photos of falling cake.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd2VNgPj1HX/

I must say the entire experience was lots of fun and we had really good memories there. We couldn’t finish all the King’s cake we caught, and had to donate it away at our bed and breakfast place. But all in all, it was a lovely stay at Aveiro Rossio Bed & Breakfast and good sweet memories of the lovely town of Aveiro.

A fan of Portugual food and treats? Check out my guide on the best eats in Lisbon

Other best festivals in Portugal:

  • Festa das Fogaceiras is held yearly on January 20 in Santa Maria da Feira – young girls in their traditional dresses carrying castle-shaped fogaças cakes balancing on their heads to give thanks for blessings of good health.
  • Carnaval is on February or March (47 days before Easter). Traditionally carnival starts on the last Friday before Lent and ends on Shrove Tuesday.
  • Semana Santa in from March – April.
  • Festa das Cruzes held on 1–3 May is called ”Festival of the Crosses” in Barcelos. It is the largest annual event in Barcelos, Minho.
  •  Fátima on 13 May  – Fátimaor Peregrinação de Fátima is Portugal’s most famous Christian pilgrimage.
  • Festa de São João held in Porto during 23 June ( Same day as my birthday too! )
  • St Martin’s Day or ‘São Martinho’ is held on 11 November.

Before going on your next travel adventure, consider booking Affordable Travel Insurance from US$14 onwards for that peace of mind! 🙂

Little town of Aveiro Portugal
Little town of Aveiro Portugal

You Might Also Like

8 Comments

  • Avatar of Cindy
    Reply
    Cindy
    May 13, 2018 at 11:02 pm

    Aveiro sounds wonderful and I love this festival. Flinging cake down at the crowd – it’s a bit like manna from heaven! Sounds like a blast.

    • Avatar of Lydia Yang
      Reply
      Lydia Yang
      May 14, 2018 at 3:33 pm

      And it definitely was a blast, Cindy. I hope you’ll get the chance to see Aveiro one day- it’s simply wonderful!

  • Avatar of Kat
    Reply
    Kat
    May 14, 2018 at 2:22 pm

    I was travelling in Portugal in September last year – missed Aveiro unfortunately – but I can see why it’s a pretty charming town. Your post is making me miss Portugal, it’s such a lovely country!

    • Avatar of Lydia Yang
      Reply
      Lydia Yang
      May 14, 2018 at 3:37 pm

      Portugal is indeed charming, Kat. It’s a pity you didn’t get the chance to explore Averio. That’s one more reason to visit Portugal again, right? 🙂

  • Avatar of Cindy
    Reply
    Cindy
    May 14, 2018 at 4:36 pm

    I’ve been to Portugal several times and have totally fallen for this country. However, I have yet to visit Aveiro and would love to go. You say they’re tossing cake to the crowd?! That seals the deal. Lovely post.

    • Avatar of Lydia Yang
      Reply
      Lydia Yang
      May 15, 2018 at 8:44 pm

      Thanks, Cindy! Falling for Portugal is so easy as the country is truly amazing! 🙂

  • Avatar of The Untourists
    Reply
    The Untourists
    July 1, 2018 at 11:53 pm

    Wow how lovely. Didn’t know this side of Portugal. I a must sure tech food must have been a,mazing too…

    • Avatar of Lydia Yang
      Reply
      Lydia Yang
      July 2, 2018 at 9:34 am

      Thank you, Param and Shikha! Portugal never ceases to amaze. It is simply mesmerizing! 🙂

Leave a Reply

As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from a link you click on the site that lead to a qualifying purchase. It will not cost you anything additional, but it does help us in supporting this site to keep creating great content for you. All our recommendations and reviews included in the site are purely unbiased.