Nazaré, Óbidos & Batalha:
Big Waves and Medieval Portugal, Private

Nazaré is about 120 km north of Lisbon, roughly a 1 hour 30 minute drive each way. A full-day private tour comfortably combines Nazaré with Óbidos and the Batalha Monastery, with time at each stop. Adding Fátima makes for a longer full day of about 320 km round trip.

Nazaré's giant waves break mainly from October to March, when North Atlantic storms feed the underwater Nazaré Canyon. The current world record is 26.21 metres (86 feet), surfed by Sebastian Steudtner at Praia do Norte on 29 October 2020. In summer the coast is usually calm.

On Swingo's tour, entry to the UNESCO-listed Batalha Monastery is included. The church is free to enter; the paid sections (the two cloisters, the Founder's Chapel and the roofless Imperfect Chapels) cost about 6 euros individually. The monastery was built after the 1385 Battle of Aljubarrota.

Yes. Because the tour is private, you can attend a daily Mass or, in season, the evening candlelight procession at the Sanctuary of Fátima, without a shared group waiting. The largest pilgrimages fall on the 12th and 13th of each month from May to October.

Óbidos is a walled medieval town near Portugal's Silver Coast, famous for its 14th-century castle walls and for ginjinha, a cherry liqueur served in an edible chocolate cup. King Dinis gave the town to Queen Isabel as a wedding gift in 1282, and it stayed a queens' town for centuries.

A small-group tour shares a van with up to eight strangers, a fixed pace, and commentary often split across several languages. A private tour is just your party, in your language, at your pace, so you can linger in Nazaré or spend real time at Fátima rather than rushing back to the van.