Obidos Rooms2Rent
Usseira, Portugal

A great, big 70s house, located in country side, in a little village near Óbidos (Usseira). In this house you can expect good moments, good food and a really amazing time! You'll enjoy it. That's what we can promise!

The house is composed of 1 mixed dorm room for 4 guests and 2 double room, a fully equipped kitchen and two bathrooms. It allows travellers to have a good night´s sleep, to prepare their own meals, to do the laundry etc. For cheap prices we’ll cook for you nice Portuguese meals with fresh fish, seefood, vegetables, etc.
We have 2 living rooms where travellers can watch TV, DVD’s, and a big wonderful balcony to simply relax in in the company of a good book. We also offer you 24 hours free internet, and have 2 bicycles to use for free.

FACILITIES:
IN ROOM: desk; satellite TV;
IN GENERAL:
Foods&Drinks: meals on request; kitchen facilities;
Iron/Ironing Board;Car Parking; Laundry Facilities; Meeting Facilities;
ENTRETAINMENT: TV Lounge; DVD Library; Free internet, and satellite TV;
2 bicycles to borrow;

A little about Óbidos: Once the wedding present to a Queen, the preserved medieval town of Óbidos is without doubt one of Portugal's most interesting walled settlements. When strolling along the maze of narrow cobbled streets of Óbidos, at each step, one comes upon vestiges of different civilizations.
From the hidden corners and high walled gardens of the old medina area, to the gothic, Renaissance and Baroque features, the Town is an extensive work of art carved, destroyed and rebuilt throughout many centuries. Besides its material heritage, Óbidos is full of historical tradition is today one of the main jewels of the country.Encircled by a ring of medieval walls and crowned by the Moorish castle rebuilt by D. Dinis, Óbidos is one of the most perfect examples of our medieval fortress. It s in olden times, the town is entered through the southern gate of Santa Maria, embellished with eighteenth-century azulejo decoration. Inside the walls, which at sunset take on a golden colouring, one can sense a cheerful medieval ambience of winding streets, old whitewashed houses bordered with blue or yellow, Manueline embrasures and windows, reminding us that King D. Manuel I (sixteenth century) carried out major works here, and masses of colourful flowers and plants.
Be sure to visit the Igreja Matriz de Santa Maria (Parish Church of Santa Maria), the pretty Capela de São Martinho (Chapel of S. Martinho) and, outside the town walls, the Igreja do Senhor da Pedra (Church of the Senhor da Pedra).

Among the events that take place every year in Óbidos, the most important are the Holy Week Festivities (recreating the steps on the Way of the Cross), The Medieval Market in July, the Ancient Music Festival in October and, for the more gluttinous, the International Chocolate festival in February, which includes an international competition in which the recipes are judged by an international jury of experts.

OBIDOS NATURE WALKS:
1)The Mallard Track crosses one of the most beautiful areas of the Lagoon of Óbidos, revealing some of its well kept features and extraordinary landscapes. In this area the main attractions of this nature walk consist of the thousands of aquatic birds, some of prey, in a constant search for nourishment or simply nesting in the abundant plantations of reeds.This track also enables you to enjoy the natural environment with the flora and fauna typical of a coastal lagoon. The Mallard track challenges you to discover a beaten path that has been trailed for hundreds of yeas by its local inhabitants!

2) Stork’s Nest Nature Walk (ninho da cegonha) - The Stork's nest track streches along the banks of the Arnoia River and establishes a pedestrian connection between the historic town of Óbidos and the Roman City Eburobrittium. With this nature walk, you will enjoy the bucolic environment while looking at the Paul and Cegonha plains where cereals and fruit orchards abound, as well as the Arnóia River with its fauna and flora and the sulphorous hot springs. You will come upon the Roman City, that is testimony of the settlement of the Romans, on this site, for about 500 years (from the 1st to the the 5th centuries).

3)Óbidos Cynegetic Park/ Town ParkThe town park is located in just outside the castle walls and has the magnificient view of the Varzea da Rainha. It establishes a pedestrian connection between the Church of Our Lady of Carmel, the Talhada Gate and the Upper Gate.When visiting the Cynegetic Park, a careful look may slow your eyes as you discover the deer, and depending on the time of the year, foxes, hogs, ducks, species which are characteristic of this habitat and that, in the meantime, have dissapeared. A walk on the medieval castle walls will allow you to have a more general view over the park.

THE LAGOON OF ÓBIDOS
The Lagoon of Óbidos is the most extensive lagunar system in the coast of Portugal. It has an approximate area of 6.9 square kilometres and an average depth of two meters, with a quota that goes from half a meter to five meters. It has a maximum length of 6 kilometres and a width that varies from 1 and 1,5 km, with a NW-SW orientation. The Lagoon was actually much larger having reached, in earlier times, the Castle walls of Óbidos. The natural tendency of the Lagoon of Óbidos is to close its connection to the sea, become a swamp and eventually disappear. Also, with the human presence, silting has increased mainly due to the constant changes that have occurred in the lagoon and which have lead to the accumulation large sediment deposits. However, the population has tried to invert the situation by intervening through dredging, increasing the profundity of the lagoon.

NEARBY

Within easy reach of hostel is the beautiful The Buddha Eden Garden, located 8Km from our hostel: an area of about 35 hectares designed and conceived in response to the destruction of the Giant Bamyan Buddhas, sculpted in the rocks of the valley of Bamyan in central Afghanistan and which had for centuries been a cultural and spiritual
Buddha Eden Garden is a place of reconciliation. Without any religious tendency, it opens its doors, to all people of all religion, ethnicity, nationality, sex, age, and socio-cultural background, inviting all to come together, to communicate and meditate, to rest and rediscover happiness.

Visit the beautiful beaches of Baleal, Foz do Arelho, Bom-Sucesso , located 20 Km away from the hostel, between June and Setember have public transports from Óbidos to there.
Or
Try OBIDOS Wine Route