Aveiro, Portugal: Canals, Salt Pans and the Silver Coast

Aveiro is sometimes called the "Portuguese Venice," which the guide itself calls an exaggeration. The city sits beside a ria, a salt-water lagoon, and the delta of the Vouga River on the Atlantic coast of Central Portugal, and it is crossed by canals where brightly painted boats called moliceiros glide. This overview comes from the Wikivoyage travel guide.

A canal in Aveiro. Photo: Gabriel González from Pontevedra, España, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Understand

Aveiro's origins go back to pre-Roman times, and the region was under Muslim control from the 8th to the 11th century. It was already a major salt producer in Roman times and stayed one until the 1970s, helped by the age-old salt cod industry. It also had a major place in ceramics, shipbuilding, metalworking and machinery, and for centuries it was a natural port. In neighboring Ílhavo, remnants of the cod fishing and salt cod industry remain, and a famous porcelain and cut glassware factory founded there in the early 1800s is still working.

The city lies 68 km (42 mi) south of Porto and 58 km (36 mi) north of Coimbra, a few kilometers from the Atlantic. Preliminary 2021 figures put its population at about 80,880, of whom 12,500 are students at the University of Aveiro, one of Portugal's most important universities. The wider regional community has over 370,000 inhabitants. The mood is relaxed, and the foreign students lend a somewhat cosmopolitan feel.

Riverfront buildings in Aveiro. Photo: manuelfouce & anaramos, CC BY 2.0.

The old center has fine examples of 15th- and 16th-century, Belle Epoque, Art Nouveau, Art Deco and Estado Novo buildings. A moliceiro was originally a working boat, and its name comes from moliço, a seaweed abundant in the lagoon that was harvested to fertilize the region's fields.

Casa do Major Pessoa, one of the most splendid examples of Art Nouveau in Aveiro. Photo: yeowatzup, CC BY 2.0.

Aveiro's prestige grew in the 15th century, when Princess Joana, daughter of King Afonso V, came to join the sisterhood of the Monastery of Jesus. When she died she left her wealth to the town, and her intricately carved tomb in the monastery is a singular example of the fine arts of the period. She was canonised in the 17th century as Santa Joana. In the 19th century the local parliamentarian José Estevão drove the redevelopment of the harbour and canals and the arrival of the railways, which the guide says seeded an economic boom.

Besides the soft sand beaches, the guide says the city's best-kept secret is that it feels more authentic and costs less for lodging and food than the Alentejo and the Algarve. The coast, with the beaches of São Jacinto, Torreira, Barra and Costa Nova, is branded the Costa da Prata, or Silver Coast. June to August is the busiest time. Summers are humid and temperate and winters mild but wet, with November, December and January the rainy months and July and August the driest. Strong coastal winds in autumn and winter suit kite and wind surfing and sailing. Hundreds of people take part every New Year's Day in the first sea dip of the year, competing for a T-shirt that confirms the feat.

Colorful houses in Costa Nova. Photo: M.Peinado from Alcalá de Henares, España, CC BY 2.0.

Getting there and around

• Car. The A1, the country's main north-south road, is a toll road. The A17 links to the A8 from Lisbon and the A25, which runs west to east and connects central Portugal through Vilar Formoso to the rest of Europe through Spain.
• Train. A new station stands beside the old azulejo-decorated one near the center.
• Bus. The bus station serves long-distance, intercity and international coaches.
• Plane. The municipal aerodrome is the former military airbase of São Jacinto. It has a 1,372-metre runway and serves private pilots and small aircraft.
• On foot or by bike. Aveiro is easy to walk and friendly to cyclists, with dedicated bike paths running to the beaches. The BUGA service lends free bicycles from two shops against an ID, to be returned the same day.
• By bus in town. Aveiro Bus runs thirteen lines, though most sights are within walking distance. A multi-trip or seasonal pass can help if you stay in the city and want to reach the beaches cheaply.

What to see and do

Aveiro Cathedral. Photo: Alegna13, CC BY-SA 3.0.

• Churches and museums. The cathedral is a unique example of Portuguese baroque architecture. The Museum of Aveiro occupies the former Convento de Jesus. The Church of Saint John the Evangelist is an 18th-century Baroque and Rococo national monument that was part of a Carmelite convent, and the Saint Gundisalvus Chapel is an 18th-century hexagonal chapel.
• The harbour. The harbour complex is large and spread along the ria. Near its entrance is the Jardim Oudinot, where the former cod-fishing ship Santo André is open to visitors as a museum ship. The old harbour captaincy now serves as the Municipal Assembly Hall.
• Salt pans. Remnants of manual salt production remain, and tours of the salt pans and bird watching in the Special Protection Zone of the Ria de Aveiro offer a chance to meet a salt worker, the marnoto.
• On the water. Moliceiro tours leave from the central canal, and visitors can kayak on the ria or the Vouga, sail at Costa Nova or surf and windsurf at Costa Nova and Barra.
• Dunas de São Jacinto. Four paths cross the woods, reached by bus and then a ferry.
• Clubs. The Clube dos Galitos, founded in 1904, has a long rowing tradition and several Olympians among its former athletes.

Moliceiros moored at a canal quay at dusk. Photo: Nmmacedo, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Food, shopping and nights out

Ovos moles, a traditional sweet made from egg yolk, and pão de ló, a baked cake, are sold in most bakeries and cafés. Aveiro salt is sold near the salt pans and in regional shops. The Vista Alegre tableware and cut glass factory is in neighboring Ílhavo, 10 km away, with a factory shop and tours on request. The area with the most restaurants lies between the Old Neighborhood and the fish market plaza, the Praça do Peixe, which is also the most famous area for night bars. The university, founded in the 1970s, gave the nightlife its eclectic mix.

Go next

The guide suggests day trips to Porto, Coimbra, Figueira da Foz, Viseu, the Serra da Estrela, Luso, the Serra do Buçaco and Fátima, and short trips inland to villages known for local food: Angeja for eel dishes and pork cutlets, and Anadia and the Bairrada wine area for roast piglet.

Sources

• Wikivoyage contributors, "Aveiro": https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Aveiro; licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/); photographs credited to their authors with their licences as shown in the captions. Changed here: rewritten in hubnx's own words and shortened, with the listings, prices, phone numbers and opening hours left out.