Aveiro: Travel and tourism

Once a great sea port, this calm city is known for the charms of its canals and, especially, the ria, a lagoon which links Aveiro to the sea.

On the coast, the cosmopolitan beach of Espinho is a place to visit: a few dozens years ago, it represented what the Algarve, in the South of Portugal, now means for portuguese holiday-makers.

Mealhada is celebrated for its many restaurants, where good wine and a delicious speciality, leitão assado (roasted sucking pig), attract many visitors.

Santa Maria da Feira, which derives its name from the prosperous fairs held monthly since the 12th century, boasts of a romantic castle on a wooded hill, while Ovar, though now mainly industrialized, still shows signs of rural traditions and has one of the most colourful Carnival parades in Portugal.

This is a busy district, from the shoe and textile industries around São João da Madeira to the vast milk produce of Vagos.

However, if you are looking for more characteristic views, visit, for example, Castelo de Paiva, a small town surrounded by vineyards on hillsides, or Arouca, where lies the body of the saintly queen Mafalda, in a 12th century monastery.