NAZARÉ and NEARBY - Portugal - page 261

a terrace onto the adjacent cloister and a stairway to the upper cloister with views to the
abbey.
▲ MercadoMunicipal —An Old World version of Safeway is housed happily here under
huge steel-and-fiberglass arches. Inside the covered market, black-clad dried-apple-faced
women choose fish, uncaged and feisty chickens, ducks, and rabbits from their respective
death rows. Wander among figs, melons, bushels of grain, and nuts (Mon-Sat 9:00-13:00,
closed Sun, best on Mon). Imagine having a lifelong relationship with the person who
grows your produce. Women from Nazaré—with their distinctive dress—sell fish in a
separate room. The market is a five-minute walk from the TI (just down the block from
the bus station); ask a local, “Mercado municipal?” There's also a flea market in town on
Mondays by the Alcoa River.
Alcobaça Connections
From Alcobaça by Bus to: Lisbon (6/day, 2 hours, some transfer in Caldas da Rainha),
Nazaré (12/day, 20 minutes, stops at Valado), Batalha (8/day, 30 minutes), Fátima (3/
day, 1 hour, more frequent with transfer in Batalha), Óbidos (3/day, 1.5 hours). Bus fre-
quency drops on Sunday. A taxi to the Nazaré/Valado train station costs about €7; to Naz-
aré, up to €10. Bus info: tel. [phone].