Nazaré, Portugal

Nazaré, Portugal
The impressive beaches of Nazaré, taken from the clifftop at the north of the town by Faye on her long run.

Temperatures were all over the place on today's journey from Porto Covo up the coast to Nazaré, a fishing town and resort between Lisbon and Porto. A warmish morning on the coast led to sweltering inland weather into the mid-30s by the time we sat down for a (very poor) service station lunch. Arriving later at Nazaré, we were a full 15 degrees cooler, with a sharp wind and overcast skies greeting us as we set up the van in the pine trees of Ohai Outdoor Resort. Kept it interesting! Driving in, one thing was certain: The place has changed quite a bit from the out-of-the way, sleepy fishing town I first trudged to on foot with my friends on a post-uni European backpacking trip 34 years ago. Funny, that...

The campsite. It was mainly chalet-style accommodation in the trees, a few glamping tents, and just some areas around the edges for campervans and motorhomes.

Strange site, really. Like a holiday camp in a pine forest. Fine, but both campers and staff seemed a bit moody, and it felt a little oppressive. Dirt pitches too, meaning everything gets dusty. Lots for the kids to do though, with heated pools (including one made of shipping containers), water slides, outdoor adventure park, volleyball, a games room and football pitch, so they were off immediately on arrival, leaving us to figure out our running routes and me to prepare a risotto for dinner. The kids particularly enjoyed the padel, Maya proud of her serve (videoing it then putting it to music, of course).

When I first visited Nazaré in 1991, it had two main streets, a few racks of fish drying in the sun, and not much else. Now it has a proper promenade, an accredited football stadium right on the beach, a big wheel, countless supermarkets and hotels, and well-established suburbs that simply weren't there back then.

On our second day we took the van itself on a rare outing (it usually lives in the campsite permanently when we stay somewhere) to clean all the bird muck off it at a jet wash I'd spotted, and to park up by the beach so we could explore. The waves were of course non-existent against the 100-footers I promised the kids based on the YouTube surfing videos that have recently made this place famous, but the town was full of life and we had a good meal at Tabernassa, sat in their conservatory at the front watching the world go by. During the meal, Faye and I did an impromptu, word-perfect Pet Shop Boys 'West End Girls' rendition - complete with parent arm dancing - and completely embarrassed the children, to the delight of an American couple sat opposite us.

Next morning as we were packing up to leave, I saw a lady going through the bin, her husband stood by their motorhome, looking quizzically back at her. Finally she fished out a set of car keys and with palpable relief waved them in the air so he could see she'd found them. I bet the minutes leading up to that moment, with someone finally saying, 'Mmmm, perhaps they got thrown in the bin?' were pretty fraught!

Lots of this kind of running around here, pic taken of the Estrada Atlântica north of Nazaré on Faye's long run.

Running was good around here if a little boring in places, very quiet away from the main routes. That said the main roads were still OK as they were wide enough to comfortably dodge oncoming vehicles, even those recklessly overtaking. Pines, cliffs and sandy trails offered variety, but it is pretty hilly up and down into town. My first run of our stay was a challenging pyramid interval session, which I did out and back on the flat, straight road through the pines directly outside the campsite gates - hard but fulfilling. Faye started with a 34km long run, a mainly road-based loop, and found it easy, even with the hills at the end. My second run was a 17km easy (but hilly) run down the cliff into Nazaré itself, Faye doing something similar, although in her case Strava kept trying to actually throw her off the cliff. Faye ended on the morning we left with a 10km 'Over & Under' tempo session that she said really tested her.

Then it was the usual pack everything away, power up the satnav, and head off to the next place, in this case over the border into a new country, with a new timezone to boot...

Phil

Phil

Phil is one half of Vanlife Runners, alongside partner Faye. Phil is the cook and driver, and when it comes to running he's the one obsessed with marathoning, although he does love a good trail too.