Caldas da Rainha

Over Caldas da Rainha

Caldas da Rainha is a city in Portugal's Oeste region, about 10 km (6.2 mi) from the Atlantic Ocean and 90 km (56 mi) north of Lisbon. Absent from most travellers' itineraries, this charming city is a great place to experience authentic Portugal without hordes of tourists. Caldas—as locals call it—offers visitors countless experiences to enjoy: a beautiful park, a bustling farmers' market, several museums, shops, restaurants, cafés, and bars. For visitors seeking a beach holiday, Foz do Arelho and Salir do Porto in Caldas municipality are popular destinations. Caldas da Rainha is an artistic city, and artworks can be found beyond its several museums. Caldas' main park contains many statues and sculptures, as do most of the city's roundabouts and pavements (sidewalks). Caldas is home to a school of fine arts and design and a vocational school for ceramics. The city centre has many excellent examples of Art Nouveau architecture, with beautifully tiled exteriors. You can take some of the art home with you, in the form of world-renowned ceramic creations from the Bordallo Pinheiro factory. In recognition of its crafts and folk art, UNESCO added Caldas to its Creative Cities Network in 2019.

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