"Ovar, Portugal" Ovar by Jamesohboy

Ovar Travel Guide: 2 reviews and 2 photos

A week in Ovar...

Went with a conference of European Carnival Cities and headquartered in Ovar. Stayed at Hotel Meia-lua- very accommodating English-speaking staff, newer hotel w/reasonable room rates. The "mother church" of Ovar is beautiful with Azulejos (blue illustrated tiles) featured on the facade. Inside, a wonderful altar in gold and several smaller statues are quite nice. An ornate cemetary is in back.

Throughout the town, apartments, houses have wonderful azulejo tile fronts in many colors. Also, there are many "chapels" with beatiful icons. Some of these chapels are just big enough to hold an altar - with no room for patrons.

There is one main nightclub in the city center that plays good dance music from disco era to current (no rap) that seems to be the main weekend hangout for the 20 something set. The youth of Ovar are bright, very open and trusting and most understand American English (They have channels of American tv shows with portuguese subtitles - at 3 am, I saw Family Ties and Dallas!). The things that bother me are what they are being exported from the US, mainly junk food (McDonalds) and tobacco products - way too many are smokers.

Speaking of sets, head down to Foradoura by the beach for some good longboard and bodyboarding action. Several jettys cause some nice breakers, and there are a few beachside bars from which to enjoy the sunset.

Their carnaval celebration is one of the best in all Europe - the Samba schools provide units of 250+ fabulously costumed performers, all dancing to original musical scores and the innovation of the marching groups is truly amazing - everything from circus clowns doing 360 degree spins on giant teeter-totters hovering over the crowd to campy harem girls in drag - all traveling down the street via suitcase!

The pace of life, reasonable cost of living and warmth of the people all make me want to return to this beautiful town soon.

Pros and Cons