You start by being picked-up for your private tour (just you and your guide), at a hotel or cruise port in Lisbon. From here we will drive north to Óbidos & Mafra.
Explore Óbidos, conquered by Portugal´s first king, D. Afonso Henriques, on January 11th, 1148. Since then, Óbidos continues to be part of Portugal’s history. Here you will visit the various highlights of the Fortified village of Óbidos. Walking inside the village also allows you to taste the Ginjinha and other local goods and crafts. Note: Each July (at an extra cost) Óbidos castle hosts a traditional ‘Medieval Market’. For two weeks the castle and the surrounding town recreate the spirit of medieval Europe. Flowing banners and heraldic flags set the mood together with hundreds of entertainers and stall holders dressed as merchants, jugglers, jesters, wandering minstrels, soldiers and more. Visitors can shop at the traditional handcrafts fair or watch medieval shows, horse displays and a costumed parade that winds its way through the streets. There are also displays of jousting knights and armed combat.
Discover the palace of Mafra, a magnificent building that was only possible due to the "Brazilian gold" that poured into the country, allowing King João V to carry out the building of the biggest baroque palaces from the 18th century. Its construction began on November 17, 1717 and it integrates 4 buildings in one: the palace, the convent, a basilica and a library. You will walk though the longest corridor ever built in a palace (232 m long). All made of limestone and marble from this region (Pêro Pinheiro and Sintra), the building covers an area of almost four hectares (37.790 sqm2), including 1.200 rooms and more than 4.700 doors and windows. The library itself is one of the most important in Europe, having an enormous variety of books (more than 30.000 volumes) from the XVth to the XVIIIth century. Flanked by two towers, the basilica is the “center piece” of the facade having been designed by the German architect Johann Friedrich Ludwig and commissioned by D. João V.
Excellent guide. Obidos is beautiful as is Mafra palace, but I think It would be helpful if Viators had said that the chapel and the library are both under restoration and could not be seen - a disappointment
Ricardo was engaging, entertaining, and extremely knowledgeable about Óbidos and the Mafra Palace. We thoroughly enjoyed our tour with him and learned so much.
Rodrigo (Rod)was an amazing guide with so much knowledge of Óbidos and Mafra. The conversation on the drive from Lisbon to Obidos and back to Lisbon from Mafra kept us entertained from start to finish with more historic facts about all the places we visited. The walled medieval Obidos is a must see village on anyone’s visit to Portugal. We highly recommend this tour especially if you are able to do it with Rod. He is great!
The city of Obidos was beautiful, and Mafra was great (very cool library room). But I'm writing the review to shout out our awesome tour guide Rod. He was so friendly informative and he had the best food recommendations both during the tour and after when we were back in Lisbon. This was one of the best days of the trip. Thanks again Rod.
We not only enjoyed the itinerary, but it was our guide Ricardo who made it more than a photo opportunity….he was a delight with his gentle manners, knowledge and subtle sense of humour while walking in Mafra and Obidos, pointing out so many interesting little facts about the history of each place! A true gentleman of Lisbon!!
Obidos is a beautifull place with very friendly and humble people. I prefer to be more time on Obidos instead of Mafra. The guide is very friendly with us but on time have a road rage with others.
Our guide, Ricardo was amazing! We cannot say enough, good things about him. He was so knowledgeable, easy to understand his English, and he had a wonderful sense of humor. We would very highly recommend him. Beth and Marc Zweig
Óbidos was a quaint little town, just beautiful Mafia Palace was amazing, lots of history Rodrigo was an excellent guide with lots of knowledge. He made it a fun day b
Very knowledgeable, pleasant, with excellent English. Very flexible with our requests and gave us plenty of time for exploration. We felt very fortunate to have him for two days.
Both locations we toured were so historical and without the knowledge of our tour guide we would have been lost
Time well spent! It was a very interesting excursion with a friendly and knowledgeable guide. My family and I enjoyed it very much, strongly recommend.
Obidos & National Palace of Mafra were simply incredible. Thoroughly enjoyed our private visit of each amazing place with our wonderful tour guide, Rodrigo! Rod made the day trip for us, spending a few hours at Obidos & Mafra Place and sharing his excellent knowledge of each as we toured the walled city of Obidos and the spectacular Mafra Palace. Everything was just perfect!!
Library in Marfra was magical and hugegood guide skip Medieval Disney land too much on the tourist map
Mafra Palace was one of the highlights of our trip. Absolutely a must see. Our guide walked us through the history of the palace and the Royals who once lived there. Definitely worth a visit.
My boyfriend and I spent a day with our tour guide, Rodrigo, exploring Obidos and the palace at Mafra. We spent two weeks in Portugal and our private tour with Rodrigo was one of the best highlights of our entire trip. Getting to Obidos and Mafra was smooth with the tour and Rodrigo has an expert level knowledge of all the sights we explored as well as about Portugal. The palace at Mafra was amazing and seeing the library there was a highlight of the tour and our trip. Rodrigo made the experience truly memorable and provided so many great facts during the tour. I highly recommend this tour to anyone interested in seeing Obidos.
Our guide, John, was knowledgeable, funny and accessible. I would highly recommend using him. He made our experience unforgettable
Rodrigo is truly a talented, fun and kind guide. He has so much knowledge. I brought my mom in her 70s and she said she learned so much and this was her favorite day from the trip. Its fully worth doing this trip privately. I had never been to Mafra (been to portugal before) and its such a hidden secret. The palace is so well preserved and theres space, you are not crammed in like in sintra with a million tourists. I learned a lot also of obidos, more than I did went i did a group tour in the past. Rodrigo was amazing as I said and so knowledgable. Really wanted to thank for him for his expertise and always making the trip fun for my mom and I. Please dont hesitate to book this tour
Rodrigo was a wonderful guide. He was very knowledgeable and clearly has a passion for Portuguese history and culture. He was flexible with timing in both Obidos and Mafra to accommodate our interests. Rodrigo was also very helpful in navigating our dietary needs and assisting us with choosing a delicious lunch. Highly recommend!
Great Tour and Fernando is a great guide. I wish ALL my Viator Guides were this good! He even helped us call to track down lost luggage as we were driving and gave a few restaurant recommendations in Lisbon. Obidos was really interesting and Mafra was amazing! Great tour and great guide!
We had a great day at Odeidos and Mafra with Ricardo of Taking U There Tours. He was engaging and knowledgeable, and he spoke excellent English. Mafra is truly a hidden gem--he showed us the palace, fantastic library, and hospital where the monks carried for the nobles and others--truly a fascinating site and not crowded (esp. when compared with Sintra and Pena Palace).
Had a wonderful time on this trip with our amazing guide Rodrigo. Beautiful and interesting! Thanks!
We absolutely loved our tour of Obidos and Mafra. Obidos is a lovely town and Mafra has an amazing palace/hospital/basilica. Although it is a less visited site, we felt Mafra was well worth seeing. Our guide, Joao (John) Dickman was absolutely incredible. So knowledgeable, fun, and easy going. Highly recommend this tour with John!!
My wife and I had a very informative and enjoyable day with Ricardo as our driver and guide. He was very knowledgeable and provided excellent tips about Portugal. Great sense of humor as well. The highlight of our 12 day visit. Highly recommended
Absolutely loved the tour and the entire day spent with John joao Dickmann.he was friendly,had a wealth of information not just about the tour but also in general.he was very flexible in terms of time.the small walled town of obidos was lovely and the Mafra palace was simply stunning.i would recommend JOHN and his company TakinguThere.totally worth it.
<p>We almost exclusively choose Viator when seeking an independent tour of a city as their tour guides are great. This time our guide surpassed even our expectations. John Joao Dickmann was extremely knowledgeable about Lisbon and our chosen sites of the king and queens hunting palace and the medieval village of Obidos. John was very personable and showed flexibility when our interests expanded to include other historical topics. He even showed us quaint patisseries! </p> <p>Thank you, John.</p>
Driver arrived on time at 9:00 AM. We headed to Obidos first. The drive there was long, but our driver kept us engaged in good conversations on many subjects. Once we arrived at Obidos, the charm and beauty of this historic neighborhood comes alive. There is a main street were most of the vendors are located, that begins at the parking lot. We stopped for sweets and Ginja in chocolate cups. Stopped at a shop that made fresh bread right in the front of their shop. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgable about Obidos, and we appreciated his guiding us away from the crowd for most of our tour - there are hidden panoramic views not to be missed. The day continued to Mafra, where an exquisite castle filled with a rich history, delivered while walking inside. Excellent Private Tour
Communication prior to the tour was excellent. Our guide, Rodrigo was fantastic. He was right on time for pick up and is a walking good humored encyclopedia! He has a passion for history which is infectious. We lucked out and had him all to ourselves so we felt like we could customize it to our interests. Obidos is an awesome and adorable historical town. We had time to eat lunch there and do a little shopping. Mafra is a huge palace. Rodrigo knowledge of its history really made it for us. We highly recommend this tour, Rodrigo, and Takinguthere tours for anything!
<p>An amazing experience for anyone fascinated by Roman, Moor and Portuguese history, all rolled into one charming village. The stop in Mafra for a visit to this royal palace was just as awesome. Our guide from Taking U There was distinguished and knowledable. It was really a first class tour.</p>
<p>Loved Obidos and our guide, Rodrigo! He was super knowledgeable and accommodating. Great communication setting up the meeting place before the tour. We essentially were able to customize the day to our desire.</p>
<p>Very pleased with this tour - the explanation was in great details of the two sites we visited</p>
<p>My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed this trip. It was a private excursion with an amazing guide named Rodrigo. He was friendly, well-organized and had a wealth of information about the places we visited and as well as Portugal in general. Our first stop was the medieval village of Obidos. We went on a walking tour and it was like travelling back in time. We learned about the history of the village and stopped in to see various places of interest. We had time to buy some souvenirs. Afterward we drove off to the town of Mafra and had a lunch in a delightful café. We then went on a walking tour of an enormous, fascinating palace with Rodrigo's vast knowledge bringing the place to life. All in all a great day!</p>
<p>Joao picked us up for our tour to Obidus from our hotel. We were expecting a small van, so you can imagine our surprise when it was us just out for the day. Joao is a font of information and most charming. We were at the fortress town before lines of tourists and had a beautiful time strolling the street lined with interesting crafts. The view from the top of the rampart wall was stunning. Joao is flexible to your tastes, it's not set how long you stay or what you see. He later drove us to the Mafra Palace, truly magnificent and to see this with just him instead of the huge crowds that came as we were going made you feel like the King and Queens had just left for the day. The cathedral within was a marbled sight to behold with its still functioning five organs. And then we see the biggest library in Europe with rare books and stories of bats that are free to roam and eat worms that damage wood and books. Joao has many different tours on offer, all small and I think his expertise of Morocco would make this a trip unique.</p>
<p>This is an excellent tour to one of the top locations outside of Lisbon. We had a superb trip to Obidos and to Peniche formerly a fishing village and great for the view of the coast and for a late lunch. The company, TakinguThere, provides private tours for 2-6 people The pick up at the hotel was on schedule and seamless...getting us to Obidos before the crowd. We were able to walk around the village and to the top of the ancient city wall wear decent hiking or walking shoes with adequate soles if you want to do this as the climb to the top of the wall is a gravel and rock path we're in our late 60s and reasonably fit but path is a bit narrow and there are no railings along the way or at the top...something to keep in mind if you have younger children along. The views from the top of the wall are spectacular keeping in mind that Obidos is inland so you can't see the ocean. The history and architecture date to the Moorish and medieval periods. There are interesting examples where the earlier buildings were adapted into newer buildings as the ruling elite changed...a good guide is necessary and this tour delivers.If you aren't interested in going to the top of the wall, there is plenty of opportunity to sip coffee, try the Portuguese cherry liqueur Ginjinha, and to shop.<br/> The tour goes from Obidos to Peniche, a former fishing village along the rocky coast line. Here you can see the cliffs and get a feel for the hazards of navigation the lighthouse was blaring siren warnings to small boats due to the fog. The tour company is a small group that delivers high quality at an incredibly reasonable price. I can recommend them without hesitation for this tour and I would expect they deliver the same high quality on their other tours. Our guide, Rod, was very personable and knowledgeable, drawing on his world travels. He covered history, culture, science, technology and agriculture during our discussions and provided great advice on ordering lunch. Perfect day!</p>
We were just me and my mom with a very cool guide and super advanced in the most due matters. the guide was very sympathetic, attentive and intelligent. we talked about various subjects and he explained everything about obidos and mafra.
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