Visiting Aveiro & Motorhome Parking @ Pardilho – Spain & Portugal Tour 2009

July 3, 2009 Motorhome Planet

We made our way into Aveiro bright and early, ready for a day’s exploring. We don’t generally visit large towns and cities much, preferring the countryside, but Aveiro was so highly recommended by our guide book that we thought we would make an exception.

And it was very nice. Aveiro’s canals and waterways do indeed put one in mind of Amsterdam, although I think Venice is a little bit of a stretch. It’s an attractive, well-kept and very pleasant town to spend a little time in.

Canalside in Aveiro - needless to say, boat trips and tourists feature prominently, but it's very attractive and well kept

Although our demands were modest – an internet café to do some work, a good restaurant for lunch and a little sightseeing – we came away quite pleased with the day.

Parking in Aveiro is spacious, plentiful and free if you know where it is. The place that we parked in was big enough for even quite large motorhomes (there were several) and within a few minutes walk of the town centre. It’s also by a canal and quite scenic, if you want to spend the day in your van. Not sure whether overnight parking is permitted.

To find the parking, leave the IP5/A25 at the junction with the N235 (western side of Aveiro). I’ve tried and failed to write better directions than this, so here’s a link to a map for the remainder:

Motorhome parking in Aveiro

The parking is on the unnamed road that runs parallel to the Cais das Falcoeiras. It’s on the other side of the canal and just below the motorway flyover and is a long car park with two rows of parking spaces. Take note of the one-way arrows – there is a one-way system in place.

Parking by the canal in Aveiro - free and close to the town centre

Here are a few more pictures of Aveiro:

A building decorated with traditional azulejo tiles

You could almost be in Amsterdam... (but the weather's better here) — You could almost be in Amsterdam... (but the weather's better in Aveiro)

Sightseeing finished for the day, we headed out of Aveiro to our planned parking spot for the night – another Aire from the indispensable ‘All the Aires Spain & Portugal’; our bible for this trip. Our destination this night was a place called Pardilhó, to the north west of Aveiro.

Pardilhó turned out to be a quiet place and the Aire itself was truly at the end of the road – next to a café and small harbour area at the edge of some marshland (click here for a satellite picture, it’s just to the right of the buildings). This Aire was the second of the local government funded sites that required a €2 payment for each night (max 48 hours). As at Estarreja, there was a café adjacent to the parking where you made the payment and were given a token for the Euro Relais Mini and key for the electricity box.

The view from the motorhome parking at Pardilho — The view from the motorhome parking at Pardilhó

This Aire looked as if it had hardly been used – the staff at the café certainly gave that impression when I paid up. Except for a little late night coming and going from the café, it was a very quiet spot with all the facilities we needed. There’s not much to do or see in Pardilhó, however.

Distance driven: 39 miles