# Walking round the Óbidos walls along the wall-walk

Walls · 1 h · 1.5 km · Free · No handrail

Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/portugal/central-portugal/obidos/things-to-do/obidos-walls · Revisado: 2026-11-11

Dónde: Óbidos

From the wall-walk you see the town like a plan: the orange rooftops, the white streets with blue and yellow stripes, the churches and, outside, the aqueduct and the countryside towards the lagoon. It is the best part of the visit, and the one to do with the most care.

## What it is and why it is worth it

Óbidos is a complete medieval town inside its walls. The circuit has a perimeter of about 1,565 metres, with stretches of wall up to 13 metres high, four gates and the castle at one end. What is extraordinary is that the walkway on top, the wall-walk, can be followed almost all the way round on foot, above the rooftops, and it is free.

History helps you look at it. The Moors fortified the place, and Afonso Henriques took it in 1148, a year after Lisbon. King Dinis gave the town to his wife, Queen Saint Isabel, as a wedding present, and from then on Óbidos formed part of the dowry of the queens of Portugal until 1834. Dinis also built the keep, around 1325. The castle has been a national monument since 1910, and its palace section became a pousada between 1948 and 1950.

## Who it is for

Anyone without vertigo who is steady on their feet. The wall-walk is narrow in places, the stone floor is uneven and the inner side has no handrail: on one side you have the battlements, on the other the drop towards the streets. With children it can be done, but hold hands and go in short stretches. Not with a pushchair or reduced mobility: you climb by steep stone steps.

## Getting there

Óbidos is in the Oeste region, north of Lisbon. You leave the car outside the walls and walk in through the Porta da Vila, the main gate, which has a chapel with 18th-century tiles inside. Beside it begins one of the staircases up to the wall-walk; there are several more around the circuit.

## When to go

All year, in good weather and without strong wind. The best time is first thing in the morning, before the day-trip groups, or the end of the afternoon, with low light over the rooftops. At midday, on the narrow stretches you pass people at the edge, which is exactly what you want to avoid.

## What it costs

Nothing. Access to the wall-walk is free by several staircases. At most you will pay for parking outside the walls.

## If it rains or blows hard

Do not go up. Without a handrail and with wet stone the risk is real. In bad weather, walk the streets inside and Rua Direita, and leave the walls for another time.

## Paso a paso

### Start · The Porta da Vila
Enter through the main gate, with its tiled chapel, and look to one side for the stone staircase up to the wall.

### 20 min · Towards the castle
Follow the wall-walk on the Rua Direita side to the castle, whose former palace is now a hotel.

### 20 min · The western side
The highest and narrowest stretch, with views of the countryside and the lagoon.

### 20 min · Back to the gate
Close the circuit or go down any of the staircases you find.

## Qué llevar

- Shoes with a good sole: the stone is uneven and slippery

- Water in summer

- A hat: there is no shade up there

## Consejos

### Go first thing or at sunset
At midday there are groups on the narrow stretches and you have to pass people at the edge.

### Do not go up in wind or rain
Without a handrail and with wet stone, the risk is real.

### With children, in stretches
Go up at the Porta da Vila, do the stretch to the castle and come down there.

### Look for the aqueduct
From the outside you can see the Usseira aqueduct, about 3 km long, which Queen Catherine of Austria had built in the 16th century.

## Aviso

### The inner side has no handrail.
In places the wall-walk is narrow and the drop to the streets is several metres. Do not go up in wind or rain, hold children's hands and do not stop to take photos at the edge.

## Preguntas frecuentes

### How much does it cost to go up on the walls?
Nothing. Access is free by several staircases.

### Is it dangerous?
The inner side has no handrail and the path is narrow in places. With care and good shoes it is no problem.

### How long does it take to go round?
An hour at an easy pace, for about 1.5 km.

### Can you do it with small children?
Only holding hands and in stretches. Not with a pushchair.

### How high are the walls?
Up to about 13 metres in some stretches.

### Can you walk the whole circuit?
Almost all of it. If a stretch is closed, go down the nearest staircase and climb back up further on.

### How old are the walls?
They have Moorish origins; the town passed into Christian hands in 1148, and the castle keep dates from around 1325, in the time of King Dinis.