Tomar, portugal

It’s been a busy few days, we’re finally coming up for air and finding some time to write about Tomar. Well isn't this an interesting place… Only a week or so ago Tomar was voted Europe’s best hidden gem, and after a slower start and a few “where the fuck is everybody?” moments, we started to see why.

Tomar is steeped in history, specifically Templar history – it is visible and celebrated everywhere. The town’s founder, Gualdim Pais, was a Templar Knight who participated in the crusades to Jerusalem, and upon his return settled Tomar and built a grand castle atop the hill. It is a significant feeling to stroll the streets under the shadow of a near-thousand-year-old castle, it feels like walking along North Terrace under the bright lights of SkyCity, though not quite as special.

It's challenging to pinpoint what to write about here, Tomar isn't akin to Porto or Lisbon where you can simply meander around and be wowed – it is much smaller and with must-see sites you can count on one hand not 5 – though the Templar castle, attached convent and ancient aqueduct are all spectacular. Where Tomar shines is in quiet moments. A relaxed breakfast by the water or in the old quarter, usually consisting of cafe paired with a heavily buttered and sugared pastry - a great start to the day. A delicious sandwich thrown together under the shady trees in the park. An afternoon beer and a heated game of gin rummy at a terraced garden bar. And all of this with such little noise, Tomar is a place devoid of any lines or rush. The only caveat to this calm was discovered through a misinterpreted direction on google maps by my intrepid navigator in the passenger seat – queue driving the wrong way down narrow streets, avoiding scrapes at every turn. Come to think of it, maybe those shouts and gestures of encouragement from bystanders were something else?  

Jumping back to the subject at hand, we struck gold a couple oftimes in Tomar. Firstly, the annual Templar festival was on during our stay, a highly thematic experience that the entire town delivers with pride and fervour. We celebrated through the people’s dinner, a balmy evening of traditional templar food and drink in the national park, featuring court jesters, battle re-enactments and era-accurate dance circles, and it was an absolute blast.  

The second, was our dinner at Tasca O Perdigoto. We never caught his name, but the chain-smoking, superhero shirt wearing owner was as hospitable and authentic as they come. He took immense pride in his restaurant which we loved, he offered no English menu and told us, “If you want to eat with us, you have to come in and talk to us”, and we happily obliged. Suffice to say the food was exceptional, clams with white wine and heapings of garlic, pork cooked in chorizo sauce, crispy fries, bread to mop up all the sauce and lovely vinho to make your head spin. Throughout the night he would take five to sit with us and spin a story, he shared red wine from his family vineyard, plums from their orchard, and olive oil from their groves - and as closing time crept closer he put his feet up at our table to chat and cheers.

Okay enough positives, onto my negatives (not really). My let-downs for Tomar were that I wanted to go full-medieval and chow-down on a huge turkey leg but alas I could never find one, the fair had owls, hawks, camels, donkeys and snakes, but not one lousy turkey leg. The other is noisy neighbours and shared bathrooms, from taking showers at 12am to stomping downstairs at 6am, the joys of budget travel I suppose.

Tomar is a charming and unique town and we're really happy we were able to spend some time here. It had a really authentic atmosphere and was not completely overwhelmed with tourists – though give it a few years and this might not be the case. As I sit and write this in Lisbon, exhausted from relentless steps and crowds, I reflect on never feeling this way in Tomar, so if it sounds like your speed and you’re ever in the neighbourhood, you should check it out.

‍

Hannah's thoughts:

Tomar is a weird and wonderful little town full of medieval history, castles, knights, bagpipes, Templar emblems, sword fighting, dancing and no turkey legs - much to Jesse’s disappointment. At the beginning  we didn’t really understand Tomar, but we ended up really loving it, both for its rich history and the people who exuded so much passion towards it.

Just like that we are 2 weeks down and Jesse and I haven’t killed each other yet, although if he continues refers to a W/C as a Weiner Closet one more time something might have to give!

‍