Visit Costa Nova and Barra on a day trip from Aveiro – you won’t regret it!
I honestly didn’t have high expectations the morning Glenn and I decided to go on a day trip to Costa Nova and Barra. I mean, striped houses and a lighthouse… that doesn’t really sound very exciting to me.
But after spending a full day exploring these two coastal towns, I completely changed my mind and ended up having one of the greatest days during my Portugal trip. And isn’t that what traveling is all about? Changing your views of the world and being in the now.
So in this blog post, we want to share this amazing day with you.
We’re first going to give you some practical information – like how to take the bus from Aveiro to Costa Nova and where to stay in these lovely coastal towns.
Afterwards, we’ll share our own experience on this day trip from Aveiro to Costa Nova and Barra. Hopefully, we can inspire you to look beyond the touristic striped houses, so that you can really enjoy everything that the area has to offer.
Now let’s begin! This is, “Costa Nova & Barra – The Perfect Day Trip from Aveiro”
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How to get from Aveiro to Barra and Costa Nova?
By bus: You’ll find the bus from Aveiro to Costa Nova and Barra at Terminal Rodoviário, which is the bus terminal right next to the train station. If you take the bus all the way to Costa Nova, then it takes 40 minutes and it costs us €2,6 per person (November 2021 prices).
By taxi: If you prefer to skip the bus, then you can also catch a taxi or Uber between Aveiro and the coast. We ended up taking an Uber back to Aveiro from Barra. This set us back €7,28 in total.
By tour: Don’t want to go by yourself? Then join this small group tour to Costa Nova and Barra. It’s a guided tour with up to 6 people that takes you to the two coastal towns from Aveiro.
Where to stay in Barra and Costa Nova?
Fancy a couple of nights stay in Barra or Costa Nova? Well we can’t blame you! This coastal area is such a lovely place in Portugal.
Both of the coastal towns are super cute. But we noticed that Costa Nova is a bit more expensive. We checked out some of the restaurant prices, and they were doubled compared to standard Portuguese prices. In that way, Barra has a bit more affordable options when it comes to places to eat. On the other hand, we had the feeling that Barra is bigger and more populated, which means you’ll probably find more tranquility in Costa Nova.
That being said, we only went on a single day trip from Aveiro to Costa Nova and Barra, so we can’t really say anything direct about where to stay. But we can do some research into possible hotels to stay at, so that’s what we’ve done on booking.com – our go-to platform to book accommodation while traveling.
Where to stay in Barra?
- Hotel Farol: A nice 3-star hotel, right next to Barra lighthouse. In fact, many of the rooms have direct view to the lighthouse from the balcony! (Just make sure to pick the right one).
- House Barra Beach: A cozy guest house right next to Barra Beach. Here you’ll find breakfast included, a sunny rooftop terrace, and an outdoor pool.
Where to stay in Costa Nova?
- Family Hostel Costa Nova: An affordable place in the town center with really good reviews. It’s great for those traveling on a budget or for those looking for other travellers.
- Costa Nova Hotel: Fancy staying in one of those striped houses? Check out this 3-star hotel that’s located right in Costa Nova’s town center.
Our day trip from Aveiro to Barra & Costa Nova
Now enough with the practical information, let’s get back to the more exciting part of this blog post! – Our day trip from Aveiro to Costa Nova and Barra.
This is what we experienced during our day at the coast. Hopefully, it’ll get you excited to visit Costa Nova or Barra yourself!
1. Taking pictures of the striped houses in Costa Nova
We got off the bus in Costa Nova, it had only taken about 40 minutes to get here from Aveiro. Piece of cake!
The first thing we noticed was the striped, colorful houses.
They looked so sweet – like something out of a movie about candy, happiness and sunshine. Each house had a specific color. But they were randomly placed next to each other, like: yellow – red – blue – red – green – yellow. We absolutely loved it!
We took a stroll up and down the street and started taking pictures of the houses.
However, we weren’t alone. It surprised me how many people were actually here on a grey November day. We saw several instagrammers who set up their tripods and made perfect couple pictures, we saw one vlogger walking around talking to the camera (oh we know how that feels…), and we saw a ton of families taking selfies and pictures in front of the striped houses.
The striped houses in Costa Nova has apparently become some kind of social media attraction where everyone goes to get a shot for Instagram. A bit odd, I must admit.
My only thought at this point was, I’m so glad NOT to be living in one of these houses. Can you imagine the crowd in the summer?
Anyways, after strolling up and down the main street in Costa Nova for an hour, I told Glenn I was done. The magic of Costa Nova’s striped houses were wearing off, and we needed to move on.
2. Watching the surfers ride waves at Costa Nova beach
We walked from the main street in Costa Nova to the beach.
And the magic was back!
I absolutely love the ocean, so I have a hard time not enjoying a beach whether it’s sunny or rainy, cold or hot, windy or still. I just love the beach!
There is a boardwalk on Costa Nova’s beach, which you can follow. So we did. We walked for a bit and then suddenly spotted a handful of surfers in the ocean.
We walked onto some big boulders, sat down, and looked at the surfers. We were so impressed with them. Not only are they able to get up onto the board and surf, but they are also paddling around the cold November-chilled ocean for such a long time. It must be exhausting!
Portugal is known for surfing, especially Nazaré is one of the most famous surf spots in the whole world, so we were excited to finally see some surfers on our trip around Portugal.
More than half an hour had already passed while we were sitting by the ocean in Costa Nova and watching the surfers. And suddenly, it was lunch time. We went into Bronze Seafood & Lounge Bar, right on the beach, and ate a pretty good burger. It was reasonably priced compared to the other restaurant prices in Costa Nova. We can definitely recommend it here!
3. Walking the boardwalk from Costa Nova to Barra
We were halfway through our day trip from Aveiro, so it was time to leave Costa Nova and head towards Barra.
Luckily for us, there is a boardwalk between Costa Nova and Barra, which meant we could follow the coastline all the way. How cool is that? I had expected us to walk on the road, but now we had the possibility to walk right next to the ocean.
This day just became better and better.
The walk from Costa Nova to Barra is about 4 kilometers long, so you can expect to spend around 1 hour on this trail.
If you go on this boardwalk, then make sure to do it like us and walk in the direction towards Barra because then you constantly have the lighthouse in front of you. So cool! And did you know that the lighthouse in Barra is the tallest one in all of Portugal?
4. Arriving at the lighthouse in Barra – Portugal’s tallest!
We eventually arrived in Barra, which was the end destination in our day trip from Aveiro.
The lighthouse in Barra came closer and closer with each step we took forward. It got bigger and bigger, and in the end, we found ourselves standing right in front of it.
The lighthouse in Barra is also called, “Farol de Aveiro”, and it’s the tallest one in Portugal with its 62 meters height. It was built to guide the ships into the bay since a lot of wreckages had happened in the area. It’s been operating since 1893.
I wanted to go up, but unfortunately, it wasn’t open.
After gawking over the lighthouse, we took a stroll around the beach and watched the ships sail in and out of the bay.
We had such a great time in Costa Nova and Barra, and we couldn’t ask for a better day trip from Aveiro.
Why Costa Nova and Barra are worth visiting
If you don’t see why you should visit Costa Nova and Barra by now, then I’m not sure I can convince you in any other way…
But maybe you weren’t in the mood to read through my blabbering during the section, “Our day trip from Aveiro to Barra & Costa Nova”, and if that’s the case, then I’ll sum it up for you here.
Here are 10 reasons why Costa Nova and Barra are worth visiting:
- See the iconic, striped, colorful houses in Costa Nova
- Enjoy the beach in Costa Nova and Barra
- Go swimming during summer months
- Watch the surfers at the coast
- Eat a lunch or have a drink by the ocean
- Enjoy a nice walk on the boardwalk at the beach
- Watch a beautiful sunset
- See Portugal’s tallest lighthouse
- Watch the ships go by in Barra
- Get out of Aveiro and enjoy the fresh ocean air
We hope you enjoyed this blog post about visiting Costa Nova and Barra on a day trip from Aveiro in Portugal. We really enjoyed writing it for you!
If you have any questions about going to Costa Nova or Barra, then don’t hesitate to leave a comment below. Thanks for reading and happy travels!
Check out this blog post while you’re in the area: Things to do in Aveiro
How far is the port to sao Jackinto from barra lighthouse
Hi Mark, sorry for the late reply. I think you have to take the ferry from “Forte da Barra” which is approx. 6 km away from Barra light house. You can either get there with the bus or you can grab a taxi. Safe travels!
Thank you for this blog! I am going to Porto next week and was deciding whether to visit Costa Nova and Aveiro, you have just convinced me it’s worth it.
Hi Becks, what a nice comment! Thanks! I’m happy you’re going to Costa Nova and Aveiro – we really enjoyed our time there. Just notice that it can be very quiet during the Winter months.. 😊 Porto is one of my favorite cities in Europe, I hope you have the best time!
Hi Cecilie – the bus you took from Terminal Rodoviario de Aveito, was it a Line 36 bus ? How did you pay for the bus fare – cash ? Pay on boarding the bus ? Thanks