FOR striped houses that look like giant beach huts and beautiful stretches of coastline – head to Aveiro.
The city in Portugal sits on the west coast and is much less known than its neighbour and is considered to be the country’s ‘Venice‘.
Along with its waterways, Aveiro is known for its beautiful waterfront houses, bars and boat tours along the waterways.
The city is built around water including the Ria de Aveiro which is a shallow coastal lagoon – and throughout Aveiro are lots of canals.
The largest is Canal Central de Aveiro, right in the city centre and it’s here where tourists can hop onto a boat and take a river cruise.
Dotted along the water are the brightly coloured Moliceiro boats which were historically used to collect seaweed.
Now, these are used for leisure tours which you can book from €13 (£11.22).
These start on the Central Canal of Ria de Aveiro before working their way through the waterworks to Canal de São Roque in the north of the city.
On the banks of the canal are lots of bars, restaurants and cafes.
Some of the most popular include Boteco Aveiro, Taberna do Canal, and Luxor Lounge.
A popular drinking spot is Neighbourhood Alavarium Bar which has deckchairs in the courtyard.
A local pint will set you back just €2.75 (£2.38).
Just a short trip from Aveiro is the Bairrada Region Proximity, which produces plenty of sparkling and red wine, so the city is also perfect for wine lovers.
It is an excellent hub for exploring vineyards on reasonably priced tours, and bars and restaurants in the city centre offer glasses from as little as €2.30 (£2).
Aveiro is known for a local delicacy called ‘ovos moles’ – these traditional Portuguese pastries are essentially a sweet, creamy egg yolk and sugar mixture inside a thin wafer shell.
You can pick these up in local cafes or bakeries for around €1.60 (£1.38) each – and if you treat yourself to a coffee, it will cost as little as €2.16 (£1.87).
One of these spots along Central Canal is Café a Barrica.
One visitor even wrote on Tripadvisor: “This is the very place to try the typical local sweet, Ovos Moles. It is a small place, but I recommend a visitor to try.”
A holidaymaker who treated their fiancee to a romantic holiday to the city, told The Guardian: I told my fiancée we were going somewhere where we would drink wine on a gondola so she was a bit surprised when we got on a plane to Portugal and not Italy.
“I had to explain that I meant the Venice south of Porto – the pretty canal town of Aveiro (half the cost of the real Venice and just as nice).
“I risked being dubbed a cheapskate but we both loved it – a great romantic choice for a Valentine break on a budget.”
Around 10-minutes outside of the city centre is the coastal village of Costa Nova.
The picture-perfect spot has been described by visitors as having “the most adorable houses”.
The waterfront buildings are famous for their brightly coloured stripes.
These were originally called ‘palheiros’ and were used by fishermen and were brightly coloured so that they could see them through the mist.
Its beach, called Praia da Costa Nova, is also considered one of the prettiest in the area, although it does have strong waves thanks to its location on the Atlantic.
It runs for just under one mile and is the perfect sunbathing spot thanks to its fine, white sand.
Costa Nova is also home to Farol da Barra which is the tallest lighthouse in Portugal.
Visitors can climb up the 288 steps for incredible views across the coast.
Aveiro doesn’t have an international airport – the nearest is Porto which is just a 34-minute train ride away.
One-way tickets start from £6 and in February, flights to Porto from Birmingham start from £13 with Ryanair.
And once you get to the station, make sure to check out the former station building.
It’s one of the prettiest in Aveiro covered in beautiful blue and white tiles.
Plus, here’s the secret side to Portugal crowned one of the best places in Europe to visit last year.
And these are the five lesser-known places where the Portuguese always go on holiday and where they avoid.