Costa Nova - sea, sand, salt and stripes

If you are lucky enough to be in Portugal, at any time of the year, you ought to visit Aveiro and it's beaches. The best thing about Aveiro is that the city is located only 10 minutes from the ocean. Barra and Costa Nova are the most famous ones. Costa Nova is beautiful beach covered with beautiful yellow sand and a beach well known for its striped houses.

Located in the north of Portugal, Aveiro is city located only 10 minutes from the Atlantic Ocean. It's called also Venice of Portugal because of its canals, but also it can be the capital of sweet because ovos moles (famous egg cakes made in Aveiro) are created in this city. The city has a great position - is located between two big Portuguese cities, Lisbon and Porto, and it's well connected with all other Portuguese cities by bus or train.

Costa Nova do Prado (New Shore of the Meadow)* is the full name of this beach. Better know for its shorter name, Costa Nova** (which means the new shore *in Portuguese) is easily approachable from the city of Aveiro. I would suggest to hitchhike from the city center or just catch a bus that runs very frequently from the city center to this beach. Since Portugal is a country where people care about nature, you can take a bicycle or rent one and cycle to the beach; it will take 45 minutes to 1 hour to get to the beach. While riding your bicycle you'll enjoy beautiful views of Ria de Aveiro.

Once a fisherman city, today costal resort, Costa Nova is a place where you can practice various sports such as surfing, windsurfing or kitesurfing. Besides enjoying your time on the sandy beach enjoying the sun, salt, and sea (actually ocean), you can enjoy also eating famous Portuguese pastry called tripa. Or, enjoy your meal eating some seafood near the ocean in one of various Costa Nova restaurants. But we are here to speak about other thing and that's striped houses. the warm and vibrant colors will catch your attention and you will not leave the place without taking a photo in front of some of these houses.

All those houses, colored with vivid colors will be the first thing to visit. My suggestion is to have a cup of Portuguese coffee, have one tripa or just ice-cream. Don't forget to take a photo next to one of the houses and then - straight to the beach. Those colorful houses are a perfect fit between Ria de Aveiro and the ocean. And ocean beach itself is amazing and sandy. Maybe it can be windy and the ocean can be cold to swim but this is the best spot to chill, read a book, hang out with friends. It can be a perfect escape from the city or great day trip from Porto.