Salinas de Rio Maior — Attraction in Rio Maior

Category: Attraction. What a great discovery! Staying at the Quinta da Lapa winery (see my review), we were looking for something to do until our winery tour started at 4pm. We were told about this village, where they have been extracting sea salt from sea water since 1177 (yes, the year 1177). We were also told that despite almost 900 years of operation, they were not extracting salt that day because it had recently rained 😂, but that there are restaurants and shops where we could buy the local salt. Despite the salt flats’ dormancy, we went anyway (about a 30 minute drive), motivated by the prospect of buying the local salt. Really glad we did. We had a great afternoon there. The expansive salt ponds/flats reminded me a little of the leather tannery in Fez, Morocco, without the colors. The flats were mostly dormant that day, but we got the idea of how the extraction happens, and there were a few pyramids of salt (tiny pyramids, not like Khufu in Giza), which is how they gather the evaporated salt. After viewing the salt flats, we explored the village, which has one short, narrow main drag lined on both sides with very old, very weathered wooden sheds that were formerly used to store salt. Now they are shops and restaurants, and the street reminded me a little of similar narrow streets of very old weathered wooden shops in Japan, the kind sometimes shown in Japanese woodblock prints depicting such shops on snowy nights, and used on Christmas cards. We explored each shop along the street before settling on one of the several restaurants for lunch (Taberna 1865, see my review). Most of them sell — wait for it — the local salt, along with a wide selection of other goods, such as salt products, local olive oil and wine, ceramics and pottery, cork ware, cooking and serving wares, woodworking, and art. After exploring for about 2 hours, we had lunch, talking about how happy we were that we discovered this unusual place. Is it for tourists? Yes, but it was very different and unexpected, and we enjoyed our time here very much. And yes, we bought some salt, both for ourselves and to give as gifts. YouTube’s...

What a fascinating place!! We got a 'personal tour / explanation' from a great guy named Jose (sorry that I don't have Portuguese punctuation on my phone) whose family has been I solved for generations. Documents dated 1177 show that this area has been producing salt since at least that time. Historical digs indicate that this has been going on since Roman times so maybe 1900 years!!! We were here on a Wednesday (or Quarta-Feira in Portuguese) in early April and the place was almost empty. We were able to engage with some of the shopkeepers in our very limited Portuguese. Then, one young man stepped out from behind his counter (at Salarium) and engaged us in very good English. Being a slow day, he was able to give us his (mostly) undivided attention and a very nice lesson on the history and workings of the salt production here.

Well worth a trip, we will go back again to enjoy a meal at their family's restaurant (which is closed on Wednesday...

Well worth a visit.

The only inland salt pans in Portugal, and the only ones in full operation in Europe. The first reference to their existence dates back to 1177. All the old warehouses are made of wood, and converted to use as shops and restaurants now, but still with wooden locks and keys to avoid corrosion from the salt. Attractive.

Nice cafes and shops. We stopped for coffee and a pastry and some ice cream. Friendly staff.

Information and history of the site is spread about, but pretty good if you read the information boards, which offer Portuguese, French and English.

We didn't pay for tickets or guided tour or anything. I gather there are guided tour options. It was very quiet when we went. No salt being harvested but it's not high summer. Many/most shops shut out of season on a Friday, but we really enjoyed our...