Évora is a pretty white town with yellow-orange highlights, a UNESCO World Heritage site. In many places, white walls are not in the state of perfect upkeep, so there is a dirty-ish tint to some perspectives, but still picturesque and overall very pleasant.
Cathedral ♥ is not outstanding in the absolute sense, but has a number of interesting features, such as an elaborate in-nave altar to Our Lady of O. You can also get on its roof (“tower”), which is quite interesting, as well as look around the cloisters.
Beautiful church of Sao Francisco ♥♥♥ is among the most impressive that I have seen in all of Portugal. Uniformly designed but individually decorated chapels line up the perimeter of the main nave; a marble main altar, an elaborate golden altar in the cross-nave, and a separate room for secular members of the Franciscan order are other major features.
A different entrance (for a fee) can take you to the unusual Bones Chapel ♥, which is worth checking out. The same ticket also allows entry to the church museum and a collection of Nativity scenes ♥, the latter is like a toy museum very likely to especially appeal to kids.
Quite a few other churches are found in the town center, but we only looked at a few from the outside while strolling through town.
Unmissable because it stands freely and does not require any fees to see, the Roman Temple of Diana ♥ is one other major attraction.
Places to Eat
Lunch at Guiao ♥♥ around the corner from Sao Francisco. A random selection that turned out excellent. We came in time to get a table without a reservation and were seemingly the only non-Portuguese speakers in the dining room. Codfish pie and lamb specials were both very good. A selection of appetizers was brought out first, on the don’t-eat-don’t-pay basis; we ate sauteed mushrooms, sauteed peppers, sauteed octopus, and grilled sardines; that turned out to extra €14. Our damage: €57 for two with a liter of sangria. Last visit: Spring 2019.