In part 1 of a two-part story, Great Walks discovers the beauty and variety on a self-guided walking holiday in Portugal.
Portugal is more than just the historic cities of Lisbon and Porto, velvety custard tarts (pasteis de nata), rich port wines and bacalhau (cod) dishes, more than grilled octopus and sardines, big wave surfing at Nazare and the golden beaches of the Algarve.
It’s also a place of outstanding natural beauty and mesmerising scenery like the verdant, vineyard covered valleys of the Douro wine region, the Alto Minho and Costa Verde with their isolated beaches and picturesque river towns, and the rugged wilderness of dramatic peaks and frozen-in-time stone villages of the Peneda-Geres NP where hiking trails take you over old Roman roads and past castle ruins and sparkling waterfalls.
Trish and I have come to explore this fascinating land the slow way - on the ‘Heart and Soul of the Douro Wine Region’, and ‘Flavours of the Camino and Costa Verde’ - two self-guided walks designed and curated by Porto based company, Portugal Green Walks.
Douro Valley
We’re starting in the Alto Douro wine region, a declared UNESCO World Heritage site and the oldest viticultural region in the world where wine has been produced for nearly two thousand years.
For the first six days our boots travel over cobbled laneways and gravel roads as we find our rhythm and pace. Under brilliant blue skies we meander through medieval towns where church bells mark the passing of time, we trudge over terraced hillsides and past the occasional quinta (wine estate) where the tang of recently pressed grapes hangs heavy in the air, and at the end of the day we raise a glass of vinho Verde and congratulate ourselves on discovering this hidden gem called Portugal.
Our walk begins in Pinhao on the banks of Douro River. Mists hang low in the valleys where the river wends its way through the mountains and all around us the hillsides have been sculptured with epic stone walls and neat terraces of vines.
The first day is a short but demanding walk to Vilarinho de Sao Romao, with a sweaty 5km climb to the charming wine-producing village of Provesende before we pass through an amphitheatre of terraced vines to our night’s accommodation.
We’re not alone – Sue and Martin from the UK are also walking this route, but they aren’t our only new-found friends. ‘Linda’ is the voice-over on the GPS phone app provided by Portugal Green Walks and she proves to be an invaluable guide and companion, providing timely directions whenever we’re unsure of which way to go.
Over the next five days we walk through rugged, rocky valleys and shady forests, along ancient, unpaved roads and beside crystal-clear streams until our final day when we make our way downhill from Casal de Loivos back to Pinhao, admiring the spectacular views of the Douro River, the surrounding hillsides and the geometric patterns created by row upon row of vines. At Pinhao we board a train to Porto from where we begin the next stage of our exploration.
The Minho
After farewelling Sue and Martin with promises to keep in touch, we travel north to Ponte de Lima with its medieval tower and iconic 31-arched bridge across the Lima River. Legend has it that a squadron of Roman soldiers was too scared to cross the river, believing it to be the mythical River Lethe, which would wipe out the memories of anyone who crossed it. Their commander had to cross alone and call his soldiers by name to convince them to follow.
In the morning we are driven to the village of Castro Laboreiro in Paneda National Park.
This Iron Age settlement lies on a plateau between the mountain ranges of Peneda and Laboreiro and the sculptures of women in black at the viewpoint there are a tribute to the “widows of the living” – when local men emigrated for work, their wives would wear black until they returned.
The day’s walk is a 12.5 km circular route over steep rocky ground and across a plateau of smooth granite boulders where we pass ‘coffin rests’ – places where villagers carrying coffins to the cemetery stopped to rest by placing the coffins on a stone shelf.
Skipping nimbly across the rocks high above us we spy a couple of mountain goats and as we pass through a grassy meadow, we come across a small mob of the endangered Garrano ponies grazing there.
It’s a hot day and the stream beneath an ancient Roman bridge, although not deep enough for a proper swim, beckons me to strip off and cool down before we continue on our way.
We walk 15km to the Peneda Sanctuary next day, travelling along dirt tracks, forest paths, stone roads and short sections of tarmac. We’re enchanted by the forests and the woodlands with their mossy boulders and the tinkle of running water.
(Read part two here)
Words and photos_Ian Trevaskis