NORTHERN PORTUGAL

Wow, I completely forgot to finish recapping our trip to Portugal, but what a pleasant surprise when I logged in to do so and saw a draft saved! Needless to say, I only have half a brain left this holiday season. Anyway, moving on to recapping Northern Portugal!

We have visited quite a few places in Portugal, but this was our first time venturing North of the Douro Valley. Last summer, we met a couple in the Lisbon airport lounge when we were en route to Italy, and they were returning from Portugal. They raved about the national park and beauty of the countryside up North, so we decided right then and there to visit in 2023!

WHERE TO STAY:

Monverde Wine Experience Hotel: Once you leave Lisbon, there’s not much on the highway.  This resort if pretty far North, with nothing really notable that we saw in its vicinity.  That meant day trips and enjoying the resort restaurants with plenty of time to relax.  It also included a few pit stops to Lidl to get snacks.  Ask Quinn about how he set off the security system with the shopping basket…Luckily they saw it was 2 clueless Americans and continued on without batting an eye.

Back to the hotel details: we booked a room that said it had a private plunge pool, and our expectations were low.  My thought was it would be a place to take a dip during nap time, so we weren’t trapped in the room.  We were very pleasantly surprised that it was a sizable pool with a separate shallow end, perfect for Quinn to play in safely! 

The room had a living room partitioned off from the bedroom, so Quinn had his own space away from us to nap and sleep at night. The hotel had a pool for all guests to use, a lovely spa I took advantage of, and a duck pond next to their playground, which served as our daily entertainment after breakfast (which was included).  The ducklings were so cute! While we didn’t take advantage, the hotel offered numerous wine tasting packages both on-site and off-site on their winery property.

WHAT TO DO:

Douro Valley: Wine country isn’t too far away, and you can easily book tours with transportation to visit them. We went back in November 2019, not knowing the world was about to shut down, recap here if you want to explore the winery region.

Quinta da Aveleda: Instead of going back to the Douro Valley, we decided to visit Quinta da Aveleda, an estate in the Vinho Verde wine region. We booked a tour and picnic lunch, and it turned out to be a private tour. The guide was so sweet and made Quinn feel like a king. Everywhere we went in Portugal was so family friendly, including this estate/winery. We learned about the history of the family estate, explored the gardens, learned about their wine and brandy production and finished with a picnic in one of the gardens. They made an amazing gluten free spread upon request.

We had some uninvited guests, however, including free range chickens and peacocks. They wandered right over to see if they could sneak some snacks. I must say, seeing a peacock a foot away is a bit unsettling when they look you in the eye. To this day, every time a photo from this picnic pops up on our digital photo frame, Quinn reminds us how much he hates peacocks. I don’t blame him. I should note that is not wine he’s holding as he looks suspiciously at said peacock!

Coimbra: This small city, formerly the capital of Portugal, is home to the University of Coimbra. We used it as a pit stop on our way north, but thoroughly enjoyed a vegetarian and gluten free lunch at Greenside. The restaurant is very unassuming from the outside, but has a beautiful back patio and a super deal on lunch. The staff did not speak English, and our Portuguese is mostly incomprehensible, but they were very patient with us. After we sat down to eat, the owner appeared (who did speak English) and told us all the side trips to take and little known facts about the area. He sent us off with a list of places and full bellies.

Santiago de Compostela: This city in Northwest Spain is known is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the end point of the Camino de Santiago, a Catholic pilgrimage route. We got tickets far in advance to tour the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, but Steve wasn’t feeling great and wasn’t up for the almost 3 hour drive North and subsequent lengthy tour. We didn’t realize until returning home that it was COVID that plagued Quinn, then Steve, and finally me during our trip. It’s a good thing we decided to scrap that trip, because we didn’t realize there is an hour time change from Portugal to this part of Spain. I can only imagine driving 3 hours with a miserable pilot only to find out we missed our tour…So, don’t be like us. Check the time change, don’t get sick, and visit this incredible landmark!

Braga: The greater Braga region is the third most populated urban area in Portugal, after Lisbon and Porto. This fact was hard to believe when seeing the city in person, but I suppose if you count the surrounding areas, it makes sense. We went on a drizzly cold day, so we didn’t get to fully enjoy the city by wandering around. In fact, we weren’t even going to go here at all, but after the Spain debacle above, we decided to do a quick trip here instead. Of course, had we known Steve had COVID, we wouldn’t have done this, but hindsight is 20/20.

While in Braga, one must visit the cathedral, the oldest Portuguese archdiocese. Tickets are required, but it was only 2 euro to go inside. The organ was stunning, and the stained glass was beautiful.

There are a number of tiny restaurants tucked away on each little side street. We wandered around and found a cozy spot with live music and hot soup, just what what the doctor ordered.

After warming up, we trekked on to see Bom Jesus do Monte. It was drizzling and foggy, making the scenery all the more dramatic. I read somewhere it is known as the stairway to heaven, which was apt with the weather making the top of the stairs and church disappear into the sky.

Peneda-Gerês National Park: This is the only national park in Portugal, and it is really big- over 268 square miles. It differs from national parks I’ve seen in the U.S. in that people’s homes are on the park land, along with independent restaurants and other businesses. We could have spent quite a bit more time here, and I think it could be nice to get lodging and stay overnight. There was a body of water, the Caniçada dam, at the park entrance we took that has an inflatable water park! It looked so inviting in the heat that day. We saw some little bed and breakfasts and family homes as we approached our chosen waterfall hike. This was another long drive on stomach-churning windy roads up high, but was worth it. It was one extreme of weather to another- cold and rainy the day we went to Braga, and over 100 degrees in Peneda Gerês. We brought a backpack carrier for Quinn and hiked to the waterfalls.

Now there are multiple waterfalls in the park, but we chose the one that the travel bloggers posted about being the most safe and easy to get to, Cascata do Arado. We parked a reasonable distance away and walked on a dirt path most of the way. To note: there are no bathrooms, but there are some primitive water fountains. The scenery was beautiful and it was incredibly peaceful (albeit HOT). The base of this particular waterfall was filled with Portuguese families swimming and cooling off on such a hot day. We did not encounter any English speakers that day, so I feel like we had an authentic Portuguese summer experience!

If it wasn’t triple digit heat, I’d recommend finding the hot springs to relax in. I found information on the park to be lacking online, but there is a visitor center upon arrival with paper maps that might be more helpful. Most parts of the park are free to access, but there is a zone that is protected and charges admission.

If we had more time, I would’ve visited The Boulder House, a quirky house built into a rock. It just wasn’t close to anything else and we would rather lounge at the pool than do the drive.

TIPS

You’ll need a rental car to get around. We got one at the airport to keep it simple, but did this after our time in Lisbon. It’s so walkable there, a car would’ve been a pain to drive and park in the city. Here’s my latest recap of Lisbon. Until our next adventure!