My tips summarized here are based on a three weeks travel to the mainland of Portugal. The travel was split between self-driving and luggage transport between the long-distance hiking in the North of Portugal. Areas included are Minho, the Douro Valley and the Geres National Park. The trip was focused mainly on hiking, eating great Portuguese food and just enjoy great location in more unknown part of the North of Portugal.…
As in 2020 travel was upside down, I was on the search of hiking opportunities in Europe that were off the beaten paths. Portugal may not come first in mind when searching for this. The country is mainly known for it's amazing beaches at the Algave region. May some know the Fishermen's Trail (Rota Vicentina), which is still on my list but I wanted to leave it for our trip around…
Just pure nature (Ermida) At our last day in Portugal, we aimed for a special hike. Up to the Lourica (1359 m). The hike can be started near Ermida. It is already a pictures drive up to this mountain town. Shortly before the town of Ermida there are two parking slots, in order to start the hike on the GR50. Or just take a photo of the amazing landscape. As our…
Two weeks in Portugal went by like nothing, as we not been ready to face the Covid-19 situation in Germany just yet, we extend our stay in Portugal for another week. In Geres we got a taste of the Geres Nation Park and the GR50. In order to see more of the park we decided to go Soajo. A more quiet and countryside region of the Geres National Park. Also, here…
Today's hike lead us in the Tue Valley, which is a 40 minutes drive from the Douro Valley in Pinhão. As we have already many kilometers in our legs, we looked for a short hike with great views. The PR2 CRZ is only 9 kilometers long but has 400 meters of decline and incline in altitude. BUT the hike is really like a V, steep steep steep. The hike leads through…
In order to mix our hiking experiences a bit up in Portugal we went on a 50 km hike through the Douro Valley. As we never did a multi day hike through a winery region, I was exited to put this to our list. The kilometers were split into 4 days, nearly equally. The difference between the days been the incline in altitude. This was between 800 and 250 meters. This…
Geres After leaving the west coast of Viana do Castelo behind, we took a detour to the airport of Porto in order to pick up our rental. After that we went directly to the town of Geres in the Geres National Park. The town of Geres mainly consists of Hotels and Restaurants. It is busy and really touristy. So not really for our taste but it fitted the purpose to see…
Our last hike in the north of Portugal lead us from Ponte de Lima back to Viana do Castelo. Ponte de Lima, is the oldest vila in Portuga and it is part of the district of Viana do Castelo. It should not be missed on a visit to the north. It has a beautiful old center to wonder in and is also famous for great restaurants in town. Ponte de Lima…
The second part of our hiking journey in the north of Portugal included two hiking paths among the coastline. Both trails are following the Portuguese part of the Camino de Santiago. With that said we also saw a couple of Camhino hikers. "Bom Caminho" is the greeting in Portuguese. In order to wish the hikers a nice hike on the Caminho. The Camhino Portugues starts in Porto and joins the Camino de…
In order to escape the crowds we choose a more unknown and natural region of Portugal. The North, in this series mainly the area from Montaria - in the mountains - to Ponte de Lima. The idea was to go more local and explore the green heart of the north by foot. The region welcomed us with the last strength of summer, with 33 degrees - in the middle of September.…