| Tips and photos of unusual, out-of-the-way Portugal attractions, posted by real travelers and locals. Map |
 | Portugal Off the Beaten Path | Tips 1 - 10 of 341 |  |
Belmonte, 27 km south of Guarda, is the birthplace of Pedro Alvares Cabral, who discovered Brazil in 1500.
It is a beautiful town with lots of monuments to see, specially the Castle and the old churches. You can find there as well a Synagogue.
Belmonte was officially recognised as a municipality in 1199. Leave a Comment
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Folgosinho is a beautiful village hide in the mountains and hard to find.
It is placed at 900 meters of altitude, in the hillside the northwest of the Serra da Estrela Mountain and the 9 km of the town of Gouveia. Old village and headquarters of region, had charter of D.Sancho I, in 1187, confirmed in 1217 for D.Afonso II, and charter new, of D.Manuel, in 1512. It says the tradition that was born Viriato here, the famous Lusitanos?s leader.
It is funny, but I went there because of a famous restaurant called ? O Albertinho?.
You must been thinking why? I can say to you it worth a visit for sure; I will describe my experience about this restaurant in the restaurants tips.
Well, I don?t just ate and go, no, I took a stroll with my best friend (my digital camera ;-) and I took some pics as usual.
This lovely village has some beautiful historical buildings, churches, beautiful fountains with tiles (Azulejos), and Roman paths. Don?t miss! Leave a Comment
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Manteigas is a small mountain town in Serra da Estrela located at 700 m of altitude and situated at the Glacial Valley of the Zezere.
It is a quiet small town with beautiful views, white houses and some churches. You can find as well an artificial ski resort.
Manteigas was officially recognised as a municipality in 1188. Leave a Comment
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Sabugal is a beautiful town that belonged to the Ciudad Rodrigo- Spain district in 1175, but in 1190 , D. Afonso IX de Le?o gave its municipality and built the Castle of Sabugal.
In 1295 D. Dinis granted Sabugal a royal charter and the next year because of the Tratado de Alca?ices, is Portuguese territory.
This beautiful town is worth a visit because of its history and beauty. It is located near the Spanish towns Ciudad Rodrigo and Salamanca and not far from the beautiful historical village Sortelha. Leave a Comment
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The Serra da Estrela is the highest mountain of continental Portugal, 1,933m.
Located in inland central Portugal, this beautiful, Star Mountain in english, is in fact a protected National Park.
It is a wonderful place to explore. I had the luck to see it with snow but without snow it has amazing views as well.
There are excellent conditions to practice Winter sports (skiing and snow boarding) when is snowing. There is an artificial ski resort as well.
You should also taste the famous sheep cheese from the Serra do Estrela, don’t forget if you go there!
For more information, please take a look to my Serra da Estrela page. Leave a Comment
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Sortelha is one of the most beautiful villages i ever seen, it is located no far from Serra da Estrela (30 minutes). It is a medieval village located at 800m of altitude, surrounded of a wall and constituted with small houses in granite all perfectely refurbished and with a beautiful castle. In this moment lives there just a small amount of people, perhaps no more than one dozen because almost of the houses belongs to people there are not from there and they spend just holidays and vacations there. It deserves a visit for sure, don?t miss it is so beautiful!
If you come from Lisbon, take the A1, THE IP6 and the IP2. If you come from Porto, the better trajectory is A1, IP5 and go out in Guarda and fallow to Sabugal. Leave a Comment
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Amarante doesn’t often show on touristic guides about Portugal. And they are so wrong!! It is one of the prettiest towns in Portugal, bathed by River Tamega. It has a charming ambiance, it’s hard to describe it, and the only thing I may say is that I felt in love with this town the first time I visited. My friend that visited Amarante for the first time with me mentioned that she found it the prettiest town in Portugal. I wouldn’t go that far, as “my” Lisbon is on top of my preferences, but Amarante is definitely high ranked on my preferences.
While in Amarante enjoy the architecture (it has some beautiful churches), the quietness of the town, the magic of the river. And be sure to taste the gastronomy, mainly the sweets, they are divine!! Leave a Comment
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Celorico da Beira is a small town not far from Serra da Estrela mountain and placed at 500 metres at altitude.
The famous Sacadura Cabral was born there; he made aviation history in 1922 by making the first-ever flight across the South Atlantic with fellow Portuguese pilot Gago Coutinho.
Celorico da Beira is famous because of Serra cheese, which is made from the milk of locally reared ewes.
I just passed by this lovely town, but I visited the castle of pre-Roman origin, which was later refurbished by King Dinis in the 14th century and sacked by the Spanish in 1762.
It was so cold at the castle that I had to run to get out of there; I think I?d never so cold in my life. Leave a Comment
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When I took a brochure about megalithic erected stones in Portugal, I was amazed at the abundance of sites scattered throughout the country. We decided to visit some of these in a loop west of the city of Evora through Valverde, Sao Brissos and Guadalupe.
The narrow minor roads develop through gentle hills dominated by cork trees, the only human presence being a few men at work with stacks of cork bark sections ready for shipment.
Anta Grande do Zambujeiro is the tallest and largest dolmen in Iberia
Cromeleque dos Almendres is a circle counting nearly a hundred stones
Menhir dos Almendres is a tall, single erected stone
Dolmen Capela de Nossa Senhora do Livramento is a curious example of how a stone structure can be converted into a chapel.
These interesting megalitic sites are accessible on gravel roads for free visits. We went there on our own but we saw a small bus taking a couple of visitors on an organized tour, probably departing from Evora. Leave a Comment
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Batalha houses one of the most beautiful Portuguese Monasteries – Mosteiro de Santa Maria da Vitória. It is classified by Unesco as World Heritage Site and shows elaborate carved details. The Monastery is imposing and no-one driving past Batalha through the national road will miss it. I'd say that this is amongst the major must-see Portuguese Monuments, after Mosteiro dos Jerónimos in Belém.
After visiting the Monastery, wander around the town. Be sure to have some meal there - lunch or dinner or both!! - as local gastronomy is very good. But, if possible, avoid visiting on weekends and bank holidays, as it tends to get crowded. Leave a Comment
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on March 20, 2004
on June 10, 2004
on September 2, 2006
