 |
From the A*List Deals Weekly Newsletter
|
|
 |
 |
Portugal Fortified Villages Driving Tour
Excerpt from National Geographic Traveler: Portugal guidebook
Text by Fiona Dunlop Photo by Tino Soriano
|
|
|
Evening light bathes Coimbra, Portugal's first capital and third-largest city.
|
This circular tour takes you north from Guarda to four medieval villages that, despite their relative proximity, all developed different styles of fortifications.
*Bolded names and numbers in the text below correspond with our map of this driving tour.
Download Driving Tour Map
(To download this PDF, you will need the free Adobe Reader.)
Save $7! Buy the National Geographic Traveler: Portugal guidebook
Set off from Guarda following the N221 signs to Pinhel, through the suburbs and the village of Rapoula, past dry-stone walls, vines, orchards, and a sprinkling of light industry. The landscape soon changes to barren, granite-strewn slopes where you should watch out for a roadside dolmen, Anta de Pêra do Moço. Beeches, oaks, and chestnuts flank the road, and at Gouveia views open up to the west past conical haystacks and vineyards. Superficially modern, the villages you pass are still traditional; you may meet a donkey cart, so don't drive fast.
Huge boulders in a bleak landscape herald Pinhel (1) (Visitor information, Rua Silva Gouveia, tel +351 271 410000), a venerable town with remains of a 14th-century castle and a military history going back to Roman times. Steep, cobbled streets lead to the old quarter. The Rua do Castelo winds past pretty lichen-clad houses to a flattened hilltop dominated by two sturdy towers with far-reaching views. Leave Pinhel along the main road past the cemetery, turning left at the bottom of the hill. The road skirts the valley before crossing the Côa River, passing terraced olive trees, then twisting through more dramatic boulder-strewn landscapes.
Castelo Rodrigo (2) comes into sight at an intersection. At the top of the hill, visit the citadel. Although almost over-restored, the semi-ruined palace of Cristóvão de Moura (Rua do Relógio, tel +351 271 311277) is an evocative sight; villagers burned it down in 1640—they suspected their ruler conspired with the Spaniards. There are many striking buildings in the citadel, but few people live there; those that do run restaurants or shops.
Rejoin the main road and turn left on the N332 toward Almeida. As you drive through the village of Vilar Torpim, note the stately quinta (manor house) on your right. Eventually Almeida (3) appears on the horizon. Its massive medieval, moated fortress, built in the Vauban form of a six-pointed star (Visitor information, Portas de São Francisco, tel +351 271 574204), was later used as an ammunition depot, which Napoleon's troops blew up in 1810. Walk along the ramparts and explore the attractive, well-preserved streets inside the walls.
Return to the N332 south, toward Vilar Formoso. Just outside of Almeida, at the IP5/Guarda sign, turn right onto the N340, soon crossing the Côa again. About five miles farther turn left at the road marked Castelo Mendo (N324). This passes under the IP5 highway. Turn left at an intersection and drive to the stone archway guarded by two granite boars that fronts the medieval village of Castelo Mendo (4). Look at the church of Misericórdia with its beautiful Mudejar (Hispano-Moorish) ceiling, the 23-foot-high (7-meter) pillory, and typical granite houses. From here return to Guarda on the N16.
|
|
|
Center for Sustainable DestinationsLearn how to preserve the authenticity of the places you love.
» Click Here
National Geographic Traveler Places of a Lifetime
Our guides lead you to the best in ten world-class cities with photo galleries, walking tours, and what to know before you go.
» Click Here
The National Geographic Traveler Reader Panel
Are you a real traveler? Someone who cares about authenticity? Who has a point of view about where we should travel—and how? Then tell us what you think and be eligible to win a trip to almost anywhere in the United States.
» Click Here
|
|
