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.
“UNDER BRILLIANT BLUE SKIES WE MEANDER THROUGH MEDIEVAL TOWNS”
Douro Valley
We’re starting in the Alto Douro wine
