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Walking - Douro and Historical Villages
offered by supplier M14951 (view this supplier profile)
Key Information:
Tour Duration: 8
day(s)
Group Size: 4
- 16
people
Destination(s):
Portugal
Specialty Categories:
Walking Tours
Season: January - December
Airfare Included: No
Tour Customizable: Yes
Minimum Per Person Price: 980 Euro (EUR)
Maximum Per Person Price: 1850 Euro (EUR)
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Picture yourself hiking through Port Wine vineyards and visiting Portugal's Historical Villages, with its castles and stone wall houses that have kept the same appearance for centuries. This will be an unforgettable week, spent in a country rich in history and flavors.
Level: Intermediate.
Walking time: 5 hours/day.
Total climbing: 1178m/3864ft.
Accommodations: Luxury (4 star inns).
Maximum climbing in one day: 647m/2122ft.
Tour Itinerary:
Day 1 - Marialva
Morning van transfer from Porto to Pinhão (approx. 3h).
Pinhão is considered to be the geographical centre of the Douro demarcated wine region and it is here that many of the Port wine estates are to be found, some of which offer accommodation under the system of rural tourism. One of those is Quinta Nova de Nossa Senhora do Carmo, where we will be staying.
It was the first wine hotel in Portugal, estabilished in 2005, after the reconstruction of the old 18th Century manor house.
On the way to Pinhão we will stop in the town of Régua to visit the Douro Museum. The Douro Museum could be considered the Museum of the Territory, as it expresses the cultural identity of the Douro Demarcated Region, the Museum of the Community, as it expresses the identity of Man who built, is building and maintains the unique landscape of this region and who produces a wine of indelibly special characteristics, and as such, also the Museum of Wine.
Lodging – Pinhão
Day 2 - Harvest day or “Winecaching” in Quinta Nova
Today we will spend a very special day in Quinta Nova. You can have fun harvesting grapes (September and October tours), try the winecaching game, try one of the hiking trails in the farm or just relax by the pool. Quinta Nova offers you several options of hiking trails with amazing views of the Douro river and valley.
Quinta Nova hking trail:
Distance: 5,7 km / 3,5 mi
Approximate time: 2 h 50
Accumulated climbing: +364 m / + 1190 ft
In the harvesting season (Sep. 15th to Oct. 15 th), you will have the chance to harvest the grapes with the specialists, try the first wine in the cellars and have a typical vintage lunch. The harvesting experience will finish with some Port and Douro wine tasting.
If you don’t feel like harvesting grapes, Quinta Nova and A2Z Adventures has launched a completely new activity in Portugal: Winecaching. It’s basically like Geocaching linked to wine and involves the discovery of “wine caches” spread throughout the Quinta among the vineyards. It involves discovering a series of strategic places using
a GPS device. Try it, it´s fun!
Lodging – Pinhão
Day 3 - Mêda-Marialva-Longroiva
The day will start with a short train ride up to the town of Pocinho on the famous Douro railway road. The Pocinho railway station is worth particular attention. It was built in the late 19th Century, the inside of which is entirely lined with “azulejos” panels. Azulejos are typical Portuguese tiles.
After a short van transfer, we will begin our walk in the village of Mêda. We will walk through an ancient trail still used by the local people, that connects this village to Marialva. The trail goes along old stone walls, vineyards, almond trees and little farms where the locals still use ancient forms of agriculture. It’s from this trail that we can see the best view of Marialva.
Marialva is a medieval walled village that will take you back in time, to when its brave inhabitants fought against the Spanish invaders. It’s origins go back to the 6th Century b.C. With the Romans it became a junction of very important routes. The legend tell us that Marialva was donated by King D. Afonso II to a woman called Maria Alva, with whom he had fallen in love, hence the name of the village – Marialva.
After a picnic in this beautiful village, we will continue our hike to the village of Longroiva. On the way we will pass by Quinta do Poleiro, a small farm with its own chapel.
Just before reaching Longroiva we will see the “Fonte da Concelha”, a beautiful water fountain from the 16th century. Our walk will end by Longroiva’s castle, a national monument from the 12th Century that in the past was used by locals as a cemetery.
Distance: 18.8km/ 11.7mi
Approximate time: 5.30 hours
Accumulated climbing: +175mt/ 574.15ft; -468mt/-1535.4ft
Lodging – Marialva
Day 4 - Hike the Côa Valley
The Côa valley features various stone carvings from the paleolithic era and is considered a World Heritage site by UNESCO. In Quinta da Ervamoira, property of Casa
Ramos Pinto (a very famous wine producer), we will visit the museum dedicated to the Douro River and the Port wine and where we can also see some interesting Roman
artifacts.
Besides the huge vineyards, stretching beyond the parishes of Chãs and Muxagata and occupying a flat platform, the estate´s facilities are integrated in the landscape and it includes an old schist house, trimmed with granite, which reflects the most traditional
architecture of the region.
We will visit the Archeological Park, where we will see several stone carvings and after lunch we will start our walk. The walk will take us to some amazing views of Quinta da Ervamoira and the Côa River. Always walking surrounded by vineyards, almond and olive trees, the route will take us to Tomadias, a small village in the slopes of the Côa valley.
A short transfer will get us back to Marialva, one of the most beautiful Portuguese 12th Century Historical Villages.
Distance: 14.3km/ 8.9mi
Approximate time: 4h30
Accumulated climbing: +633mt/+2076.8ft; -313mt/-1026.9ft
Lodging – Marialva
Day 5 - Douro river railroad and Calçada de Alpajares
After a short transfer to Pocinho we will start our walk in the Douro valley.
Today we will enjoy gorgeous views of the Douro River and will pass by amazing rock formations.
We will walk along the famous Douro railroad, no longer in use. The walk is always by the river, with breathtaking views of wine vineyards planted on terraces along the hills of the Douro River. Once we reach the Côa river, a boat will be waiting for us to take us to Barca d’Alva. On this 30 minute boat ride you can relax and enjoy the views.
Barca d’Alva is located in a natural and protected area, known as International Natural Park of Douro, which is the habitat of several birds of prey such as the Griffon Vulture, the Black Vulture, the Egyptian Vulture, the Bonelli’s Eagle and the very rare Black
Stork.
These species find shelter for their nests on the cliffs by the river. We will have opportunity to appreciate these big birds fly and understand their fundamental part in the
nature. These rugged cliffs near the river can be extremely high and sometimes present very
irregular rock formations. Specialists can actually see how tectonic plaques moved by looking at these formations.
Our hike continues up the famous “Calçada de Alpajares”, classified as a public interest construction in 1977. The path of Alpajares or Devil’s Path (Calçada do Diabo), as known locally, was part of a Roman road that crossed the Douro river and the Mosteiro stream.
After our walk, a short transfer will take us to the Historical Village of Castelo Rodrigo.
Distance 1: 8.4km/ 5.22mi
Approximate time: 2h30
Accumulated climbing: +14mt/+ 45.9ft; -0mt/-0ft
Distance 2: 6.8km/ 4.2mi
Approximate time: 2h
Accumulated climbing: +298mt/+977.7ft; -218mt/ -715.2ft
Lodging – Castelo Rodrigo
Day 6 - Faia Brava Natural Reserve
Today we will visit “Reserva da Faia Brava” (Faia Brava Natural Reserve). The mission of this reserve located in the Côa Valley is to preserve the natural patrimony of Riba Côa area (meaning Côa river-side). Inside the reserve we will find one of the most important areas in the country for several birds of prey and also the biggest
local area with cork trees.
We will start our walk in the small village of Algodres, heading to the Côa Valley. On our way we will pass by cereal fields, the “Garrano’s” (local horses), several corrals and the reforestation station.
Before our picnic break we will have the chance to stop for some bird watching. The Griffon Vulture and the Bonelli’s Eagle are usually around and nesting on the cliffs.
After lunch we will continue the walk through the Côa Valley that in this area forms a beautiful canyon.
At the end of the day, a short transfer will take us to the Historical Village of Castelo Rodrigo. This Historical Village is located at 820 metres high - we can see the Marofa mountains ridge, the village of Figueira and magnificent landscapes all the way to Spain.
This village used to be an important place for pilgrims who were going to Santiago de Compostela and therefore is full of traces from the Romantic Period.
The Castle, dated from the 13th Century, was the stage for many battles, whether with Spanish troops, whether with the British ones. Since 1922 it is considered a National Monument and is one of the best examples of fortified systems of the Middle Ages in the Iberia Peninsula; its cylindrical towers go back to the Gothic Period.
Castelo Rodrigo presents other historical and artistic elements that deserve our attention such as the windows from the 16th century (Manueline style) that we can find in public buildings and in wealthy families properties and also the artesian well/fountain from the 13th century that has a door in Gothic style and another with the arc in a
horseshoe shape.
Outside Castelo Rodrigo we can see the Santa Maria de Aguiar Convent dated from the 12th Century, (founded between 1165 and 1170), probably as a benign monastery.
This Convent was at that time the main center of religious and cultural activity in the area, the friar Bernardo de Brito, a very important writer of the Kingdom, lived
there.
Distance: 12.41km/7.71mi
Approximate time: 4h00
Accumulated climbing: +385m/+1 263.12ft; -385mt/-1 263.12ft
Lodging – Castelo Rodrigo
Day 7 - Marofa pilgrimage trail and Almeida
After a guided visit to Castelo Rodrigo we will walk to “Alto da Marofa” – mountain ridge, where the statue of Christ blesses the surrounding lands. It’s one of the most
important mountains in the area due to its 975 meters high. From the top we have a beautiful 360º view. We can see pretty much all the places where we were during the week – The Douro and Côa river valleys, Marialva and Castelo Rodrigo. On the way to the top we will follow a pilgrimage trail that passes by several little chapels.
After a picnic at the top of Marofa we will have a short transfer to the Historical Village of Almeida.
We will do a guided visit of Almeida. This village is one of the crown jewels of Portuguese military architecture – the hexagonal shaped walls of Almeida´s fortresses
were built in the XVII century. Because of its location, very close to the Spanish border (only 7km), Almeida played a very important role from Medieval ages to the XIX century. The main square in Almeida (XVII/XVIII centuries) is a perfect example of military baroque style.
Transfer to Porto (approx. 3h).
Farewell dinner in Porto.
Distance: 8.45km/5.25mi
Approximate time: 3h00
Accumulated climbing: +363mt/ +1190.9ft; -368mt/ -1207.3ft
Lodging - Porto
Day 8 - Transfer to airport in Porto
Early morning transfer to Porto’s airport.
980€ - Price for self-guided tour. Includes all accommodations, maps, documentation, GPS tracks, luggage transfer, transfers, A2Z t-shirt and water bottle.
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
Price Includes:
- All accommodations
- All dinners with wine
- 5 picnics
- 2 guides
- Van support
- Daily snacks
- Transfers
- Adventures t-shirt and Adventures water bottle
Note:
Single supplement: 400 euros.
Self-guided tour: 980 euros.
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