Have you ever wanted to just leave your front door and walk? Or just get in the car and drive, with no agenda, no plans, no return date?
At the end of September 2021 we found ourselves in the enviable position of being recently retired, footloose and fancy free. Only a teacher (or a teacher's family) will understand how excited I was about going away in September, and what's more, going away without a return date, and we decided initially to travel to our house in Madeira for some well earned down time, having spent the summer holidays odd-jobbing for family.
We arrived, and enjoyed the next six weeks relaxing in the beautiful Sao Vicente valley with it's spectacular and dramatic scenery, spending our time witout agenda, each day rising to decide what we wanted to do: some days choosing to sit in the sunshine and read, sometimes deciding to walk, sometimes following the levada down into the village to enjoy a late lunch and the crashing waves of the Atlantic.
True to form, and well rested, after about six weeks we began to get itchy feet and to talk about how to scratch them, and we came up with a plan - a very sketchy plan. We decided to fly to Porto on the mainland of Portugal, hire a car and drive down to the Algarve, on our way seeking out and visiting some of the hidden gems that Portugal has to offer. We had a couple of weeks and a limited budget and decided to make it up as we went along, only booking our flight to Porto, a car for two weeks and our first night's accomodation.
From Porto we drove north to Braga, a small city packed full of historical buildings and beautiful gardens. We walked from our hostal on the outskirts and through the Arco da Porta Nova, a 16th century arch which makes up part of the medieval walls behind which the Old City of Braga can be found. On our short list of 'must see' places was Braga Cathedral, or 'Se de Braga', which is Portugal's oldest cathedral, built in the 11th century before Portugal was even established as an independent country and set in it's own square crammed full of bars and restaurants. As we wandered we realised that there are an endless stream of churches, museums, gardens and cosy squares to explore, and concluded that we would definitely have to return to explore further.
Just outside the city, we couldn't miss the UNESCO Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte. The site is most famous for it's extraordinary baroque staircase, which leads up to a beautiful church. On the way up are statues, chapels and fountains, and the higher you climb, the more spectacular the views as Braga and its surrounding countryside stretch out before you.
A short drive from Braga is Guimaraes, a medieval town that has been on our travel radar for a while. With it's pedestrianised Old Quarter, you are free to roam it's narrow streets delighting in it's Castelo, built in the 10th century to defend against the Moors, it's 15th century palace, it's churches and plazas.
Founded in the 4th century, the historic centre of Guimaraes is exceptionally well preserved, it's architecture showing many examples of how it grew from a medieval settlement into a modern town. The Largo da Oliveira is not to be missed; this quaint cobbled square with it's gothic church, alfresco cafes and cobbled pavements is the perfect place to watch the world go by with a glass of wine. In the centre of the square, opposite the church, is the Padrao do Salado, an imposing monument, whose arches and crosses commemorate victory at the Battle of Salado in 1340.
Guimaraes did not disappoint, but we had to move on, this time to Coimbra, famous for it's university - the oldest in Portugal and one of the oldest in Europe. Nestled on the banks of the River Mondego, the narrow streets of Coimbra quickly wind steeply upwards and from the university tower on Rua da Sofia you can enjoy a 360 degree view of the city below. Many of the university buildings, such as the Chapel de Sao Michel and Joanine library, are open to tourists and are well worth a look. In the streets below you can find the Old Cathedral and many small shops, street cafes and restaurants as well as churches, museums, gardens and, on the other bank of the river, the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha. We stayed in a small hostal next to Portugal dos Pequenitos, a quaint children's interactive museum for children, simple but clean and excellent value for money, and well located for exploring this interesting and attractive city.
Our next overnight stop was Tomar, but we decided to take a diversion to Fatima, a city in the parish of Ourem which we read about whilst researching the next part of our trip.
The city is famous for its chapel and statue built at the site of a religious apparition in 1917 and now set within the wider Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima, which receives millions of pilgrims every year.
As the story goes, three local children saw visions of a woman whilst guarding their families' sheep. On 13 May 1917, the children claimed to have seen an apparition of a lady dressed in white and shining with a bright light. A local bishop investigated the events and decided that the apparitions were worthy of belief, and that the woman, since known as Our Lady of Fátima, was believed by the Catholic Church to be the Virgin Mary. A small chapel was built and the site became a centre for Marian devotion. The large shrine, basilica and sanctuary that has been built since somewhat overshadows the small shrine, but despite that it is a beautiful and impressive place that does provoke feelings of contemplation and peace.
Tomar was very different, and there were two main highlights to our stay. The first was our accommodation and the other was the Convento de Cristo, castle of the Knights Templar in Tomar. It's location was said to be chosen for mystical reasons, and by divine inspiration, and reinforcing this magical view is the setting of the site among a small chain of seven elevations which became known as the city of seven hills, thus linking it by circumstance to the iconic seven hills of Jerusalem.
Apart from its incredible history, the castle and convent make up a unique monument which illustrates the complex history of Portugal from Roman times, whilst wrapping you up in the mystery and adventure of the Knights Templar.
The 'Charola', an extraordinary 16-sided Templar church dominates the complex, its Moorish influences giving it a very different feel to most Portuguese churches, a combination of simple structures and rich embellishment, with a Gothic high altar, it's Manueline window and with wall paintings dating from the 16th century.
In stark contrast, the eight cloisters of the convent give insight into the lives and daily routines of the monks and knights and hours could be spent exploring and soaking up the atmosphere, with cloisters dedicated to laundry, hostelty, reading, retreat and more. The structure of the site is remarkably complete, with columns, arches and spiral staircases, all in incredible and complete condition.
The whole complex sits within 12th century walls, in woodland high above the town of Tomar, and the most appropriate approach, I feel, is to hike up through the woodland beyond the town, ascending steep steps and paths as would the knights and pilgrims of past, emerging at the entrance gate in the ancient walls, a magnificent indication of what lies beyond.
The other highlight in Tomar was our accommodation. When travelling day to day, only booking the next day's accomodation over dinner, the results can be variable - unexpected. We had booked to stay in an old family villa, the owner a rather eccentric gentlemen who told us he was the 8th generation of his family to own the once grand house.
As we approached from the street, through a gate into a walled courtyard, it became clear that it would be an interesting stay. A tumbledown coachhouse housed a row of vintage carriages whilst a steep flight of stone steps led up to a huge panelled wooden door, complete with metal studwork and gothic door knocker. Inside, we were greeted by the owner who showed us around; endless wood-panelled corridors gave way to two sets of staircases, each rising to the second floor, reception rooms housing original features - traditional decoration, floor to ceiling bookcases crammed with books, large sofas and cavernous fireplaces with roaring fires. On the second floor it was clear that the villa was only partially renovated, the owner telling us that he was renovating the rooms one by one, as and when he could afford to. The decor was wildly variable, some rooms grand and modern, others traditional and in need of renovation, but all showcasing superb views of the castle through their sash windows and fabulous original features - and all clean and warm. Other rooms were behind locked doors, where shapes covered by dustsheets looked like ghosts, spied through cracks in the woodwork, and photographs of the eight generations along the hallways were quite unnerving when visiting the bathroom in the dead of night. It felt like a setting for the beginning of a horror film, but in the end we had a pleasant and comfortable stay and our host was charming, if eccentric, going out of his way to make our stay pleasant.
Our next visit was to Evora, a city made a world heritage site in 1986 with roots dating back to Roman times and history including a golden age in the 15th and 16th centuries, when it was inhabited by Portuguese kings. Evora is a walkable city, my favourite kind, with pretty narrow streets, eight of which lead off from a central square, 'Praca do Giraldo', which is home to coffee shops, cafes and shops as well as it's Church of Santo Antao, which dominates one side of the square, and it's marble drinking fountain which is a popular meeting point.
It is a pretty and inspiring city with many many sights worth seeking out. Particularly worthy of mention are it's Cathedral, easily recognisable by its peculiar conical spires, the Roman Temple and Sao Francisco Church, with its very strange (but not uncommon in Portugal) Chapel of Bones (Capela dos Ossos). We visited on market day, which was lovely to see - very traditional and very colourful, and there is much more to see, including museums, gardens and chapels, that we didn't have time for, which means we will just have to go back.
Our final drive was down to the coast, to the Algarve, one where we enjoyed several days exploring the small towns along the south coast of Portugal with it's dramatic coastline and stunning beaches.
We were lucky; for mid November the weather was beautiful, warm and sunny every day. We took long walks, down to the coast, along beaches and boardwalks, and explored the sand dunes, coves and caves that typify the region. Sometimes we met dead ends and had to retrace our steps and once almost got ourselves into a tricky situation with the tide racing in.
Another day we walked along the coastal path all the way to Faro (further than we thought), reaching the colourful Albufeira Marina for refreshment before making the return journey.
On our final day we drove into Faro. We almost didn't but I'm glad we did as we discovered a charming and very Portugese town. My favourite part was the historic quarter, accessed through the baroque Arco de Vila and complete with city walls, a gothic cathedral, episcopal palace and lots of charming small restaurants.
We didn't really explore the modern part of the town, but did walk through it, down to the marina, which was pretty.
Just south of Faro, we visited Rio Formosa, a series of saltwater lagoons, waterways and sandbar islands which make up an ecosystem important for birds and marine life, with a network of paths to see them from, and we were thrilled to see a huge flock of flamingos.
The Algarve was our final destination. As a road trip, Portugal was an easy place to explore, with good road networks and car hire, and a good range of well priced accommodation to choose from. We were not disappointed with any of the places we visited, each of them having its own unique charm and all having much more to see than we had time for. On our way, and through our 'on route' research, we also realised that there are many other places we want to see - happy news! I can feel another Portuguese road trip coming on.
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