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Surroundings

Porto & Monsanto

From the Port wine cellars to the granite villages of the Beira, two worlds await.

Quinta das Luzes is the starting point for two Portugals that complete each other: riverside Porto, with its centuries-old Port wine cellars, and Monsanto, the granite village clinging to a hillside in the Beira. A weekend by the river, an escape to the country's stone heart.

Vila Nova de Gaia · Porto

The cellars & the river

From Casa dos Sequeiras down to the banks of the Douro, you'll find Vila Nova de Gaia and the most beautiful views over Porto. The cellars hold stories, tastings and guided tours, while the city offers its mild climate, its monuments and its festivities, the greatest being São João.

  • Tastings and guided tours of the Port wine cellars
  • Live Fado and Rabelo boat trips on the Douro
  • Excursions into the Douro Valley
  • Restaurants serving traditional recipes of the North

Monsanto · Idanha-a-Nova · Beira Baixa

The most Portuguese village in Portugal

Clinging to a hillside in the Beira Baixa, Monsanto looks as if it grows out of the rock itself. Granite houses squeeze between colossal boulders that serve as wall, roof and floor, linked by narrow lanes that climb to the castle. It is one of the 12 Historical Villages of Portugal and, in 1938, was named the Most Portuguese Village in Portugal, a title you still feel on every corner.

At the top, the Templar Castle opens onto an endless plain, with views that reach into Spain. Along the way, the Lucano Tower and its clock, the Romanesque Chapel of São Miguel, and the marafonas, the faceless cloth dolls that guard the houses. In May, the Festa das Cruzes, or Festival of the Castle, fills the streets with flowers and singing to the beat of the adufe. More recently, the village reached the world as a filming location for House of the Dragon.

Not to be missed

  • The Templar Castle and the views over the plain
  • The stone streets, the Lucano Tower and the Chapel of São Miguel
  • The marafonas, the village's traditional cloth dolls
  • The Festa das Cruzes in May, to the beat of the adufe
  • Trails and hikes through the mountains
  • Termas de Monfortinho thermal spa, about 20 km away
Where it is

Monsanto, inland

Monsanto rises in the Beira Baixa region, in Portugal's interior, about a 3-hour drive from Porto and the Gaia cellars. A detour well worth making, to one of the country's oldest and most scenic villages.

  • Porto · V. N. Gaia
  • Monsanto about 3 hrs by car
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