DESTINATIONS TORRES VEDRAS SPAIN & PORTUGAL BACK TO NATURE IN Portugal Portugal boasts a host of enticing landscapes beyond the
Torres Vedras region. Here’s our pick of ways to explore its rural scenery, rugged coastal paths and mountain trails.
GET ON TRACK WITH NEW TRAILS SITE
Check out Portugal’s best walking and cycling trails on a new website –
portuguesetrails.com – created by the tourist board. You’ll find popular routes, maps and tips for where to stay, with detailed information about the Alentejo, Algarve, Azores and Centro de Portugal regions, and information on other areas due to be added.
DRINK ON THE DOURO WITH DSD
Go wine tasting in the Douro Valley to sample rich ports and fruity reds, all with a scenic backdrop of stepped vine terraces descending towards the river. Do Something Different offers a full-day Douro Valley tour from Porto, via Sao Gonçalo Church and Convent, with a tasting at Port Wine Real Estate and lunch in a local restaurant, from £88.
TASTE DELIGHTS ON A FARM STAY
Stay at an agriturismo in the Evora district, surrounded by wheat fields and grazing cows, with a home-cooked dinner, on Intrepid Travel’s Portugal Real Food Adventure, which includes a farm stay in the Alentejo. Strike it lucky and the local host might even be serving up Azaruja sausage, made from black Alentejo pigs, similar to Spain’s Iberico pigs (from £1,710 for eight days).
WATCH OLIVES BEING HARVESTED ON A NEW NAT GEO TRIP
Visit a cork farm, taste local honeys and see olive harvesting in the Alentejo region on Discover Portugal, a new tour from National Geographic Journeys. Sold through G Adventures, the eight- day Lisbon to Porto itinerary costs from £1,299, excluding flights.
TROT ALONG THE TROIA PENINSULA
Ride a horse through the countryside from the golden sands of Troia peninsula, south of Lisbon, to the tiny traditional villages and wildflower-filled fields of the surrounding area. Troia Resort, where beach house or townhouse accommodation starts at €370 per unit per night, offers 90-minute horse-riding tours for €50.
SPOT BIRDS IN THE ALGARVE
Go birdwatching at Rio Formosa Natural Park or Salgados Lagoon, two nature reserves close to popular Algarve destinations. They are home to species including flamingos, spoonbills (pictured), glossy ibis, purple swamp hens, black-winged stilts, black terns and crested larks. Salgados Palace, featured by Jet2holidays, puts the reserves within easy reach; or see both on a seven-night Saga Holidays birdwatching itinerary (from £1,249 including flights).
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travelweekly.co.uk 27 September 2018
PICTURES: SHUTTERSTOCK; ALGARVE TOURISM BUREAU
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