Walking Holiday in Portugal 2018

This was a gentle self guided walking holiday called "The Manor Houses of Minho" and was organised by Inntravel, The original booking was postponed as my artificial right knee had come loose and had to be replaced. We  were restricted on how long we could defer without penalty. My operation was on the 1st August and we set off on our walking holiday on the 23rd October. It would not be true to say I was totally confident of being able to do it, but hey ho what the hell.

We started the trip with a 2 day add-on in Porto a delightful compact city. Easy to cover in 2 days with some very interesting, but not cheap restaurants.

On the evening of our second day were had a taxi transfer to Quinta de Malta. The start of our walks. The Quinta was constructed in the early 16th century and had stylish and comfortable accommodation. This was good as we were spending 3 night there. Food was nice not sophisticated but good local cuisine. They also made their own wine of which we managed to drink a fair bit.

The next days walk was a circuit around Durraes and was a nice gentle introduction to our walks. On the second day a taxi took us to the start of our walk from Balugaes to Facha (13km). A nice gentle walk with a slight climb mainly through woodland. The last part of the walk was though the grounds of the Quinta do Sobreiro which specialises in the cultivation of chestnuts. There were rather a lot on the ground. In Facha we waited at a cafe for our taxi to take us back to the Quinta de Malta.

The next day the taxi took us back to where we had finished the day before for our walk to Ponte de Lima (15km). Again a very nice scenic route the last part being alongside the river Lima.

As you can see Ponte de Lima is a rather pretty town. On the day we were there it was market day and the have a huge market.  Our accomodation was comfortable but strange the whole building was full of the mounted heads and other bits of animals that the owner had shot.  Fortunately the owner has retired and it is now closed.

The next day we took a walk around the town their festival garden is rather nice and with a few cafe stops and a stroll through the market it was a very relaxing  day.

We crossed the old bridge the next day under a cloudy sky and set of for Paco de Calheiros (8km) is is a gentle climb up into the hills. When we stop for our lunch it starts to drizzle so we eat quickly and head on up arriving in the early afternoon. Pace de Calheiros is a 17th centuary manor house occupied by Francisco the Count of Calheiros. We were greeted by him on arrival and joined him and his wife for drinks and then dinner in their family dining room.

In the morning a buffet breakfast was served in the great hall and the count again joined us.

Having read comments in the guest book I feel I need to point out that this is what it is a 17th century manor full of character and charm not a 4 star hotel. So don't come if that is what you are looking for, but if you want a bit of style a character and absolutely charming hosts this is the place for you. After breakfast we took the Count's "puppy" for a walk around the grounds, it was only 4 months old but the Estrela Mountain dog is a very large breed. The puppy was huge.

The next morning the Count came out to say goodbye and our taxi arrive to take us back to the airport.

It was a great holiday, Inntravel's arrangements worked perfectly and my knee was OK.