Secrets of Portugal

 

Camino Santiago 2024

 

 

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March to December, 2010 • 12 days/ 11 nights

This tour combines 4 days of private escorted services for as few as two persons, with a small group luxury tour of Portugal. Stay in Portugal’s famous pousada/historic hotels, luxury hotels, and manor houses.

 

Arrive Lisbon and begin your private escorted days from Lisbon south and back to Lisbon. Transfer to the nearby Pousada of Palmela, within the ancient Castle of the Order of St James. This luxury hotel stands on a hilltop with sweeping Atlantic views. Hotel check in and rest. This afternoon you’ll explore the nearby beauty spots and beaches of the Arrábida Peninsula, including the pretty fishing town of Sesimbra. Welcome dinner at the castle.
Overnight: Castelo de Palmela/Pousadas de Portugal D

After breakfast, depart for nearby Azeitão. This morning visit a small factory that carries on the ancient Portuguese tradition of handmade tiles/azulejos. Afterwards visit a nearby historic adega/winery for a tour and tasting of regional wines. Light lunch enroute to where the Mira River meets the sea on the Alentejo coast at VilaNova de Milfontes. Barbeque dinner in the countryside.
Overnight: Naturarte/Nature Design inn B L D

This morning visit nearby villages, coastal promontories and a working windmill. Picnic lunch en route. This afternoon, enjoy a coastal walk to the lighthouse, and depending on the time of year, enjoy a swim in the pristine waters of Vilanova de Milfontes. Free evening to explore Vilanova.

Overnight: as above B L

Return to Lisbon this morning. This afternoon ride Lisbon’s colorful trams as you explore the Alfama district with your guide. Pass through the chic shopping district of Chiado and venture up Rua da Rosa in Bairro Alto to see new boutiques. Early evening drop in on Lisbon’s port wine lodge for a tasting before dinner in a tasca in the Alfama with live Fado.
Overnight: Hotel Pestaña Palace/Leading Hotels of the World B D

Join your luxury small group tour today. Greater Lisbon stretches along the Tagus River through Belém and the Renaissance Jerónimos Monastery to where the river opens to the Atlantic at Estoril, on the Gold Coast. Follow the route of the Navigators along the coast to stand at Cape da Roca and gaze out across the ocean before turning into the Serra da Sintra hills and the UNESCO World Heritage town of Sintra. Visit the most romantic of palaces at Pena before sitting down to a Portuguese lunch-- a fine example of the Mediterranean diet, complemented by a wide range of superb wines. After a leisurely lunch, you’ll return to the city of Seven Hills to experience the buzz of Portugal’s capital city. Explore graceful Lisbon, from the Moorish Alfama to the 21st century city, and relax in your palace hotel.

Overnight: as above B L

Travel eastwards into the rolling wheat lands of the Alentejo where the montes are crowned with white washed villages selling local produce, including cork and ceramics. The Romans left behind agricultural practices and great monuments, some of which can be seen around the beautiful town of Évora, another World Heritage site. Enjoy free time for lunch in this Baroque town before continuing north. Beyond Évora you traverse vineyards and enter roads less traveled to discover some of Portugal’s best kept secrets. The village of Marvão has an eagle’s view over the plains and into Spain and preserves its medieval quality. To the north is Belmonte, an important settlement in medieval times, with a long Sephardic Jewish tradition and fine mountain produce. Here you enter a corner of Iberia that is utterly authentic. Relax at the convent this evening before dinner—a chance to taste well known regional dishes and local wines.
Overnight: Pousada do Convento de Belmonte/Pousadas de Portugal B D

Travel north to Viseu to visit the charming old town, home to the great painter Grão Vasco and a crossroads since Roman times. Continue into the Douro Valley and travel narrow roads alongside the river surrounded by steeply  terraced hillsides on which the famous port wine grapes thrive in schist soil. Visit an adega/winery and taste the local wines before continuing to the great historic estate of Solar de Mateus, with its gardens and superb adega featuring fine red wines and ports. You’ve entered the heart of Baroque Portugal, a region known for its saintmakers and beautiful churches with ornate retablos. Your day ends in lovely Amarante, a town graced by 17th c mansions along the slowly flowing Tâmega River. Enjoy a leisurely dinner in your 16th c palace hotel surrounded by vineyards.
Overnight: Casa da Calçada/Relais & Chateaux B D

From Braga, the old Bishopric of Portugal, pilgrims commence the walk to Santiago. Cross Ponte de Lima’s Roman bridge across the river of this pretty northern town and wander with free time, to enjoy lunch with perhaps a glass of the light, slightly sparkling vinho verde/green wine produced in this region. Nearby on the coast is a town built on the wealth that poured in during the Age of Discoveries. The number of Baroque churches and private palaces in Viana do Castelo is an impressive testimony to that gold and silver. From here it’s a short drive to the cradle of Portugal in Guimaràes. You’ll feel its 800 years of history in the town square and old fashioned shops. Stay in one of Portugal’s loveliest hotels with a fine display of the blue tiles/azulejos for which the country is so known. Sit down in elegance tonight to dine on the specialties of the Alto Minho region in your 12th century Agustinian convent hotel.
Overnight: Pousada de Santa Marinha/Pousadas de Portugal B D

See more of Guimarães this morning before continuing to the capital of northern Portugal. Porto makes the money, Lisbon spends it. This industrial city is filled with history and is one of the nation’s most ancient, where the earliest inhabitants settled along the Douro River’s banks. Today its monuments blend with the new to create a rich atmosphere for the curious traveler—from the historic Cathedral and Stock Exchange to the Eiffel Bridge, the old port wine lodges to the modern shopping areas and renovated Ribeira district with its lively cafés and restaurants. Enjoy a city view from a riverboat this evening, before dinner alongside the Douro. Overnight: Hotel Pestaña Porto, river view/first class boutique hotel B D

Enjoy a free morning for shopping, exhibitions, museums. Depart after lunch for Coimbra, the Oxford of Portugal. Tour the ancient University’s famous library and appreciate the layers of history in the city itself on your walking tour. Beyond Coimbra lie the Lousà Mountains, your small town retreat for a restful evening. Sit down to a gourmet dinner this evening at the palace.
Overnight: Palacio da Lousã/ first class boutique hotel B D

Day 11 LOUSÀ • FÁTIMA • BATALHA • ÓBIDOS • LISBON

For many religious pilgrims, Fátima is one of the most sacred shrines in Europe. The architecture alone is memorable. From the Shrine, continue to another type of memorial to faith at Batalha—Portugal’s greatest Gothic monument built to commemorate the Christians’ victory over the Moors in the 12th century Battle of Aljubarrota. The white-washed walled medieval village of Óbidos is a contrast to the great monuments; its cobbled streets and shops selling crafts and arts also recapture the atmosphere of times past. You’ll arrive back in Lisbon to stay in the heart of downtown, the perfect location for a free evening. Enjoy last minute shopping or a night on the town.
Overnight: Hotel Bairro Alto/deluxe class boutique hotel B

Day 12 LISBON • USA

Morning transfer out to airport for departure. B

 

INCLUDED: Hotels or similar, based on double occupancy, with buffet breakfast Meals per itinerary with excellent regional wines English-speaking guide: private guide/driver days 1-4 & group guide days 5-11 Entrances & Tastings Fado performance All land transfers, including airport transfers Porters Pre-trip documents     Currency fluctuation adjustments apply

DATES 21 July-1 August 18 August-29 August 15 September-26 September 13 October-24 October 10 November-21 November 8 December-19 December Price: per person double occupancy 2 pax: $6995 4 pax: $5995 6 pax: $5795 Posted at exchange rate $1.44/€uro 5 June 09

 

 

All prices subject to currency fluctuation adjustment.