The plan for the summer holiday was simple, a long weekend cycling then continue the Pieterpad from the previous year. After 4 days of cycling in the rain and the weather forecast not offering much hope of improvement we chose to do a last minute walking trip in Portugal.
We booked an organised independent walking trip(they organise, you walk) in the Portuguese mountains of the stars (Serra da Estrela) along old Roman roads and goat tracks. We booked through http://www.olivatravel.nl/. The trip was well organised by the company at the other end with accommodation varying from hotel, B+B and converted farms. With great local cuisine included and best of all BAGAGE TRANSFER.
Here’s an overview of the itinerary:
Day 1 Arrival in Gouveia-Melo
Day 2 Linhares – Folgosinho -14km
Day 3 Daytrip around the Folgosinho hills – 11km
Day 4 Folgosinho – Manteigas – 19km
Day 5 Covão d’Ametade – Manteigas – 12km
Day 6 Rest day in Manteigas
Day 7 Manteigas – Sr do Desterro- 18km
Dag 8 Loriga-Torre – 14km
14km climb to the top of the Torre (1991m), with a small detour because we got lost…..
All in all we where very happy with the service from Oliva and their team in Portugal, they had beautiful walks which where well written (it was our own fault we got lost because we wanted to climb the Torre the last day instead of descending it). Baggage transfer and airport transfers are certainly the way forward for a short getaway to somewhere warm and dry.
