Private Peneda-Gerês National park Tour – Its Waterfalls with Typical Lunch

Village of Fafião

Fafião is one of the 15 places in the parish of Cabril. Pastoral village, community-based, cious to preserve its identity and culture. It is possible to see physical/architectural traces of medieval times and get to know the culture and ancestral traditions that pass from generation to generation.

Eco museum of Barroso

Barroso is distinguished by a rich heritage and a collective imaginary differentiating. The need to safeguard these unique elements led the municipalities of Montalegre and Boticas to delineate a project capable of taking responsibility for a development strategy. Thus, the Ecomuseum of Barroso was born, recognized aggregator and enhancer of identity, a museum of territory in constant relation with the local population and bearer of collective memory.

Wolves Fojo (Fafião)

Fojos are ancient traps for wolves. This animal, now protected, was for centuries the object of persecution motivated by the fear that instilled in the mountain people so through its association with the world of the beyond and by the attacks it made on animals that grazed in the mountains. These buildings, today cultural heritage, appear only in the North of the Iberian Peninsula.

Fojo dos Lobos de Fafião is considered one of the best preserved in the Iberian Peninsula and represents for the local community a symbol of its history and culture and the struggles experienced between men and wolves.

It is a granite structure of convergent walls, being the pit of circular plan. The walls or walls add up to about 64 meters long, with 2.17 meters of average height, which converge to the mouth of the Fojo (pit), to which the wolves were attracted following a beat.

It is believed that it was mainly used in winter, when farmers drove goat and cattle to Monte de Baixo, located southwest of the village and bounded by the rivers of Fafião and Cávado.

The Fojo pit was covered with horizontally arranged wood and a crown of branches, easily surpassed by the wolf. The hunters, armed with weapons, prevented the wolf from escaping through the waters of the rivers, referring him to the Fojo, where men were waiting for him ready to fire.

It is not known for sure its date of construction, believed to date from the eighteenth century, knowing only that it was recovered in the mid-nineteenth century.

Tahiti Waterfall

The Fecha de Barjas Waterfall, known to many tourists as Waterfall of Tahiti, is located near the village of Ermida, on the road that connects this village to the town of Fafião (Montalegre).

With its waters coming from the River Arado is one of the most stunning falls of Gerês and increasingly sought after by tourists and visitors to the region, which also requires great care in access and enjoyment of its waters by the dangers of fall. Bring sneakers!

Rajada Waterfall on Foot (Optional)

The Waterfall of Rajada is one of several waterfalls present along the course of the Arado River in the vicinity of the village of Ermida. This is another of the fantastic places where you can have the feeling of the paradisiacal beauty of the Gerês mountain range.

From the Viewpoint of Ermida, it is necessary to cross the village and travel 2km in dirt road to find the waterfall. Along the way it is still possible to make a detour of 500 m to the Viewpoint of Vela (Reverse direction of the alternative route of the PR14 - Sobreiral Trail from Ermida to Gerês).

In this natural waterfall, increasingly sought after by tourists and visitors to the region, great care is also suggested in accessing water due to the danger of accidents.

Ermida Viewpoint

The viewpoint of Ermida, about 550m above sea level, allows you to glimpse the Gerês massifs, village life, rural landscape and historical elements and traditional architecture in a panorama of prodigious beauty.

Fraga do Justo (On Foot)

The steep climb of a metal ladder allows to reach the top of a rugged rocky cluster, which is called Fraga do Justo. From this kind of tower, it is possible to observe the entire surroundings of the valley of the River Arado, with its fast waters, running between rocks, to precipitate at altitude, in some points such as the waterfall of the Gust sighted under our feet.

The viewpoint of Fraga do Justo is accessible on foot, using the signs of the alternative trail to PR14 - Sobreiral Trail from Ermida, 2km from the village of Ermida (Vilar da Veiga).

Truta Waterfall (Optional)

The Truta waterfall is another one of the beautiful waterfalls provided by the Arado River in the vicinity of the village of Ermida.

Access to the waterfall is by a path on the right, 300m after entering the dirt path that connects to the Pall waterfall. From this turn it is necessary to make another 300m until you reach the point of the waterfall.

As in other falls of water, maximum caution is required as to the occurrence of accidents.

Rocas Viewpoint

From the top of a granite cluster, as a fortress tower, the Rocas Viewpoint appears, with its 360º view on the immensity of the summits of the Serra do Gerês.

Waterfall of the Arado

The Waterfall of Arado is a waterfall located on the River Arado, about 3km from the village of Ermida and about 8km from the Village of Gerês, in the heart of Gerês. Situated at an altitude of about 900 metres, it creates a succession of unique waterfalls between the rocks.

All the way to the waterfall is worth observing, where you will be amazed by what the nature of Gerês has to offer, this waterfall being a must-stop site.

Pedra Bela Viewpoint

Located at 829 meters of altitude, the Viewpoint of Pedra Bela is perhaps the best known in the county due to the great scenic beauty that can be seen there. The landscape reached is an authentic natural amphitheatre, against the backdrop of the bridges of Rio Caldo and the entire reservoir of Caniçada.

In this place, in addition to the refreshing shade of cedars and birches, it is also possible to find a small fountain and several tables for the break of a snack, while contemplating the landscape as Miguel Torga did, in his poem "Pátria", placed in this place.

Geira Museum (Optional)

Inserted in the Museo logical Centre of Campo do Gerês, the Museum of Geira was built from scratch and inaugurated in June 2013, having as museum program the approach of the techniques of construction of the Roman Roads, as well as the transports used at the time.

The municipality of Terras de Bouro currently preserves a route with the extension of 30 kilometres of this old road.

The museum is structured in four themed rooms, an auditorium, and offices for archaeological studies.

Because it is a central point of the layout of Via Nova in Terras de Bouro, as well as for offering information about Geira and its historical interpretations, it is suggested to visitors, who before walking on the Via visit this museum.

Gerês village

Vila do Gerês or Caldas do Gerês is a spa resort of long tradition. Some researchers even believe that the warm waters of the Gerês would have already been used by the Romans, who passed with some frequency in Geira, the Roman road that is very close to the hot springs.

As documented certainties, it is known that Gerês has been known to Portuguese since the 19th century. XIII and that the first that allowed the therapeutic use of thermal waters date from the reign of D. João V, in 1735, who will have ordered the construction of wells for baths, chapels and other supporting constructions.

It is also documented that Caldas do Gerês, as a village with permanent residents, was only constituted in the second half of the 20th century. Xix, although there were already houses for collection and stay of their regulars (the hot baths), which were abandoned as soon as the first cold ones were, by October.

Colonnade Honorius of Lima

The construction of this building in semicircular form, authored by the brilliant architect Raul Lino (1879-1974), now ex-libris of the village of Gerês, took place in 1926 and was part of the clauses of the first contract for granting the term exploitation of 1896, which stated that the company should allocate a percentage annually (20%) of the product of the water tickets sold, for the works.

Leonte Waterfall (Foot)

The Waterfall of Leonte is formed is formed by the collapse of the waters of the Taleira stream, from the top of a granite rock cliff at 19 meters, on the bed of the Gerês River. In summers with periods of drought, the flow of the waterfall may disappear.

It is possible to observe this waterfall from the EN308-1 (Vila do Gerês - Portela do Homem), about 1.5 km after the Viewpoint and Guarda da Preguiça House.

Portela do Homem Waterfall

The waterfalls of Portela do Homem are a succession of small waterfalls on the Man River, the source of the bridge, 500m from the border with Spain.

Due to the conditional access to traffic between Leonte and Portela do Homem (Mata de Albergaria), parking must be done in the border area and then walk back 500 meters to the bridge area.

The months of the greatest heat make this place a very attractive area which can cause the presence of a large cluster of people.

SPA Lobios

The spa experience in Lobios fuses its warm and healing waters with the fascinating middle of the Natural Park of Baixa Limia - Serra do Xurés.

21st century tern villages and the ancient settlements of the Roman Empire are surrounded by ridges, glacial valleys, lakes, waterfalls, granite eruptions in the form of spikes and pins, riverside forests and host mountains of wolves, doe, or wild horses.

A natural architecture that coexists with the humanized architecture of the megaliths, Roman roads, barns, and water mills.