Loop from Braga

01 Church

Braga Cathedral

Sé de Braga

In the Chapel of the Kings lie Henry of Burgundy and Teresa of León, parents of Afonso Henriques, first king of Portugal. Originally Romanesque, the cathedral also bears João de Castilho's vault and a façade reworked to Baroque taste. Stand between the two organs of 1737 and 1739 to see their carved wooden cases answer each other.

02 Castle

Castle of Guimarães

Castelo de Guimarães

Climb the hill where Mumadona Dias built a refuge against Norman and Muslim raids. Count Henry and Teresa lived here, and the Battle of São Mamede, fought nearby in 1128, is regarded as the birth certificate of Portugal. In 1836, a single vote saved it from demolition.

03 Archaeology

Citânia de Briteiros

The Citânia de Briteiros crowns the hill of São Romão with a fortified Iron Age settlement. Excavated from the 1870s by Francisco Martins Sarmento, its streets serve round houses and two baths, one of which yielded the Pedra Formosa. Climb to the dwellings at the top to see the Ave valley open out below the walls.

04 Church

Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte

Santuário do Bom Jesus do Monte

Climb this monumental staircase up 116 metres of ascent, between fountains where water spouts from eyes, ears or nose. At the top, Carlos Amarante's neoclassical basilica has closed this open-air Way of the Cross since 1811. To come back down, a funicular glides beneath the trees of the park.

05 Church

São Bento da Porta Aberta

A modest chapel built in 1614 in the hills of Rio Caldo has become, after Fátima, the second pilgrimage site in Portugal. The neoclassical church of 1895, a basilica since 2015, accumulates the votive offerings brought by pilgrims. Watch the hands resting, one by one, on the image of Saint Benedict.

06 Monument

Barragem de Vilarinho das Furnas

Stop on the road to Campo do Gerês to take the measure of the concrete arch that blocks the Homem at ninety-four metres high. Completed in 1972, the dam swallowed the village of Vilarinho da Furna, whose ruins resurface when the lake drops. All around, the mountains of the Peneda-Gerês National Park close off the horizon.

07 Viewpoint

Miradouro da Pedra Bela

08 Waterfall

Cascata do Arado

East of the Gerês spa, the rio Arado descends its slope in a succession of falls, down to a pool of limpid water. From the village of Ermida, a forest track buried in vegetation leads towards Pedra Bela, then to the river. Make your way to the bridge over the Arado and listen to the water tumbling from ledge to ledge.

09 Archaeology

Ponte da Mizarela

At the bottom of a granite gorge of the Rabagão, shortly before the Cávado, the bridge throws a single arch of around 13 metres in span. On 17 May 1809, Soult's retreating army forced its barricades. Walk down from the viewpoint on the Montalegre side, between waterfalls and potholes, to this bridge that legend attributes to the Devil.

10 Village

Pitões das Junias

Arrive in one of the highest villages in Portugal, between the rocks of the Gerês and the Mourela plateau. In the parish, the ruins of the monastery of Santa Maria das Júnias and a waterfall await walkers. A 4-kilometre trail, about an hour and a half on foot, links the cemetery to the heart of the village.

11 Waterfall

Cascata da Portela do Homem

Follow the waymarks from Portela do Homem to reach, near a bridge, this waterfall on the young rio Homem, in the heart of the Peneda-Gerês national park. The water leaps from a granite rock before settling in a peaceful pool, popular with bathers in summer. Sit on the stone and let the roar of the water drown out everything else.

12 Castle

Castle of Lindoso

Castelo de Lindoso

Stop first among the espigueiros, granite granaries perched on stone pillars, grouped near Lindoso castle. Built under Afonso III facing Spain, above the left bank of the Lima, it was given a star-shaped wall adapted to artillery in the 17th century. At its corners, round domed sentry boxes still keep their gaze on the far side of the valley.

13 Heritage

Espigueiros de Soajo

Twenty-four stone granaries stand together on a granite slab, the communal threshing floor where Soajo kept its maize safe. The oldest bears the date 1782, and the whole group has been protected since 1983. Walk unhurriedly around the rock to see the crosses on their roofs outlined against the mountain.

14 Church

Santuário de Nossa Senhora da Peneda

Climb to the Peneda sanctuary by a stepped avenue some three hundred metres long, lined with twenty chapels telling the life of Christ. One of them bears an inscription attributing its offering to the Negus of Ethiopia. Higher up, Faith, Hope, Charity and Glory watch over the 1854 staircase, at the foot of the granite cliffs of the serra.

15 Castle

Castle of Castro Laboreiro

Castelo de Castro Laboreiro

Look at these ruins perched at 1033 metres, in the heart of the Peneda-Gerês National Park. Taken by Afonso Henriques in 1141, the castle has a second wall below, built to shelter livestock, an arrangement considered unique in Portugal. From 1766 to 1778, around 400 people were held here for refusing to hand their sons over to the army.

16 Village

Sistelo

You'll arrive through cultivated stepped terraces, a hand-carved landscape that earns Sistelo its nickname of the little Portuguese Tibet. Classified as a national monument in 2018, the site keeps an 18th-century stone bridge over the Vez and the manor of a viscount who returned from Brazil. The Ecovia do Vez leads here from Vilela.

17 Castle

Castle of Monção

Castelo de Monção

On the left bank of the Minho, Monção shelters behind ramparts that guarded the river crossing. According to tradition, in 1369 Deu-la-Deu Martins threw her last loaves at the Castilian besiegers to make them believe the town was well supplied. See her on the town's coat of arms, a loaf in each hand, standing on a tower.

18 Castle

Praça-forte de Valença

Pass through the Porta do Meio to go from the old town to the Coroada, the two walled circuits of Valença set facing Galicia. The present bastions date from the Restoration War, built to plans by Miguel de l'École, and work was only completed in 1713. From the ramparts, the Minho traces a long-disputed border.

19 Village

Caminha

At the mouth of the Minho, Caminha faces Spain and Mount Santa Tecla, rising on the far bank of the estuary. The old centre huddles around its square, the Clock Tower, once a gate in the ramparts, and a granite mother church. Follow the quays to the point where the Coura joins the river.

20 Church

Santuário do Monte de Santa Luzia

Begun in 1904 to plans by Miguel Ventura Terra, the Basilica of Santa Luzia blends neo-Romanesque, neo-Gothic and neo-Byzantine at the top of its hill. On the façade stands a bronze Sacred Heart dated 1898. From up here, take in the ocean, the Lima valley and the mountains, before heading to the nearby ruins of an Iron Age citânia.

21 Museum

Gil Eannes

Navio Hospital Gil Eanes

Built in 1955 in Viana do Castelo, this hospital ship accompanied the White Fleet of Newfoundland cod boats until 1973, treating and resupplying them. Head down to its two operating theatres, its radiology room and its chapel, inside a hull strengthened against ice. Destined for the scrapyard, it became a museum in 1998.

22 Archaeology

Ponte de Ponte de Lima

Two bridges in one cross the Lima here: seven Roman arches on the right bank, partly taken over by the sanctuary of Santo António da Torre Velha, then fifteen medieval arches, two of them buried. The Middle Ages reused its stone. Cross on foot, one era giving way to the next beneath your feet.