Bragança → Vila Nova de Foz Côa

01 Castle

Castle of Bragança

Castelo de Bragança

In the far north-east of Portugal, Bragança Castle encloses within its crenellated walls a keep completed around 1439. From the top of the ramparts, see the Montesinho and Sanabria ranges close the horizon to the north. Since 1936, the keep has housed a military museum, and the battlements restored in the 1930s give it back its silhouette.

02 Castle

Castle of Algoso

Castelo de Algoso

Perched at 690 metres above the meeting of the Angueira and the Maçãs, the Castelo de Algoso kept watch over the Kingdom of León. Look up at its Gothic keep, built by the Hospitallers, who became masters of the place in 1224. All around, the Mirandese plateau stretches as far as the eye can see.

03 Village

Miranda do Douro

Perched above the arribas, the granite cliffs where the Douro marks the border, Miranda do Douro became a city and bishop's seat in 1545. The town keeps Mirandese, an Astur-Leonese language protected by law since 1999. Carry on to the cathedral to greet the Menino Jesus da Cartolinha, a child dressed as a gentleman and wearing a top hat.

04 Viewpoint

Miradouro de São João das Arribas

At 646 metres, look down over the Douro's border gorge, beside the chapel of São João das Arribas. Nearby, the castro of Aldeia Nova recalls a fortified Iron Age village. The view plunges down the rock walls, above which griffon vultures and Egyptian vultures circle.

05 Viewpoint

Mirador de las Barrancas

06 Viewpoint

Miradouro da Fraga do Puio

07 Castle

Castle of Mogadouro

Castelo de Mogadouro

Built between 1160 and 1165, the castle of Mogadouro passed in 1433 to the Távora family, who made it their palace. Make your way to the foot of its keep, set on a rocky spur, from where the view stretches south towards the Serra de Mogadouro. The family's fall from grace in the 18th century left the whole slowly sliding into ruin.

08 Village

Fermoselle

Perched on a rocky blade above the Duero gorges, Fermoselle keeps the ruins of the castle of Doña Urraca at its tip. Beneath its steep streets, cellars dug into the granite host the peñas during the San Agustín festivities. Climb the Torojón to take in the Duero, the Tormes and their terraced slopes at a glance.

09 Village

Pereña de la Ribera

Set at 697 metres on the granite of the Arribes, this village looks down on the Duero flowing far below, at the bottom of its canyon. Head north to the hermitage of Nuestra Señora del Castillo, whose viewpoint plunges down to the river. On the edge of Masueco, the Pozo de los Humos waterfall turns into a cloud of spray, especially in spring.

10 Viewpoint

Mirador del Fraile

11 Monument

Aldeadávila Dam

Presa de Aldeadávila

This 139.50-metre concrete wall blocks the Duero at the bottom of the Arribes, the deep gorge separating Spain from Portugal. Behind it, the underground power station, cut into the rock, fills a cavern large enough to hold León Cathedral. Take in the scale of the structure against the sides of the gorge.

12 Village

Vilvestre

On the edge of the province of Salamanca, Vilvestre overlooks the Duero, which here forms the border with Portugal. Make your way to the viewpoint on the cerro del Castillo, where the gaze plunges down to the river. In this mild climate grow orange trees, olive trees and prickly pears, unusual on the Castilian plateau.

13 Monument

Saucelle Dam

Presa de Saucelle

On the Douro, where the river marks the border with Portugal, this 83-metre concrete gravity dam also holds back the waters of the Huebra. Completed in 1956, it feeds a hydroelectric power station run by Iberdrola. Take the measure of this wall wedged into the gorges of the Arribes.

14 Archaeology

Gravuras Rupestres do Mazouco

On the right bank of the ribeira de Albagueira, less than 1,800 m from the Douro, a schist rock face bears two engraved panels. Look there for the Mazouco horse, 62 cm long, drawn in a single outline in the Palaeolithic. Its legs, drawn with precision, still seem to be striding across the stone.

15 Village

Freixo de Espada à Cinta

16 Viewpoint

Miradouro do Penedo Durão

17 Village

Barca d’Alva

Less than a kilometre from Spain, Barca d'Alva watches the Douro and the Águeda trace the border, in the heart of the Douro International Natural Park. The terminus of the Douro line from December 1887, its station has seen no train since 1988 and lies abandoned. All around, follow the olive, almond and orange trees along the riverbanks.

18 Village

Castelo Rodrigo

Castelo Rodrigo has only been Portuguese since the Treaty of Alcanizes in 1297, and remained the seat of the municipality until 1836, before Figueira took over that role. Its narrow, steep lanes press against the walls, around the castle cistern. As you climb, remember that the town once bore a coat of arms with the arms of Portugal turned upside down.

19 Castle

Castle of Castelo Melhor

Castelo de Castelo Melhor

At 450 metres above sea level, this 13th-century Leonese castle dominates the village, with the Côa to the west and the Douro 2 kilometres to the north. Make out its chipped schist walls, its triple-arched gate and its round tower. Portuguese from 1297, it guarded the disputed frontier of Riba-Côa.

20 Museum

Museu do Côa

21 Village

Pocinho

Stop at Pocinho, where the Linha do Douro now ends, at a listed station on the riverbank. Nearby, the disused bridge of the Linha do Sabor, also protected, stands without trains. Since 2016, a half-buried rowing and canoeing centre designed by Álvaro Fernandes Andrade has blended into the vineyards.

22 Archaeology

Castle of Freixo de Numão

Castelo Velho de Freixo de Numão

Climb this hill where, from the 3rd millennium BC, a Chalcolithic community raised a schist enclosure. Between 1300 and 1200 BC, the site was sealed off, deliberately or according to a rite, then abandoned. From the circular platform, the view sweeps over the Veiga valley as far as the Serra da Marofa.