Braga, Viana do Castelo and Leaving Portugal
Portugal is a beautiful country, friendly and very affordable. If you have been following this blog you will know that we have been driving through the length and breadth of this country. Our six week motorhome road trip here has been wonderful. We found that particularly the central and northern regions to be the most authentic and these regions have fast became our favourite areas for exploring by motorhome or by car…or in fact by any mode of transport. Here we found a Portugal that oozes charm and tradition, people that are friendly and proud of their country, great food and some of the best wine we have ever tasted.
There are just so many cool places to visit in this region, we were spoiled for choice. Our travel wish list for this region of Portugal was huge, but having booked our ferry home for the end of May/19 from Bilbao in Spain, our travel route had to be re-jiggled a little bit. Luckily for us, changing plans was not a problem, since the ability to re-think and adapt our route on a whim is the great beauty of motorhome travelling.
Braga
Unfortunately the weather gods were not smiling on us when we first arrived in Braga, the rain was pouring down fast and furious. Bad weather prompted us to stay two nights, hoping that it would improve for our exploring. On day two the sun made an appearance in between short showers, so we went on the trail of Baroque buildings. From our motorhome campsite (GPS N41.53821 W8.42249) it was an easy walking into the historic centre where the oldest cathedral of Portugal can be found. Although Braga is the third largest city in Portugal, it did not feel very busy at all. The town centre was compact and easily walkable.
Braga is Portugal’s third largest city
But the main highlight of Braga for us was just about 5km/3 miles from the town centre, the Bom Jesus do Monte church. We drove there with our motorhome on the morning of day 3, before leaving towards our next destination. We parked at the free car park, just a few metres away from the site.
Bom Jesus do Monte
This gorgeous church accessed by an amazing Baroque staircase, has been constructed to depict the ascent to heaven. There are about 580 steps zig-zagging their way up to the top; there are fountains, statues, and grottoes at the various staircase landings. We ascended by a very interesting funicular powered by water and afterwards descended via the many beautiful steps downwards.
Altogether we spent about two hours exploring the site before heading North towards our last destination in Portugal.
Viana do Castelo
Almost on the border with Spain now, our final stop in Portugal was off grid, near the marina at Viana do Castelo (GPS N41.69505 W8.81932). After doing our last supermarket refuel and loading up on some delicious and very reasonably priced Portuguese wine, we set off to explore the town. We were glad to have a sunny and warm day for our exploring.
Viana do Castelo
Walking about a half mile/one km uphill, we boarded a funicular up to the Santuário de Santa Luzia, which dominates the city’s skyline and has a great view over the town, the Lima River, and nearby beaches.
Sanctuary of Santa Luzia
There is a picturesque park at the top, including an Albergue/Hostel where peregrinos walking the Portuguese “Camino de Santiago” can stay, enjoying great lodgings with fantastic views. We chatted briefly to a couple of girls from the Czech Republic who were doing the “Camino” and staying at the Albergue De Peregrinos (hostel) on Monte Santa Luzia. They were loving their experiences of the “Portuguese Camino”.
Viana do Castelo is small and easy to explore on foot, the town centre is compact and charming with historic buildings and lots of great outdoor places to eat/drink. There is a nice, long promenade by the harbour on the banks of the Lima River, where we were staying.
This small town makes for a lovely day trip from Porto, and we thoroughly enjoyed our overnight stay here.
We left Viana do Castelo midmorning the next day, bound for Spain and the final leg of our journey on this first tour of Europe by motorhome. It was time to say a sad “até logo” to Portugal, after having stayed just over six weeks travelling the South, Central and the Northern parts of this wonderful country.
It’s A Wrap Up
We found it easy to travel in Portugal by motorhome, there are very good roads and motorways, a variety of motorhome sites to stop overnight including many free off grid places. For people not travelling by motorhome, there is no shortage of good accommodation for all budgets.
We would recommend it to anyone wishing to do this route either by car or by motorhome or even by public transport (since there are excellent train and bus connections).
Portuguese Toll Roads
We used the toll roads mostly around Lisbon, for ease of access and being able to avoid going through Lisbon with a large motorhome. But it is possible to drive on good roads in Portugal without using the toll roads. Saying that we wished we had registered to use the toll roads when we arrived in Portugal (there are four entrance points into Portugal in which you can register your car or motorhome to use the toll roads), it would have given us more flexibility to use them if needed.
Some of the toll roads have toll-booths making it easy to pay as you go, you collect the ticket at the start of your journey and pay at the end. But in some areas this method is not possible, you will need to be registered (or there is another more convoluted way of paying the tolls via the Post office, but I am not sure how that works) in order to use these toll roads. Some rental cars have the the V-tag and so they can use the Via Verde and get a bill for the tolls later on. Do make sure you do your research before going, by visiting the official website.
When driving don’t be surprised to get a red light at a set of traffic lights as you enter a Portuguese town. It is used to slow the traffic right down, if you are driving even a little bit over the limit the red light will come on. You soon figure it out and so much better than speed cameras and fines as we have in the UK.
Our Itinerary
Overall we were very happy with our road trip itinerary, the only change we would have liked to make would be to have spent less time in the Algarve and instead spend more time in Central and Northern Portugal. We would have liked to explore the Serra da Estrela and Peneda-Gerês National Park, which we did not have time for. But we hope to be back in Portugal in the future to cover some of the areas we did not have time to explore this time round.
Food and Wine
Portugal has many delicious traditional dishes, for sea food lovers like us it was fantastic. We also loved the chicken with piri-piri sauce. The pastries are another speciality and we probably ate our own weight in pastéis de nata (also known as Portuguese custard tart). Eating out was very reasonable, often a lovely two course meal with a glass of wine would cost about 10-12 Euros each.
Portuguese pastry is delicious, we bought these delights in Coimbra
We are no wine connoisseurs, but we know what we like and Portuguese wine really appealed to our taste. I have been a tee-total for years, but even I could not resist the wine in the Douro Valley.
The Language
People tell me that Portuguese is a difficult language, I actually think it is so easy…but I guess being born in Brazil I do have a bit of an advantage here. But you don’t need to speak Portuguese to travel in Portugal. English is widely spoken, particularly in the more touristic parts.
Would we visit again?
Absolutely, we still have lots more to explore. This compact country has a lot to offer, it is beautiful, budget friendly and there are so many unspoiled areas, as far as tourism is concerned to enjoy. A real gem of a country.
Thank you Portugal for the hospitality, we will be back.
Lovely recap of your visit, and so glad you enjoyed it. Interesting about the red lights but it sounds better than the camera traps they usually have set up in other countries like you say. We also love Portugal and want to revisit. Haha! I do think Portuguese is a hard language, even more so than Spanish.
Kemkem, thank you. We really enjoyed Portugal, for a small country it has such a lot to offer. The red lights are a great idea, we were puzzled by it to start with, but soon realised how effective they are to slow the traffic right down. Interesting that you find Portuguese harder than Spanish, in fact I have heard others saying that also. I find French the hardest of all the Latin languages.
Gilda, I’m smiling at you sitting on the steps of the Bom Jesus. I have a photo of myself just like it. We also took the funicular up and walked down, stopping every two minutes for pictures of course. Interesting that you would have shortened your time in the Algarve. We omitted that region all together and regretted it. We will get back to Portugal though. There is just so much to see and do.
Suzanne, I love that photo on the steps of Bom Jesus…You are my photo twin, I will have to look out for yours 🙂 We particularly loved Western Algarve, but the South Coast was a bit too touristic for us. It lacked some of the authenticity and charm we found in Central and Northern Portugal. But it is still definitely worth a visit, particularly Lagos is very pretty. You have so many wonderful beaches in Florida, I hope you are having a great summer 🙂
Oh! Two of our favorite cities. We fell in love with both of them, but especially Braga. We’ve actually talked about spending an extended time there on one of our future trips. The Bom Jesus church and stairs are spectacular. Our other favorite site was the cathedral and the twin pipe organs which were just incredible. If you make your way back to Braga, be sure to visit the cathedral.
And, Viana, the views were beautiful from the top, weren’t they? Did you enjoy a Bola de Berlim (doughnut)? They are to die for and Viana is the home of the bolas.
So glad you got to spend so much time in Portugal. Hopefully, we’ll be able to connect next time.
Oh, and yes, it definitely makes a difference that you’re from Brazil when it comes to the Portuguese language. It’s not easy! 🙂
Patti, Both Braga and Viana do Castelo are beautiful and authentic Portuguese cities. Braga in particularly has a lot to offer, I can see why you would want to spend longer here. Regrettably, we did not try the Bola de Berlim, definitely something for next time. We did visit the Cathedral in Braga, but there was mass going on…so no pictures inside. Brazilian Portuguese is a little bit different, some different words and accent, but in general I had no problem understanding and communicating with Portuguese people. It was really nice to be able to speak the local language fluently. I hope next time we will be able to get together 🙂
Nice wrap-up post. I particularly found the idea of registering for the toll roads to be an interesting idea. I’d look into that for sure if I was planning this type of trip.
Thank you, after spending 6 weeks in Portugal it has been nice to do a wrap up post. We found the Portuguese roads to be really good and there were plenty of unpaid motorways to use. But occasionally using the toll roads was best, so registering as you enter the country is a very good option.
Well, here I am in the middle of moving houses and I choose to have a Roobois tea break with my favourite travel blogger. It is a joy to see how fast you adapted to life on the road in your motor home. I loved to read about Bom Jesus do Monte among other things here. I am not sure I would take 580 steps to ascend to heaven only to be refused entry. But on a serious note, I would for sure as the little gems of fountains and grottoes would make it an enjoyable hike. I loved your photo sitting on the steps of Bom Jesus do Monte. To me you looked like a much younger woman living her dream. The photo made me think of the young girl who arrived in London eager to travel but was interrupted. Just goes to show that time did not stop you from bringing your dream back to life. Thank you for sharing your adventures and great travelling tips with us, I also adore Portuguese pastry, pastel de nata is my favourite.
Val, thank you so much. We do feel we have adapted well to our home on wheel, it is a great way of travelling, particularly in Europe where it is so geared up for motorhomes. I do feel very lucky to have been able to retire earlier and now be doing the type of travelling that I have been dreaming about for many years. Portuguese pastry is so delicious, I was addicted to the pasteis de nata…so yummy 🙂
So glad you enjoyed your visit, and that you’ll be back. There’s so much to love about Portugal! We’re based in the south for the warmth (though that can get overpowering 🙂 ) but we do love to explore. Impossible to see it all, and you’re going to find more and more places you wish you’d been- and Portugal is tiny compared to Spain. Safe and happy travels, Gilda!
Very nice indeed!
I’ve been to Portugal twice and each time I went, it was nicer than it was the first time. I can’t understand why more people don’t visit as it’s small enough not to feel over-whelmed, the prices are reasonable, the wines are fantastic, the people are lovely and the pastéis de natas.
Oh, the pastéis de natas, are amazing!
We have an organic cafe just around the corner where we live in Berlin, and I did a double-take when I discovered that they sold them! They’re home-made and by noon, the pastéis de natas are pretty much sold out.
They know us now. 😀
p.s. Lucky you being able to speak Portuguese. I wish it was closer to German, then I could speak it too!
Victoria, in many ways it is nice that Portugal is still a little bit off the beaten track and not yet discovered my the masses. It is a compact country, easy to visit and yes very budget friendly. I really thought it would have been a lot more crowded, yet I was pleasantly surprised that only Lisbon and Sintra can be a bit overcrowded…and off course the Algarve. But we did visit during shoulder season and perhaps that meant fewer crowds…we were grateful for that. Victoria, how lovely that you have delicious pastéis de natas so near your home, I am jealous of that 🙂
Lovely of you to provide a recap at the end of your trip Gilda – so useful for anyone planning a visit! Our daughter loves Portugal and is heading back there for a surfing holiday south of Lisbon next month. It is definitely on our wish list though we would probably use public transport especially trains which we love! The food and wines sound delicious too and I would be fascinated by the culture and history as well as the beautiful scenery! 🙂
Rosemary, I do hope this post can be helpful to others planning a trip to Portugal. I can see why your daughter loves it there, the surfing is fantastic. I hope she makes it to Arrifana, one of our favourite surfing paradises. Travelling in Portugal by public transport is very doable, there are great train and bus services to all the attractions. The food and wine is reason enough to visit it 🙂 I hope your home renovations are going smoothly 🙂
Thanks Gilda! Will be so glad when they are finished – we had a few glitches this week, which I’m sure always happen but it adds to the stress! Both the dog and the cat are showing signs of stress too – I don’t think they appreciate the improvements to the house at this stage! Hopefully will be more or less finished by the end of this week – it’s looking good but has rather taken over our lives in recent weeks! Hope all is well with you 🙂 Ps I will look up Arrifana too and ask my daughter if she’s ever been there as this will be her 4th trip to Portugal I think 🙂
Rosemary, home renovations are always hard work and stressful. Your poor pets must be finding it very hard indeed, they will need lots of nice treats and hugs, which I am sure you are giving to them in abundance 🙂