Peneda-Gerês National Park, established in 1971, is Portugal's only national park. It covers about 700 square kilometres in the far north of the country, on the border with Galicia, across the Peneda, Soajo, Amarela and Gerês ranges, in the districts of Viana do Castelo, Braga and Vila Real. Together with Galicia's Xurés park it forms a UNESCO transboundary biosphere reserve.
The landscape
It is a world of ice-polished granite mountains, deep valleys, clear rivers, reservoirs and ancient woods of oak, holly and birch. The Mata da Albergaria, a forest of centuries-old oaks, is one of the most protected areas. The park has rich wildlife: the Iberian wolf, roe deer, golden eagle and garranos, small semi-wild horses that graze freely, as well as barrosã cattle with great lyre-shaped horns.
Gerês village
The handiest base is Vila do Gerês, in the municipality of Terras de Bouro, a late nineteenth-century spa village in a narrow valley, with hotels, restaurants and the thermal baths. Roads and trails lead from here to the main sights.
Don't miss
- The Geira, the Roman road that linked Braga with Astorga, with the largest concentration of Roman milestones in the Iberian Peninsula, many still standing along the stretch through the Mata da Albergaria.
- The waterfalls: Arado, with a viewpoint nearby, Fecha de Barjas (known as "Tahiti"), Portela do Homem and Pincães, with natural pools for swimming in summer.
- Vilarinho da Furna, a communal village drowned in 1972 by a dam: in drought years its ruins re-emerge from the water, and a museum tells its story.
- Mountain villages such as Pitões das Júnias, in the municipality of Montalegre, with the ruins of a Romanesque monastery and a waterfall, and Tourém, where communal traditions survive, and the Peneda sanctuary, with a Baroque stairway at the foot of a granite wall.
- The Caniçada and Rio Caldo reservoirs, for kayaking, boating and water sports.
Practical tips
Some areas of the park have restricted access, and in summer certain road stretches, such as Portela do Homem to the Mata da Albergaria, have regulated traffic. Wild camping is not allowed. For hikes, download the official trail maps. Gerês is about an hour by car from Braga; from the south you can also enter via Montalegre and the Barroso region.