Serra da Freita

Date: 03/03/2024 21:34:10

#cheap #travel

The Travel

My love for Trás-os-Montes and Parque Peneda-Gerês is forever, but it’s hard to make a very small trip out of them.

There is a place that is close to Porto, about a 60-minute drive to the south, and almost next to Santa Maria da Feira.

Serra da Freita has mountains, cool rocks, small mountain villages, hiking trails, waterfalls, fog, and even a bit of snow. It’s seriously beautiful and worth going to—by car, as there is no visible public transport.

We left at 12 and were back by 18, having hiked a trail, visited two miradouros and had lunch.

One of the miradouros was actually a geological park, Pedras Parideiras Serra da Freita, where a cute phenomenon occurs: small geodes are “born” (well, compressed and squeezed out due to a different density) out of blocks of granite.

Geolocations

📍Miradouro da Costa Atlântica https://maps.app.goo.gl/Ke3EBUmTYi7RtwYk6?g_st=ic

📍A hike to a cool view https://maps.app.goo.gl/4w1TQxcDxvnhjqHs5?g_st=ic

📍Pedras Parideiras https://maps.app.goo.gl/74kuNc2sEr8pBYU36?g_st=ic

Price

6.40 for portagens (toll roads), about 8 eur for gasoline, and you can take the food with you.

The Food

…but if you don’t want to take food with you, just drive here and ask for a sandes de vitela assada.

They were so good I took one home with me.

P.S.: Don’t you just love traditional Portuguese cafés/bars/churrasqueiras 3in1?

Geolocation

📍Café São João https://maps.app.goo.gl/kgZEq61WojoSbDzS9?g_st=ic

Price

I'm not 100% sure because we also bought beer and paid for everything with MBWay, but it was about 3.50 euros per 1 sandes.

(they do accept MBWay, but it could have been just because a young guy was on this shift, so it's best to have cash with you).

P.S.: This is a shameless picture of me hiking with my dog yesterday to attract likes to this blog.