Visiting Alvão Natural Park

A place of rare natural beauty in the heart of the remote Trás-os-Montes region, the verdant Alvão Natural Park (Parque Natural do Alvão) is a major highlight for people travelling around northern Portugal.

Spanning the ridge of the Serra do Alvão, the park was founded in 1983 and is the smallest of the country’s many protected areas, covering just 72 square-kilometres (28 square-miles) of pristine wilderness just to the north of the ancient city of Vila Real, the perfect base from which to explore this very scenic part of the Iberian Peninsula.

Visitors to the Parque Natural do Alvão (as it is known locally) are treated to a true taste of Portugal’s immense rustic charm as granite gives way to slate (many of the local dwellings are roofed by it) and in the high passes one can hear the tinkle of goat bells, the shrill whistle of a herder and that soothing, gushing symphony of a mountain stream.

In springtime there’s a guaranteed profusion of wildflowers with entire mountainsides blanketed in red, yellow, purple and every shade of colour in between to make the park one of the most picturesque and photogenic landscapes in the whole of Portugal.

Crystal-clear water runs through the area’s pine-studded valleys where picture-postcard houses with their quaint thatched roofs still form the centrepiece of a rural setting that hasn’t changed much in hundreds of years.

Endowed with shale houses, old water mills, tumbling waterfalls and spectacular ravines, the Alvão Natural Park is a retreat of outstanding beauty, especially in the colder months of January through March when its high peaks are snowcapped to form a winter wonderland of Disney-style proportions.

Where to go in northern Portugal

There are several spots from which to enjoy a head-spinning panoramic sweep of the Parque Natural do Alvão (indicated on the Google map below), such as the viewpoint (miradouro) of the Alto do Velão pass which encompasses a vast portion of the park and all its stunning geographical features, as well as the popular Miradouro da Cancela (pictured above).

Not to be missed in the heart of this dramatic, boulder-strewn mountainscape is Fisgas de Ermelo, a tumbling cascade where water from the River Ôlo (a tributary of the River Tâmega) crashes down into a broad granite basin to form the park’s most popular attraction. It is also a place where visitors can enjoy a natural waterslide before taking a dip in a series of pools ideal for cooling off on a hot summer’s day.

Over 800 years old, the nearby village of Ermelo is a key point of interest on account of its ancient chapel, Roman bridge and several stone granaries (espigueiros).

Besides visiting the nearby city of Vila Real, those touring this entrancing part of northern Portugal are spoilt for choice when it comes to city sightseeing, with Amarante (famous for its impressive bridge) a short distance to the west of the Parque Natural do Alvão, plus the wine town of Peso da Régua just a few kilometres to the south.

The long list of other places well worth seeing within easy striking distance of the park includes Lamego (notable for its magnificent Baroque staircase), Guimarâes (the undisputed cradle of the nation) and Peneda-Gerês National Park, the oldest protected area and the only national park in Portugal.