Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
elevation of about 1500m. Supplies are limited; if you plan to go walking, do your shop-
ping in Covilhã.
Sleeping
Pousada da Juventude
( 275 335 375;
www.pousadasjuventude.pt
;
dm/d summer €13/45; Oct-Aug; )
Penhas'
first-rate mountaintop hostel has a communal kitchen and cafeteria, giant stone fireplaces
and a games room featuring billiards and table tennis. The deluxe doubles in the annexe
are especially nice, but those in the main building are cosy too. Dorms have eight berths
and plenty of space; meals are available. Book well ahead in winter.
HOSTEL
€
Getting There & Away
Daily throughout August, and on weekends in late July and early September, buses run
from Covilhã's bus station to Penhas (€2.20) at 8.50am and 2pm, returning down the
mountain at 5.35pm.
A taxi from Covilhã to Penhas costs around €20.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Covilhã
POP 36,700 / ELEV 700M
Modern Covilhã is awash in suburban sprawl, its 18th-century textile factories having giv-
en way to high-rise apartment blocks. Despite dreary outskirts, Covilhã's pleasant historic
core remains intact, and the presence of the Universidade da Beira Interior lends it an air
of modern urban vitality. The city's geographic setting on steeply canted terraces provides
phenomenal views eastward towards Spain.
