Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Turismo
( 255 389 370;
www.cm-mondimdebasto.pt
;
Praça do Municipio; 9am-1pm & 2-5pm Mon-Fri,
10am-1pm & 2-5pm Sat, 9am-1pm Sun)
Has loads of local information and rents out bikes (per
hour/day €1/5).
Getting There & Around
BUS
Buses stop behind the
mercado municipal,
150m east of the
turismo
and what remains of
the old town.
Auto Mondinense
( 255 381 296)
has seven weekday and two to three weekend
buses to Porto (€6.05, 2¾ hours) via Guimarães (€4, 1½ hours). For Vila Real, take a
Mondinense bus to Campeã (€3.40, 50 minutes, three daily) and change there for the
short-hop Rodonorte bus to Vila Real.
CAR & MOTORCYCLE
There is street parking just west of the centre along Av Augusto Brito.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Chaves
POP 18,000 / ELEV 340M
A spa town with a long and fascinating history, Chaves (
shahv
-sh) is a pretty and enga-
ging place, straddling the mountain-fringed banks of the Rio Tâmega only a few kilo-
metres south of the Spanish border. Its well-preserved historic centre is anchored at the
edges by a 16-arched Roman bridge dating back to Trajan's reign, a beautiful medieval
tower and the rock-solid Forte de São Francisco.
All of these remnants testify to Chaves' earlier strategic importance in controlling the
small but fertile plain that surrounds it. Romans built a key garrison here, that was subse-
quently contested by the Visigoths, Moors, French and Spanish. The city saw particularly
fierce fighting during the Napoleonic invasion, when it was at the forefront of the resist-
ance against French domination.
Nowadays Chaves is a placid backwater, where the Portuguese come not to defend the
national honour but to pamper themselves in the natural hot springs that bubble up in the
city's heart.
The backbone of Chaves' old town is Rua de Santo António, which runs southeast from
the
turismo
to the Roman bridge. The spa is near the river, just south of the centre.
