Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
to
arroz de sarrabulho
. On Saturdays in spring and summer, it serves
feijão terrestre
, a
local bean along with Barrosã beef.
Casa Real Matadouro
(Pedrosas - Guilhadeses; mains €9-18; lunch & dinner)
Set in a stately house on the riverside,
Matadouro serves some of the best steaks in the Minho. It's located about 500m south of
the
turismo
on the river.
STEAKHOUSE
$$
Information
Turismo
( 258 520 530;
www.portonorte.pt
;
Rua Professor Doutor Mário Júlio Almeida Costa;
9.30am-12.30pm & 2-6pm Mon-Sat summer, 9am-12.30pm & 2-5.30pm Mon-Sat winter)
This helpful, English-
speaking tourist office is across from the town fountains (legless horses).
Getting There & Away
The bus station is almost 1km north of the town centre, but regional buses will stop on re-
quest in front of the
turismo
.
AV Cura buses run to Ponte da Barca (€1.35, 15 minutes), Ponte de Lima (€3.35, 50
minutes) and Viana do Castelo (€4, 1½ hours) eight times daily Monday to Friday, and
once or twice on weekends.
Salvador buses roll at least twice on weekdays to Soajo (€2.75, 40 minutes) in Parque
Nacional da Peneda-Gerês. There is no weekend service into the park.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Parque Nacional da Peneda-Gerês
Spread across four impressive granite massifs in Portugal's northernmost reach, this
703-sq-km park encompasses boulder-strewn peaks, precipitous valleys and lush forests
of oak and fragrant pine. It also shelters more than 100 granite villages that, in many
ways, have changed little since Portugal's founding in the 12th century. Established in
1971, Parque Nacional da Peneda-Gerês - Portugal's first and only national park - has
helped preserve not just a unique set of ecosystems but also an endangered way of life for
its human inhabitants.
Many of the park's oldest villages are found in the Serra da Peneda and remain in a
time warp, with oxen being trundled down cobbled streets by black-clad widows, and
