Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Minho
barrosã
steak as well as three codfish dishes and a tempting dessert counter. Vil-
lage house rentals are available here (€50 per night).
Espigueiro de Soajo
( 258 576 136; espiguerodosoajo@hotmail.com; Av 25 de Abril; mains €8-13; lunch & dinner Tue-Sat, lunch
Sun)
This modern place serves terrific Minho meat, and has outdoor seating on a vine-
covered terrace. Management is English speaking (local by way of Boston) and very
friendly. It's about 200m north of the centre on the N304.
PORTUGUESE
$$
Information
There's an ATM below the parish council office, off the far side of the square - it's the
only one in the entire park.
Getting There & Away
On weekdays there are one to two Salvador buses from Arcos de Valdevez (€2.75, 50
minutes) via Ponte da Barca (€2.20, 35 minutes). A taxi from Arcos or Ponte da Barca
costs €20 to €25.
Serra do Gerês
POP 800 / ELEV 350M
Big nature rises in steep wooded pinnacles, gushes with cold streams, and pools into crys-
talline swimming holes in the Gerês end of the park. This is the busiest section, which in
summer months sees droves of tourists, and car traffic can jam up the roads. Its beating
heart is the tourist resort town of Vila do Gerês, commonly referred to simply as Gerês.
It's the park's busiest, most developed and unseemly settlement.
VILA DO GERÊS
Sandwiched tightly into the Rio Gerês valley, this spa town has a rather charming fin de
siècle core surrounded by a ring of less appealing, modern
pensões
(guesthouses). Most
accommodation remains shuttered from November to April, as does the spa itself. It's
packed in July and August.
The town is built on an elongated, one-way loop, with the
balneário
(spa centre) in the
pink buildings on the lower road. The original hot spring and some baths are in the staid
