Guided Walking Tours Tours in portugal

*  Luxury **** hotel: private swimming pool, romantic restaurant, converted chapel and cloisters

*  Outstanding (and wholly) unspoiled walking:  lush valleys, glacial cirques, pretty white villages unchanged over the centuries

*   Fantastic bird & wildlife; eagles, goshawks

*   Bronze Age remains, Roman relics, Moorish settlements

*   Super-value, all inclusive holiday;  option to add on extra nights in Lisbon

In the very heart of central Portugal, where few tourists ever visit - there are more friendly shepherds than foreign walkers! - the unspoiled Beira is a region of outstanding natural beauty:  magnificent mountains, lush gorges, turquoise lakes and stunning river valleys.  The terraced hillsides are carpeted in colorful wild flowers - over 150 species - and there's a high change of spotting rare birds of prey circling overhead.

Your base for the week is the wonderflly peaceful and hugely atmospheric **** star  Convento de Belmonte, overlooking the delightful town. With just 24 rooms - each with its own private terrace - exudes a feel of luxury and exclusivity.  Antique furnishings abound and the small swimming pool affords beautiful sweeping valley views.

Breakfast is a lavish buffet and evening dinners - wine included - are taken in the romantic, candle-lit dining room*. If you fancy a wander into Belmonte for a pre-dinner drink, it’s just 30 mins on foot. Here there is an impressive C13 castle and a Roman church with striking C16 frescoes.

* One evening we take you (15 mins) to Valelhas where dinner is arranged in a traditional village restaurant.