(This day trip was part of a 9-day trip through the Center and North of Portugal. To learn more about this trip, read the article 9 days through the Center and North of Portugal)
Day 6 – Thursday (08/25/2022)
We had coffee, we did checkout calmly and we hit the road towards Guimaraes, which is considered the birthplace of the Portuguese nation. In 1139, it was there that Afonso Henriques proclaimed himself the first king of Portugal and declared that it would be the country's first capital. After less than 1 hour in the car, we arrived at the famous Guimarães Castle, which was built to deter attacks from the Moors and Normans in the 10th century, and was expanded after 2 centuries. According to tradition, the first Portuguese king was born there and the font where he was baptized is in Chapel of St. Michael.
Visiting the main attractions
We parked the car right next to the castle and went to buy the tickets at Palace of the Dukes (5 euros for the Palace and 2 euros for the Castle), a palace built in the 15th century by Dom Afonso, the first Duke of Braganza. This Burgundian-style monument was left empty after the Braganza family moved to Vila Viçosa and during the Salazar regime, it was renovated and became the official residence of the president. There are many Persian carpets, Flemish tapestries and paintings, as well as a chestnut ceiling in the banquet room that imitates the upturned hull of a caravel, which was a tribute to maritime explorations.
Since Paddy was too tired to climb the castle and Ju had fallen asleep in the stroller, I stayed with them while Celo and my mother-in-law went to climb it. We went to visit the Chapel and then they met us so we could enter the Palace together. The building is huge and has an impressive central courtyard, and fortunately there is an elevator for those who go with a stroller. The roof, which is an upturned hull of a caravel, is really cool. Some photos:
Lunch break
We left there and started calling some restaurants on TripAdvisor to try to reserve a table, but they were all full or about to close. We started walking towards the historic center and when we saw St. James Square full of restaurants with tables under umbrellas, we got excited. We found a restaurant that was still accepting people, the The Medieval, and we sat down to lunch feeling relieved. Delicious food, very good service, and an even better atmosphere. It's great to have lunch in a square and watch life go by, right? lol
More tours
Then we left there and went to Our Lady of Oliveira Church, which is in this same square, and we continued walking through the cute alleys until we saw the wall where it is written PORTUGAL WAS BORN HERE. Celo then took a taxi to the parking lot and came back to pick us up so we wouldn't have to walk all the way again.
Going to Douro
We continued our journey to our next accommodation, Farm of Abôl de Baixo, in the Douro region, which was about 1 hour from Guimarães. We did check-in with the owner of the farm, a very friendly and talkative gentleman, we left our things in the room and got ready for the dinner we had already booked at the restaurant Stone Bridge. I found the place too noisy and the food took a long time to arrive, but at least it was delicious. We returned to the farm exhausted and slept like logs.
All posts from this trip
If you want to know more about this 9-day trip through the Center and North of Portugal, see the posts below:
- An afternoon in Leiria
- 1 day in Costa Nova and Aveiro
- 1 day between Aveiro and Barcelos
- Getting to know Ponte de Lima and Viana do Castelo in 1 day
- Our 1-day itinerary in Braga
- 1 day in Guimarães, the birthplace of Portugal
- 1 day in the Entre-os-Rios region, in the Douro
- Getting to know Águeda and the famous Bairrada roast suckling pig
- Stopping in Nazaré on the way to Cascais
