Day 3 – Monday (08/22/2022)

A day to discover the best of Aveiro and Barcelos!

We had breakfast and did the checkout of Ilhavo Plaza Hotel & Spa relatively early as we knew the day would be full, as we wanted to drive from Ílhavo to our farm near Barcelos (almost 2h) stopping at a few places along the way. 

(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)

Mother Church of Santa Maria de Válega

Our first stop was at Mother Church of Santa Maria de Válega, considered a masterpiece of tile painting art, which began to be built in the 18th century. It is considered one of the most beautiful churches in Portugal, and it's no wonder. Some photos:

Chapel of the Lord of the Stone

Then we went on to see the Chapel of the Lord of the Stone, small church also built in the 18th century on top of a rock by the sea. It is located in the village of Miramar, half an hour from Porto, and is a very popular place for people who like/work with photography. I found this website here which tells some of her stories, in case you want to know more.

When we arrived in Miramar, we parked the car and sat at a café in front of the playground for the children to enjoy a bit. Then we stopped at Bungy Fun for Paddy to jump around and then we finally went to see the chapel. Unfortunately it was closed, but look how cute it is from the outside:

Quick stop in Vila do Conde

We drove to Conde Village because we had read about a Portuguese food festival, but unfortunately we passed by around 1pm and the event only started at 5pm.

Barcelos

We took advantage of the fact that the kids were high in the car and drove straight to Barcelos, where we hoped to have lunch. We parked the car in a huge parking lot near the historic city center and went looking for restaurants. To our surprise, most of them were already closed for lunch or closed because it was Monday. We looked for McDonald's and when we saw that it wasn't there, we panicked a bit. We wandered aimlessly through the streets until we found the one Cafe History, which was serving sandwiches, omelets and other snacks. We ordered sandwiches and had a great time, as they were really delicious. The best part was that the café was in a nice little square and the children could play as much as they wanted and we all got a break from the heat.

Then we went for a walk and passed in front of the Barcelos City Council, for the Pillory of Barcelos, for the Archaeological Museum and by Antonio Barroso Street, which is pedestrian-only and is full of shops and cafes. We climbed the Medieval Tower and we loved the view from up there, we took the classic photo with the Barcelos Rooster and finally we enter the Temple of the Lord Bom Jesus da Cruz.

It was a relatively quick trip, as it was very hot, but we left with an excellent impression of Barcelos. Who knows, maybe one day we'll come back in a cooler month, and it'll be more relaxed...

Arriving at our Quinta

We drove for 1 hour to our accommodation, House of Santa Comba and we took advantage of the fact that it was hot and still sunny to take a quick dip in the pool. Celo went out to buy some snacks for dinner and we ate in the room. Improvisation rocks!

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