Arriving in 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 exhausted on Thursday and slept really well!

(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 7 – Friday (08/26/2022)

We woke up early with the little ones and went to the main house of our farm to have breakfast. We saw the same fruits as the last few days at the other lodgings, as well as bread, cheese, ham, unnatural juices, jam, butter, cereal, tea, coffee and milk. This must be standard for Portuguese farms, I don't know... lol. I must admit it was a bit discouraging. To make matters worse, unfortunately they didn't have a highchair for babies, so we had to make do with a lap and then a stroller so Ju could eat and let us eat too.

We walked around the farm for a bit and then went to enjoy the pool, which has a really nice view of the river. Tamega and it was empty, all to ourselves. Everything was perfect, because it was hot with the sun shining, no wind and the water was really nice, so we had a great time.

Lunch at Olivetto

We only left there because we had to get ready for the lunch we had booked at Olivetto, a really cool restaurant located inside the Quinta de Santo Antonio Country Home and Villas. The service was disappointing, but the atmosphere is beautiful and the food was great, so I think it's worth a visit. We thought we would have lunch with a view of the river, but our table was inside the restaurant and not on the terrace, but given the heat, we didn't think it was bad...lol. Oh, and they had high chairs for babies! Yay!!

After eating our fill, we started driving around the area and the kids quickly fell asleep in the car. Time to take advantage of that sightseeing experience in the car, of course! 

Strolling around the region

We stopped at 2 viewpoints, the Torrão Viewpoint and the Catapeixe Viewpoint, and then we quickly went to see the Castle Beach, which is right in front of Island of Love and it was crowded! For a moment, Celo was even excited to go into the water, but he ended up giving up because he didn't want to get his shorts wet. I wasn't even excited because I don't like the idea of going into river water, but I thought it was interesting how the families were calm and enjoying the place. It really is a good place to go with small children because there are no waves, the sand is small so it's hard for children to get lost, there are kayaks, floats, life jackets to rent and there is also a lifeguard on duty. Who knows, maybe one day we'll spend a few hours on a river beach, right? Who knows...

The kids woke up and we headed back to the farm. We stopped at a local market to buy snacks for dinner and went back to our rooms early to rest and have a snack before going to bed. This was definitely the most relaxing day of the trip!

Day 8 – Saturday (08/27/2022)

We had breakfast, packed up most of our things and then went to enjoy the place's lovely pool a little longer. The weather was the same as the day before, perfect for swimming, but this time we had to stay for less time because we had to check out by noon.

We left there feeling refreshed and went to have lunch at the restaurant. The Thin One, which despite being simpler, had delicious Portuguese feijoada, a view of the river and very good service. It's good to alternate more upscale restaurants with more homey ones, right? It was a relief when the bill arrived... it was less than 10 euros per person with starters, main courses, desserts and drinks. Everything was great!

We then left for Águeda, halfway to our house in Cascais.

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