This is the first part of our 2-week trip in August 2026 through Northern Portugal and Galicia. You can see a summary of it here:

Day 1 – 8/8/2026 (Saturday) – On the way to Gerês

We left Cascais late in the morning and stopped for lunch at a place called Imperial Brewery, relatively close to our first hotel, which was in Pedrogao, Leiria. We chose to spend the first day of our trip there because we wanted to visit the Maripark (water park) and drive only 2 hours a day so it's not too tiring for everyone. I thought the service was good, the food was tasty, but we found the vibe a bit strange because it was quite empty. Maybe it would be better on a busy day…

Our initial idea when we planned the trip was to go straight to the Maripark, But since Ju was sick, we went to the hotel and Celo and Paddy went for a walk on the beach while the two of us stayed resting.

We stayed in Pedrogao Guesthouse, A tidy hotel with a spacious room, very close to the beach and restaurants. We rested a lot, the boys came back, we took our showers and went out to dinner on foot, stopping a bit on the beach for the children to play in the sand and to enjoy the sunset. What an afternoon!

We weren't hungry and ended up going to... Pedrogopão Bakery We ate some really tasty sandwiches and sat at a nice little table outside. It was a cheap and unpretentious dinner, and everyone was happy. I loved walking back to the hotel past people who were so excited about summer.

Day 2 – 9/8/2026 (Sunday)

We packed our things, had breakfast at the hotel, and did the checkout And we continued our journey. We stopped at... Ervedeira Lagoon Finally, we were going to try out the fishing rod that Patrick had been asking us to buy for so long, and off we went, hoping to catch some great fish. We put our things – and the children too – in the stroller. camping And we walked along the wooden walkway to a place we thought would be ideal. It wasn't. Hahaha.

We spent almost two hours there casting bait, waiting, trying again, throwing bait into the water to see if we could catch any fish, but nothing worked. The sun was strong and we were afraid Ju's fever would worsen, so we didn't want to insist too much. When we got tired, we left and went back to the road dreaming of another attempt.

We stopped for lunch in Bairrada because my husband is crazy about Bairrada suckling pig. Hahaha. Every time we can, he asks me to stop there. We tried to go to our favorite... Peter of the Piglets But the waiting list was unbelievable, and after trying other nearby places without success, we finally found the restaurant. The Reed, A smaller place, which was a pleasant surprise. Excellent service, delicious food, and a nice atmosphere. It saved us from hunger and satisfied my husband's craving for the region's famous suckling pig.

We continued our journey with full bellies, heading towards our first campsite of the trip in Gerês. What excitement! We took our first camping trip with friends in June – see the details here. https://mochiloesemochilinhas.com/nosso-primeiro-camping-em-portugal/ – But this was the first time we were camping, just the four of us. A 12-day adventure! 🙂

We arrived at Cerdeira Park Camping And we simply LOVED the place! What a well-maintained and thoughtfully designed place, pleasant and welcoming. We pitched our tent, put everything inside, went to check out our private bathroom – yes, luxury and luxury! – and then headed to the campsite restaurant to eat soups and pizzas. It was too late to set everything up to cook, and we thought it was the best option for us.

Day 3 – 10/8/2026 (Monday)

Our first night in the tent was difficult with Juju still sick and us administering medicine in the early hours of the morning, but we survived. We woke up calmly, to that smell of nature, that peace that incredibly exists even with several families around, and we went to our private bathroom to start the day. I found this concept of a private bathroom so interesting, where we entered with our card, left everything there, and only had to walk along a delightful path smelling the forest.

We packed our things for breakfast and stopped at the campsite's mini-market to buy cold cuts, fruit, and eggs since we hadn't brought much because there wasn't enough space in our car. I found things a bit more expensive than at a regular supermarket, but nothing exorbitant. Since we didn't have an electric cooler, we had to buy cold cuts there every day and get on with our lives.

We had our first meal there under the trees, with a few families nearby, but all very discreet and quiet to our surprise. I think we were definitely the noisiest, mainly because it was our first time cooking an egg outdoors. I let the children stir the pot, season it, serve themselves, and we spent a good amount of time there enjoying this new experience. We went to wash the dishes in the area where the private bathrooms are located and then got ready to leave.

Since Juju was still recovering, we thought it best to do outings that didn't involve diving, so we visited viewpoints, had lunch, and stopped at a place for the children to do [something - the sentence is incomplete]. Tree climbing and walk to horse. I'll tell you the details later.

On the way to the most famous viewpoint in Gerês, we stopped at another viewpoint with a beautiful view, the Old Viewpoint Viewpoint. Just look at this view from almost 600m high!

Then we arrived at the main viewpoint, the Beautiful Stone, We really enjoyed it! I think we weren't as impressed with the view because we'd already seen something similar at the previous viewpoint and also because there were a lot of people there, but it was worth stopping for 20 minutes.

We set off for lunch at one of the many recommended restaurants I had on my list, but they were all already closed as it was almost 4 pm. We ended up eating at a bakery in Vila do Gerês and then went back to our campsite.

On the way there, with the children in good spirits, we decided to stop for some tree climbing and horseback riding at a place called... Equi Campo And it was really cool for them. I confess I was worried about them on the zip line because I thought it was too high and Ju sometimes couldn't reach it and needed her brother's help, but in the end everything turned out alright.

We returned to the campsite, showered, and made our first dinner of the trip. Simple pasta with sausage so we could go to bed early and continue recovering.

Day 4 – 11/8/2026 (Tuesday)

During the night, Paddy vomited in the tent and made such a scene that he almost woke up the entire campground. Luckily, no one left their tents, I managed to clean up the mess without waking Ju with the flashlights, and we went back to sleep an hour later.

We woke up late – thanks to Fresh & Black from the tent – and went through our coffee ritual. Walk to the bathroom, trip to the grocery store, prepare food outdoors, walk to the bathroom and sinks to wash the dishes, and return to the tent to get ready to leave.

We drove to our first stop of the day, the Portela do Homem Waterfall, which was one of our favorite places on the trip. Unfortunately, there's no parking nearby and it was already late morning, so we had to stop in Spain – that's right – and walk the whole way with the kids. The road is so beautiful that they didn't complain much and we were able to appreciate the view, even with all the cars passing close to us. It's that famous... Albergaria Forest. Just look:

The road trail to the waterfall is quite short, but it had many rocks and was a bit steep, so we were apprehensive until we reached the waterfall. Let me tell you: it was totally worth it! It was a beautiful August day, hot and sunny, and the water was simply perfect. Not too hot, not too cold. The place was crowded, but not too much. We were able to spend a few hours there enjoying ourselves, and when hunger struck, we ate our snacks. When we got tired of that, we returned to the car singing and taking lots of photos along the way.

We continued on to our second stop of the day, the Alqueirão River Beach. We parked the car in the parking lot right across the street after waiting a few minutes for a spot to become available, and then we went to relax on the sand and in the water. The water temperature was nice, but I confess I missed the salt of the sea water… haha. We played around a bit, ate snacks that Celo bought at a nearby restaurant, and at the end of the day, we stopped at one of the water amusement companies and booked a ride on a towed inflatable tube pulled by a speedboat, which Ju could also go on, so the four of us went together. What an adventure! It was a 30-minute ride on a giant half-moon shaped inflatable tube that we all loved. We left wanting to do it again, but it was expensive and we were already tired…

We went to have lunch/dinner at the restaurant Lurdes Chapel, highly recommended by the Vagamundos blog, and we left there very satisfied.

We returned to the campsite, got ready, and just had a snack before bed. What a busy day!

Day 5 – 12/8/2026 (Wednesday)

We woke up without rushing, had the same coffee as the day before at our camping table, packed our things, and while Celo was playing with Ju in the tent, he hurt his back. Every day is a new struggle on this trip… 🙁

We decided to go to the health center for him to see a doctor, but to our surprise, they sent us to the Póvoa de Lanhoso hospital after we spoke to the National Health Service (SNS) on the phone.

We thought it best to have lunch on the way and stopped at the restaurant. Old-Fashioned Corner, It was highly recommended on several websites and guides, and we loved it. The atmosphere was small but welcoming, the food was delicious, and the service was efficient. Afterwards, we sat outside for ice cream and then went to another river beach, since Celo's appointment was much later.

We stopped at River Beach of the Rio do Homem Celo wanted to stay resting in the car while I went down with the children to enjoy the heat. The water was lovely, the beach was empty, and there was a very quiet area for the children to play with the pebbles to make dams – mine love that! We left when it was time to leave and drove to the António Lopes Hospital.

Celo went in alone and was seen relatively quickly, while I stayed with the children waiting at a Continente supermarket nearby. Afterwards, we stopped at the pharmacy to buy medicine and returned to our campsite to get our special glasses for viewing the solar eclipse. We drove to a nearby spot and were able to observe the eclipse with the children for another 10 minutes. A truly unique event!

We had pizza for dinner at the campsite restaurant, took our showers, and went to bed – or rather, to our sleeping bags!

Day 6 – 13/8/2026 (Thursday)

We did our morning routine: bathroom, grocery shopping, breakfast, and washing dishes, and I went to get things ready for checkout. Since Celo still had a backache, he stayed with the kids by the pool, and I took care of practically everything. What a hassle taking everything down by myself and putting it all in the car… ugh…

From there we went to Spain, but I'll tell you about that in another post. 😉