Archival
10/10 Excellent
michele b.
7 Jul 2017
Superb place for Relaxation and Exploration of another Portugal
To see another part of Portugal that is more remote yet near towns of interest, to be almost alone with nature in a tiny town, yet to be in a large beautiful home with everything you would need...this house has it all. Located in a tiny town, it is down a narrow path nestled along a quiet river. To locate the house, if you are American, don't use the Degrees, minutes, and seconds (DMS) system but the degrees and decimal minutes (DMM). Enter it into your phone GPS with a comma and space between the coordinates. They are: 40.585958, -7.565383 . As you come into the small rural village of Vila Franca da Serra, don't be alarmed when you go down a very narrow one way street (which is really two-way!), you are on the right path. Go almost to the end, past the nice White House on the right and there is a driveway there. You walk past some old empty stone houses, not knowing what to expect. But what you find is wonderful!
You are in a large two story contemporary house with a beautiful big modern kitchen with everything you need to cook. A deck faces the river, which is just feet away. Two modern bathrooms, a large master bedroom with a comfortable bed, another bedroom with two bunk beds and a double bed means a large group an be easily accommodated. But we were glad we had a very compact car for the drive. We were greeted with the most unexpected and generous spread of food: milk, bottled water, a bottle of wine, coffee tea, canned sardines and tuna, cheese, ham, bread, and a beautiful bowl of figs and plums fresh picked. Wonderful! And necessary. Be sure to buy groceries on your way there, perhaps in the town of Viseu if you are coming from Lisboa/Lisbon. From house, smaller market is a 20-25 minute drive away in Fornos de Algodres.
We relaxed and walked around the village. It was very hot, but the house--not air conditioned--was cool and comfortable. The jacuzzi is solar heated so was not hot but looked refreshing given the weather. Beds was great.The house is also a wonderful base for exploring. You are close enough to the Spanish border, 60 minutes from the magical Sortelha and the more populated towns of Belmonte and Trancosa, 90 minutes from Monsanto--all historical villages with fortresses and centuries old houses.
The hosts were very responsive at all times. We highly recommend this place to see a different side of Portugal and to find time to relax and unwind in a special location and wonderful home.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2017