More Wine, Wonders of Northern Portugal and Back to Spain

NOTE: We have a few posts from last summer which we never got around to publishing (not sure why really). As we plan to head out on the road again, we thought it best to clear the backlog a little!

After our first week on the road, we are finally getting into the swing of things. Portugal has not always been our favorite place to travel but this time around it is really delivering and we are enjoying it a lot. From our weekend at the beach we moved onto another Portugal EasyCamp spot. This time is was at Quinta Lourosa, a lovely spot in the heart of Vinho Verde country. It was a bit tight for our rig to get into the property and spot but we are nothing if not tenacious when it comes to parking at a winery.

This spot definitely wins the award for closest to a tasting room we have ever camped. We were literally parked at the door. This winery has rooms you can stay at but, just like everywhere we have been in Portugal so far, COVID has killed tourism so they have had very few visitors this year. It’s a shame because this is a lovely spot. Fortunately for them the pandemic has not driven down drinking habits so their business is still thriving. We took a charming tour of the vineyards and tasted some wine directly from the barrel before sitting with the winemaker Joanna for a tasting. It was a really lovely experience, well worth the few tree branch scratches we picked up on the way in.

From here we decided we stay in Portugal a little longer and headed back to the coast to Viana do Castelo. Billed as one of the prettiest spots in Northern Portugal, we definitely felt it was worth one more weave back to the coast to check it out. At last we found a place busy with motorhomes, primarily because the beach opposite the pretty town is a big kite surfing spot. The area de autocaravanas was filled with kite surfers but we did manage to squeeze into a spot right by the gorgeous beach, close quarters but nearby where we wanted to explore.

We took a passenger ferry over the river the next morning to visit the stunning Basilica of Santa Luzia which towers above the town. We found our way to the funicular which takes you way above the city for far reaching views along the coast. The Basilica really is gorgeous. Not just its position, but the beautiful design. After a quick trip up the dome, we took the funicular back down to explore the town. Here we found another location that sorely needed tourists. It was just deserted of people. Again, we did our bit by eating lunch and tasting the famed local cake, the Bolas de Berlim. It’s like a jam donut but filled with the creamy egg custard of which the Portuguese appear to be world champions. Someone has to make these sacrifices.

Our final stop in the town was the Gil Eannes boat, a former hospital ship that serviced the fishing community off the coast of Newfoundland. Although normally this is not my sort of place to visit, it was really fascinating and well worth an hour long tour before getting the little ferry back to our parking spot.

Viana was our final stop in Portugal on our way up north before entering back into Spain. No doubt we’ll be back to Portugal in a few weeks. We had accomplished our goal of getting out of the inland heat and enjoyed getting to know more of Portugal in the process. Crossing over into Spain, we were back in Galicia. Our basic plan was to head to some spots we hadn’t been the last time we visited. Unlike Portugal, we were competing with a lot more motorhomes for parking spots and had to keep our wits about us and to make sure we had somewhere to sleep each night. That usually means getting to our planned destination pretty early. We find between 11am and 1 pm is the golden time to get a spot. Any earlier and a lot of people haven’t left from the night before, any later and the spots start filling up.

Our first stop in Galicia was just outside Pontevedra in Combarro. It was a real treat. The free area de autocaravanas allows just a 24 hour stop but it’s wonderfully scenic right at the edge of the water, albeit a little stinky from the seaweed. It was a perfect base for a stroll along to the beautiful village. Combarro has a wonderfully preserved historic center with grain stores known as horreos all along the edge of the water. The area was experiencing an almost unprecedented heatwave while we were there so we just hung out under some trees to avoid being inside the motorhome as another great week drew to a close.

Once again, as we didn’t know what to expect, we booked another camp site for the weekend. This time we were very glad we made those plans as the place was packed. O Grove is another amazingly beautiful location. Talcum powder beaches and crystal blue waters. You could almost believe you were in Hawaii or the Caribbean, that is until you dipped your toe in the water. With the crazy heat we thought we would take a dip for a cool down but very quickly realized that ankle deep was all we were willing to do… it was freezing. Despite the scorching temperatures and the beaches being pretty busy, we noticed we were not alone in our reticence to enter the water. Only a few crazy children brave enough to play in the icy waters. I guess this is one gorgeous spot of ocean that is only meant to be looked at.