About 30 kilometers north of Coimbra is the town of Bucaco. It is known for extensive gardens and hiking trails, but more so for its palace. This palace was built by the last Portugese king around 1903 but only occupied for a year when the monarchy was overthown. It is now a hotel, but retains its spectacular grandeur and ambience. As well there is a small convent below the palace from early medieval times.
Further north is Lamego and the Igreja de Nossa Senhora dos Remedios, built in the 1600’s and a famous pilgramage site for Catholics. The one problem, and actually the reason for visiting is there is that there are over 600 steps up and Portugeae blue tiled terraces all in the baroque style in order to get there. After lunch outside on the praca we were up for the challenge.
From Lamega it was a short trip through the hills to Alijo, our jumping off point to explore Portugal’s best wine region, the Douro Valley. There were miles and miles of terraced vineyards. Shades of things to come.
