Portugal Heritage Tours
By Spira
• Cultural Heritage, Arts and Crafts Atelier
• Music and gastronomic practice
•Farming practice
• Closer look with the local community
• Way to be in the Costal Alentejo
Always in periphery territories, always in authentic territories, Portugal Heritage Tours presents three types of thematic programmes -‐ Culture, Nature and Culinary focused on the unknown and often inaccessible heritage of Portugal: accessing, discovering, perceiving, experiencing and living the landscapes, the gastronomy, the traditions, the heritage and unexpected forms of culture of the whole immense interior of Portugal and its people.
In the NATURAL TOUR on the Alentejo’s coast -‐ the best-‐preserved costal area of southern Europe – we wonder between unexpected heritage, ancient traditions, people to discover.
Landscape, hikes, sea, cliffs, are the background of our canvas: a universe of authentic nature and culture, always in communion with local community.
Odemira
S.Luís
S.Martinho das Amoreiras
Santa Clara-a-Velha
Vila Nova de Milfontes
English
French
Portuguese
5 - 7 Days
Accommodation
Guide
No physical exercise associated
Min. 4 pax max. 8 pax
Yes
Description
Day 1 - Arrival
Transfer from the Funcheira train station to Vila Nova de Milfontes.
Welcome food & drink with local products (bread, cheese, olive oil, wine).
Free dinner in Vila Nova de Milfontes.
Day 2 – S. Luís
Morning
Rota Vicentina circular hike: S. Luís has always been rich in resources exploited by mining, cork extraction, lumber production, cattle farming… we will discover all these activities along a 3.5km hike.
Lunch in a typical restaurant specialised in local food in S. Luís.
Afternoon
Free afternoon to know the territory, the people, the beaches ...
(Optional) São Luís is the heart of a large community of artists from different nationalities gathered in a former haberdasher's shop, now an art and culture centre: at Ateneu 14, we’ll embark in a Workshop of artworks with natural products – plants, leaves and clay.
Free dinner in Vila Nova de Milfontes.
Day 3 - Odemira
Morning
Boat ride from Vila Nova de Milfontes to Odemira, on the Mira River. As we travel, we’ll learn from Mrs. São: in the ’70s, when the Milfontes bridge had not been built yet, her father started to take people, cattle, cars and goods across the Mira, all year round. In 1990, Mrs. São replaced
her father in this trade, and it is she who now takes us to Odemira.
Lunch in a typical restaurant specialised in local food in Odemira.
Afternoon
Free afternoon to visit Odemira: we recommend the visit to its 15th-‐century Igreja da Misericórdia, with its impressive 17th century fresco. You may also want to visit Cerro dos
Moinhos Juntos, a windmill built in 1874 that is still running.
(Optional) Arts & Crafts Workshop with local craftsman from the Associação de Artesanato do Concelho de Odemira, learning how to make carpets, baskets, or woodwork.
We meet again for sweet snacks at “Chocolates da Beatriz”: a charming place where Beatriz, born in Argentina, delights us with the very best chocolate making skills for which her country is renowned.
Free dinner in Vila Nova de Milfontes.
Day 4 – Santa Clara-a-Velha and S. Martinho das Amoreiras
Morning
Experience the authentic Alentejo in the small village of Santa Clara-‐a-‐Velha, after which the close by dam was named. From here we’ll hike 10 km, along the bed of the dam’s large lake, with its acacia, mimosas, poplar, ash trees, willows, and reeds. Watercresses cover the shallow parts of the river, and in the deeper parts, you’ll find water lilies. On the fertile riverbed, large apple, orange, olive and fig trees grow.
Typical Lunch Santa Clara-‐a-‐Velha.
Afternoon
Depending on the season, Agricultural Workshop (we might get some medronho, visit a distillery, walk around the montado), always in the laid-‐back rhythm of this region.
Or
Embroidering eggs Workshop: old local tradition that boils down to decorating eggs, embroidering them without breaking them, a thorough work with unexpected materials.
Late afternoon dinner in S. Martinho das Amoreiras, at a typical tavern, with a performance of Cante ao Baldão and Viola Campaniça: a tradition that dates back to the 19th-‐century and has its roots in Odemira, from where it spead to neighboring municipalities during the 20th-century.
Day 5 – Departure
Transfer to the train station.
Includes:
• Welcome food & drink;
• Hikes;
• Boat ride on day 3;
• Chocolate tasting on day 3;
• 1 of the Workshops of day 4 (the whole group should do the same workshop);
• Late afternoon dinner with an exclusive performance of Cante Baldão and Viola Campaniça on day 4;
• Lunch (except for day 1 and 5);
• Heritage interpreter throughout (driver/guide);
• Transport for the purpose of the itinerary;
• Snacks with fresh fruit and water during the hikes;
• Accommodation for 4 nights in a double room with breakfast;
• VAT at the legal rate;
• Personal accident insurance.
Excludes:
• Flight;
• Optional Workshops on day 2 and 3;
• Dinners (except on day 4);
• Travelling insurance;
• Personal expenses.