Porto Trip Overview
Discover with us the scenic charms that this geological park has to offer! Let yourself be enchanted by the potential of this park, from the geosites, the Paiva walkways, the 516 suspension bridge and, of course, the landscapes along the promenade.
In addition to all the scenic and monumental offer that the Arouca Geopark has, let yourself fall in love with the gastronomy of this region, because after a morning or an afternoon in the Geopark, you have to replenish your energy.
The typical main dishes of this region are the famous grilled Arouquesa veal steak, extracted from young animals aged approximately 5 to 9 months, or the veal medallions, the Arouquês steak or the grilled veal chops that are the delight of the meat lovers who visit the county. Another option that we also highlight is the Roasted Cabrito, which is made in a wood-fired oven that gives it a unique flavor.
Dare to come with us to Arouca and enjoy this unique experience.
Additional Info
* Duration: 10 to 12 hours
* Starts: Porto, Portugal
* Trip Category: Cultural & Theme Tours >> Cultural Tours
Explore Promoted Experiences
What to Expect When Visiting Porto, Northern Portugal, Portugal
Discover with us the scenic charms that this geological park has to offer! Let yourself be enchanted by the potential of this park, from the geosites, the Paiva walkways, the 516 suspension bridge and, of course, the landscapes along the promenade.
In addition to all the scenic and monumental offer that the Arouca Geopark has, let yourself fall in love with the gastronomy of this region, because after a morning or an afternoon in the Geopark, you have to replenish your energy.
The typical main dishes of this region are the famous grilled Arouquesa veal steak, extracted from young animals aged approximately 5 to 9 months, or the veal medallions, the Arouquês steak or the grilled veal chops that are the delight of the meat lovers who visit the county. Another option that we also highlight is the Roasted Cabrito, which is made in a wood-fired oven that gives it a unique flavor.
Dare to come with us to Arouca and enjoy this unique experience.
Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product
Stop At: Casal Romano da Malafaia, 4540 Várzea, Portugal
The remains of buildings that emerged from the excavations added to the questions, as the work progressed. If its configuration points to an agricultural couple, from the Roman period, built using schist and granite (very distinctive marks of this territory), a capital found here casts doubt on the character of these constructions. Certain are the three moments in which there was human presence here. Somewhere between the second half of the 1st century and the beginning of the 3rd century; between the 3rd and 7th centuries and around the 10th century, curiously the century in which the first Monastery of Arouca was founded.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Loja interativa de Turismo do Arouca Geopark, R. Abel Botelho 4, 4540-102 Arouca, Portugal
Arouca Geopark’s new interactive tourism shop, officially inaugurated on September 19, 2013, is a real “gateway” to nature tourism. Integrated in the network of spaces of the Regional Tourism Authority of Porto and North Portugal, and equipped with an auditorium, this store is the ideal space to welcome tourists.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Canelas e Espiunca, 4540, Portugal
The parish of Canelas was detached from the parish of Alvarenga, but continued to belong to the municipality of Alvarenga until its extinction in 1836. It then became part of the municipality of Arouca.
The Paiva River passes through this parish, where the Vau river beach is located, a place used for the practice of extreme sports and also for holidaymakers, nature lovers. In part of its territory, the Paiva Walkways are also located. The houses in Canelas are very characteristic, especially in the place of Baixo, as they all use the same construction materials: schist and slate.
Espiunca’s name is derived from Spelunca, which means “pit”. In this parish there was a Benedictine Rule Monastery. It is not known when it was founded or by whom, but it is known that it was one of the Monasteries that Leo X, by the Bull Sollicitudo Ministerii Pastoralis, attributed in Rome on October 4, 1517, authorized D. Manuel to extinguish, because they were in place deserts.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Paradinha, 4540 Arouca, Portugal
After winding through the mountain, the tight curve leaves the small cross on the left. A little further on, the small chapel seems to watch over the village, which the view begins to take in as it climbs the mountain. The schist and slate houses give the scenery the magic it needed, with the lapping waters of the Paiva in the background. The access path to the village appears on the right, and it’s as if we’ve suddenly gone back in time. Paradinha adopts us, as if we had always lived there. The threshing floors, canastros, ovens and cellars come back to life. The houses come back to life. And every year, in August, the music is associated with the flow of the river, in the concert «Sons da Água». Paradinha is «Village of Portugal. Paradinha lives.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Janarde, 4540, Portugal
With a strong personality, as if his strong face were looking at the river with the attention of a watchman, Janarde has his schist houses extended along a spur of earth, towards the river. Moreover, the river Paiva has this charm, to make these small brown and gray magical labyrinths grow on its banks, where small churches always have a central place, such as the whitewashed chapel of São Barnabé, which welcomes visitors to Janarde . The patron festival continues to be organized by the people of the village, in order to remain one of the highlights of community life. Janarde, like most traditional villages that dot this side of the Arouca Geopark, is no longer a lost village.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Meitriz, 4540 Arouca, Portugal
Between the mountains of Montemuro and Arada, embraced by the river Paiva, Meitriz was the first village in Arouque to be considered the «Village of Portugal». Crossing the village, the marked “Rota das Tormentas” pedestrian path appears, but in Meitriz there are no storms, there is calm, quiet, an immensity of green and a crystalline flow of water, which reflects the brownish and grayish colors of the slate and the shale of houses. When viewed from a distance, the village still proudly shows the paths and agricultural terraces, and the bridge, built not long ago, replaces the old boatmen who crossed the banks, carrying people and goods. Santa Bárbara, in May, Senhora de Fátima, in August, Santo António and São Sebastião, in November, are celebrated here, as if thanking God for this little piece of paradise.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Minas de Regoufe / Complexo mineiro da Poça da Cadela, 4540 Arouca, Portugal, Portugal
Since the beginning of the century. XX that the «Minas Manifestos» declared numerous areas of metallurgical interest in the region of Regoufe, and on January 9, 1915, the French citizen is granted the exploration permit for the designated «Mina de Regoufe» or «Poça da Cadela» Gustave Thomas. The W-Sn deposit of Regoufe is located on the southeast edge of the homonymous granitic plutonite, where wolframite is the most frequent mineralization, despite the occurrence of some cassiterite. There are also some sulphides, such as arsenopyrite, spaffrelite and pyrite, as well as other minor minerals such as bismutite, limonite, scorodite, autunite and bindheimite. Among the silicate minerals that support mineralization, quartz stands out, followed by some muscovite, beryl and apatite.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Portal do Inferno e Garra, Covelo de Paivô, 3660 Arouca, Portugal, Portugal
The Portal do Inferno is located in the heart of the Massif da Gralheira, at about 1000 meters of altitude, on ante-Ordovician metasedimentary rocks, shaped by agents of external geodynamics, which give the landscape a rugged aspect. Surrounded by two streams (a tributary of the Covas do Monte stream, to the east and a tributary of the Palhais stream, to the west) that drain in opposite directions, the site has always been a place of steep passage that has long frightened everyone. who passed through there. It is a place with high panoramic interest, especially for “the claw”, which is nothing more than a mountain cut by several deep water lines that resemble the separation of the fingers of a bird’s claw. Spring is the season in which the view is most spectacular as the “Claw” seems to be painted yellow and pink due to the flowering of the gorse and gorse and heather, respectively.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Tebilhão, 4540 Arouca, Portugal
“Villa do Povo” is more or less the meaning of “Tebilhão”. Many of those who arrived in search of fortune, of “black gold” flocked to this cradle valley, in the time of ore. The stream that passes here both watered and ground, and the alleys are no stranger to threshing floors. From the dense houses, there is a privileged view of Cabreiros and the hills, verdant and wrinkled, punctuated by the colors of spring, until they empty into the streams and watercourses that pass by.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Cando, 4540 Arouca, Portugal
Although many Arouquenses do not know it, the village of Cando was known for its louis makers, perhaps the oldest known in Arouca. On the left bank of the Vidoeiro stream, as the view goes up, small terraces appear, where fields and houses are being arranged as time goes by. Here, many believe that treasures from the Moorish times are kept, in a veritable “schist village” that the residents were jealously keeping.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Panoramica do Detrelo da Malhada, Detrelo da Malhada – Moldes, Arouca 4540-455 Portugal
The observation support infrastructure found here is based on “schist” rocks, practically verticalized, as if they were protective walls of the Serra da Freita. The abrupt northern slope of the Serra da Freita and the fertile Arda valley (where the town of Arouca is located) stretch out in front of it. The northern slope of this mountain preserves very different levels of erosion, which prove the movement of displacement of the blocks that raised this mountain. The Arouca valley (known, geomorphologically, as Arouca complex alveolus) is carved into a magmatic rock – Arouca quartzdiorite, very prone to chemical weathering, and its bottom has accumulated sediments resulting from the erosion of the surrounding area, which were retained here largely due to the hardness and erosion resistance of the ‘Pedra Má’ (Corneal stone, located on the edge of the parishes of Rossas and Várzea).
Duration: 15 minutes
Stop At: Interpretation Center Pedras Parideiras, CM1237, 4540, Portugal
To better understand these enigmatic rocks, which the popular nicknamed Pedras Parideiras, and the dynamics of the Arouca Geopark, it is worth visiting the Casa das Pedras Parideiras – Interpretation Center (coordinates 40.8508917; -8.28255). Open to the public since November 2012, it aims to contribute to the conservation, understanding and appreciation of this geosite of international relevance, supporting tourist and educational visits to this space.
You will find scientific information about this place here. To take advantage of the entire offer of the place, get to know the spaces, how to book visits and the opening hours of the Interpretation Center, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic phase.
Duration: 15 minutes
Stop At: Serra da Freita, 4540, Portugal
Rising like a giant over the village of Arouca, Freita extends its green mantle over lands of Arouca, São Pedro do Sul and Vale de Cambra. Its magic, its easy enchantment, the air of a lost paradise that it reveals to those who wander into it, make the «Serra Encantada» one of the obligatory points of passage and stop at the Arouca Geopark. Crossing its paths means meeting points in the history of these lands, such as Mamoa da Portela da Anta, small villages that fit into the landscape, unique phenomena in the world, such as Pedras Parideias, and breathtaking landscapes , as close to Frecha da Mizarela. Along the plateau, we find 17 of the 41 geosites of the Arouca Geopark, unique conditions for the practice of some adventure sports and walking routes that guide us through the unique beauty of this mountain range.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: São Pedro Velho / Miradouro e Vértice Geodésico São Pedro Velho, São Pedro Velho, Albergaria da Serra e Cabreiros, 4540 Arouca, Portugal
In S. Pedro Velho, you will find a geodesic vertex of the 1st Order, included in the National Geodesic Network, dated 1955. According to military cartography, this landmark defines an altitude of 1077 meters, one of the highest points in the mountain range of Freita. In fact, this lofty position is due to the fact that it is located on a granite rocky dome of the Serra da Freita, a hard and resistant rock, in the face of erosion caused by the agents of external geodynamics that act here. It is, therefore, that from this granitic geoform it is possible to obtain a 360-degree panoramic view of large geomorphological units that surround it and extend across the north and center of mainland Portugal, as well as over the flat surface of the mountain range. of Freita.
Duration: 15 minutes
Stop At: Scenic spot Frecha da Mizarela, Mizarela, 4540 Arouca, Portugal
Here, the river Caima projects more than 60 meters high, in a natural spectacle worthy of being contemplated, listening to the waters that flow through the granitic rocks used by canyoning practitioners. From the viewpoint, you can see, in three dimensions, the granite of Serra da Freita, a rock that is harder and more resistant to fluvial erosion than most of the mica schists located downstream. These ante-Ordovician metamorphic rocks, for being softer and softer, make fluvial erosion more effective, something that is very visible in the landscape, due to the topographic lowering they present.
But it is not only this differential erosion that explains the origin of Frecha da Mizarela. It is believed that the fault system that conditions the entire Serra da Freita will have also played an important role in the occurrence of this phenomenon. In this sense, the movement of blocks associated with the Alpine Orogeny will have significantly contributed to the river’s insertion and to the formation of this great unevenness.
Duration: 15 minutes
Stop At: 516 Arouca Bridge, Vilarinho Areinho, 4540-257, Portugal
A bridge like the 516 Arouca, with all the construction challenges it had to deal with, always arouses a lot of curiosity, whether from visitors who are impressed by the imposing structure of the structure, or from engineering professionals who are delighted with the technical characteristics and adopted solutions.
When looking at the 516 Arouca from the outside, with the immensity of nature that surrounds it, with the 175 meters high that separate it from the brave Paiva river below, the first impression may be that of a simple metallic line suspended in the sky .
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Passadicos do Paiva, Espiunca Geopark Arouca, Arouca Portugal
The Paiva Walkways are located on the left bank of the Paiva River, in the municipality of Arouca, district of Aveiro. There are 8 km that provide an “untouched” tour, surrounded by landscapes of unique beauty, in an authentic natural sanctuary, next to whitewater descents, quartz crystals and endangered species in Europe. The route extends between the river beaches of Areinho and Espiunca, and between the two, Praia do Vau. A journey through biology, geology and archeology that will definitely stay in the heart, soul and mind of anyone passionate about nature.
Duration: 2 hours
