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Home , Coimbra District, Conimbriga, Mondego River, Santa Cruz (Coimbra), Viseu Cathedral

DESTINATIONS CENTRO REGION | SPAIN & Centre stage

Nick Redmayne heads to the heart of Portugal with a guide to the Centro region

outh of Porto, north of Lisbon and stretching 12th-century Monastery of and the tombs of from the Atlantic coast to the Spanish border, the first Kings of Portugal, as well as a well-preserved Centro de Portugal is yet to be ‘discovered’ by medieval centre. UK tourists. Elsewhere, ’s 14th-century Unesco-listed sThat said, Julia Bradbury did her bit to get it on the university, the oldest in Portugal, maintains the city as a map last year, purchasing a property in the region’s centre of academic excellence and cultural focus, and north for ITV series My £10K Holiday Home. That homes the is just one contribution are still inexpensive, even by Portuguese standards, reflects a static local economy. Centro’s vineyards now wow the However, things are changing. Tourism is growing and street-art trails are attracting visitors and bringing world with exceptional vintages, and new employment. Centro’s vineyards now wow the the region’s chefs serve up some of world with exceptional vintages from Dao and Bairrada, and the region’s chefs serve up some of Portugal’s most Portugal’s most exceptional cuisine exceptional cuisine. Throughout, the richness of Centro’s landscape has remained unchanged. The (‘mountains by Portugal’s dynamic 18th-century moderniser, the of stars’) offers hiking among mainland Portugal’s Marquis de Pombal. highest peaks. And there’s always Europe’s best surf, Towards the river, stroll across the Pedro e Inês including the record-breaking waves of Nazaré. footbridge to take in the green space of Parque Verde do Here are a few starting points for any Centro de Mondego and the extensive Jardim Botânico. Portugal tour. Stay: Near the university, in the Alta , the four-star Sapientia Boutique Hotel (sapientiahotel.com) COIMBRA combines old and new in 22 ‘rooms’ of loft, apartment On the banks of the , Coimbra is Centro’s and traditional layout. A rooftop terrace offers city views.

Rui Morais de Sousa largest city. A former capital of Portugal, Coimbra’s Nearby: The ruins of Roman Conimbriga, 10 miles from Aveiro past is recorded in a remarkable Roman aqueduct, the Coimbra, date from the second century BC. During ➣ PICTURE:

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SURF’S UP

Centro’s 170-mile coast has Europe’s best surf. Nazaré, a popular beach resort on Costa da Prata, holds the record for the highest wave ever surfed, when Rodrigo Kôxa captured a 24.38-metre monster in November 2017. Among other notable beaches, , not far from Coimbra, at the mouth of the Mondego River, offers great-value surfing. It’s relatively unknown, but a growing reputation for mile-long ‘hand breaks’ will soon change this.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Coimbra; Santa Cruz; Puralã – Wool Valley Hotel & Spa PICTURES: Shutterstock; Centro de Portugal

the reign of emperor Augustus, featuring work by famous artists such mountains and the country’s only the town become the provincial as Vhils, form a trail around the city, ski resort. BOOK IT capital of , and extensive attracting visitors from Portugal and The mountain village of excavations have revealed the beyond. Manteigas, about 40 minutes from Sunvil offers a nine-night usual Roman landmarks of forum, The town’s increased visibility has Covilhã, is the starting point for Cultural Portugal holiday by rail, bathhouse and amphitheatre. resulted in an influx of creative start- a couple of straightforward but travelling from Porto to Lisbon, However, most notable is the ups, many occupying former wool rewarding circular day hikes. There stopping at Aveiro for a canal wealth of private homes, featuring factories, bringing new energy and are 230 miles of trails, but those cruise onboard a traditional intricate mosaics and water new jobs. At first, traditional, blue planning ambitious hikes must be moliceiro, and Coimbra for features. ceramic facades juxtaposed with competent map readers. a visit to the University. The abstract street art are perplexing, tour costs from £1,102 per COVILHÃ but in fact, they’re two chapters of AVEIRO person including flights from Gateway to the Serra da Estrela, the same story. Close to the Atlantic, Aveiro is Gatwick, rail travel, and hotel Covilhã has undergone its own ups Stay: Puralã – Wool Valley Hotel known as the Portuguese Venice. accommodation on a bed-and- and downs in recent years. Until & Spa (puralahotel.com.pt) is a Certainly, it has Centro’s most breakfast basis. the 1980s, its winding, cobbled four-star property with 100 rooms visible tourism industry. The town is sunvil.co.uk streets centred on the wool industry, just outside the centre of town. characterised by the Ria de Aveiro, but a decline in yarn and fabric The interiors reflect the town’s its lagoons and canals plied by Exodus Travels has an eight- manufacturing had dramatic effects. heritage of wool manufacturing, traditional barcos moliceiros day Porto to Lisbon Atlantic Closed factories prompted an while showcasing modern design. ferrying sightseers. Waterways Ride small-group trip by bike. exodus of younger people, leaving The restaurant offers classic dishes are lined by fine examples of art The itinerary includes five days’ parts of Covilhã a ghost town. focusing on local produce, along nouveau architecture, and former cycling, bike hire, bed-and- However, at the instigation with seriously cheffy creations. fishery buildings, now home to breakfast accommodation in of young architect Pedro Seiko Nearby: Close to the Spanish less-fragrant high-tech businesses. four-star properties, wine tasting Rodrigues, the town began to frontier, the sweeping glacial valleys Towards the sea, salt pans in Porto, flights from London promote itself as a centre for street and lofty summits of the Serra da present since Roman times still and transfers. Prices start at art, creating an annual artists’ Estrela encompass Portugal’s largest operate on a modest scale. The £1,399. E-bike hire costs extra. festival. Now 23 art installations, national park, its highest mainland town centre Praça do Peixe ➣ exodus.co.uk

travelweekly.co.uk 16 MAY 2019 87 DESTINATIONS SPAIN & PORTUGAL | CENTRO REGION

ASK THE expert

“I’ve been selling Portugal for 24 years and I’m still surprised by what I see on my travels. Those who fly into Lisbon tend to head south to the Algarve or north to Estoril or the Douro, but they risk overlooking the beguiling heart of Portugal in Centro. We encourage guests to delve a little deeper and explore this little-known and captivating region. Centro offers many highlights, including the university town of Coimbra, a Unesco World Heritage Site and birthplace of fado music. You can take a tour of the library Biblioteca Joanina, where bats are kept ABOVE: Cathedral dominates the city skyline PICTURES: Shutterstock specifically to eat the bugs and thus preserve the books and manuscripts – they are let out market is a colourful spectacle, filled early in the day Viseu has been voted Portugal’s each night! with the first catches. The upstairs restaurant serves the Travellers can drive through freshest of seafood dishes, with eels a speciality. Finish best place to live; its narrow streets lush green mountains to with coffee and the golden sweetness of local pastry are populated by the independent charming rural towns like ovos moles de Aveiro. Piódão with its black-slate Stay: The five-star Montebelo Vista Alegre ĺlhavo Hotel shops that have been lost elsewhere roofs, sail on painted wooden (montebelohotels.com) is a few miles from Aveiro. boats in Aveiro, visit the nature Rooms are spread across an 18th-century palace and a trails and dense forests of new-build wing. The hotel shares its site with the historic Opposite the museum, is popular São Jacinto nature reserve, Vista Alegre porcelain factory, which still produces for christenings and weddings, with local families and enjoy fabulous sandy many of Ikea’s white ceramics. queuing to place flowers and light candles. Wandering beaches in Costa Nova and Nearby: In the early 19th century, fishermen moved into town, narrow streets are populated by the kind of Figueira da Foz.” from Aveiro to Costa Nova, six miles away, and independent shops that have been lost elsewhere. Rosanna Melaragni, shelters built for storage evolved into the town’s Stay: About 15 miles from Viseu, the baroque palace product manager for colourful, wooden beach houses. Costa Nova feels and gardens of Casa da ĺnsua (montebelohotels.com) Portugal, and uncommercial and relaxed, offering good seafood, a is now a five-star hotel. It was established in the 1700s Spain, Sunvil thriving fish market and long, sandy beaches. on the orders of Luís de Albuquerque de Melo Pereira e Cáceres, governor and general-captain of Cuibá and VISEU Mato Grosso in Brazil. Historically important, the Thirty miles inland, Viseu has been voted Portugal’s palace’s museum records Albuquerque’s part in best place to live. In Roman times its strategic position, Portugal’s colonial past, as well as advances in surrounded by mountains and bordering the Vouga and electrical engineering and enlightened social provision. Dão rivers, made the town the focus of an insurgency Nearby: Ten miles on from Viseu at the village of against the invaders by warrior chief Viriathus. Even Santar, the Paço dos Cunhas estate is an excellent place today, inhabitants are proud of their Lusitanian identity. to explore the region’s winemaking heritage. Once Later, Viseu took centre stage in Portugal’s owned by a 16th-century arms dealer, the property through artist Vasco Fernandes. The town’s latterly fell into disrepair. Reinvigorated in 2004, the Grão Vasco Museum curates a significant collection of estate produces some of Centro’s top vintages, and its artworks by Fernandes. restaurant pairs superb wine with innovative cuisine. TW

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