Hi,
As you may have noticed, Chris and I have an affinity for remote places. Generally, we stay away from city sites. However, we live in a suburb of Porto (the second largest city in Portugal) and we plan to move in a few months, so we are making an effort to see what is around Porto while we have the chance. Thus, this week we headed for a miradouro that looks not over the peaceful countryside, but over the town below.
This week we went to Valongo to see a miradouro. Valongo is a village about 11 miles from where we live in Custóias, on the east side of Porto. The miradouro we headed to was located on the top of a hill with views down both sides of the hill to Valongo. In addition to the miradouro, there is an 8.1-mile-long loop-trail that starts in Valongo and climbs up to the top of the mountain (Serra) and wanders around before taking you back to the beginning in the town below. I’m sure I’m stating the obvious, but we did not walk the full trail. We walked some of it, but we started at the top and finished at the top of the Serra. We did not climb the hill on foot.
I’m sure Chris and the dogs would have made it, but the trail is rated as ‘moderate’ and is predicted to take over four hours to complete. Check it out on the internet, Trono Romano do Miradouro de Santa Justa, (5GF3+XM Valongo, Portugal). It’s beautiful with several interesting stops along the way (the miradouro, which we visited; the Capela de Santa Justa e Santa Rufina, a gazebo next to a café; and a cave–not sure about the reason for the picnic table).
We have several beautiful pictures of the view (the view of a town below instead of vineyards) and the dogs on the trail, along with the gazebo. Unfortunately, we do not have a video this week due to a misunderstanding with the GoPro. But the pictures are lovely. Check them out in the Photos Gallery in the ‘City Sites’ section. They all begin with ‘Valongo’, so they will be easy to find. Just scroll down.
As for dog access, the girls were welcome everywhere. The trails are wide and roughly flat, and meander amongst trees. I will say that the trails are not handicap accessible and are not extremely flat, so if you have trouble with your balance or are unsure of your footing you might not want to try them. But the dogs had no difficulty and the view from the miradouro was lovely.
Nola