Northern Portugal and Peneda-Geres in Their Own Classic

Five nights through the green north of Portugal and Peneda-Geres, self-guided, in the guest’s own classic car.

The route includes a brief crossing into Spain and back, around nineteen kilometres of it, over the Portela do Homem pass. That is not a detour for its own sake: the mountains in that corner make it the most direct way through, which is the sort of detail a well-planned route gets right.

Porto opens it, then the Minho and the national park, with a night at the Pousada Canicada-Geres looking out over it. The River Lima follows by Ponte da Barca and Ponte de Lima, the latter with a medieval bridge on Roman foundations, through country that is reckoned among the loveliest in the north. Lindoso comes next across evergreen forest cut with streams and meadows, then the Spanish crossing, and Guimaraes and Braga on the way back: one the birthplace of the Portuguese nation, the other an archbishopric since Roman times.

The accommodation including the Pousada Canicada-Geres and the group meals are included; the car and getting it to the start are not, and the operator asks that it be comparable to its own MGA 1600 fleet. The price shown is per person. Late spring to early autumn is the window, since the Minho is the wettest part of the country. Six days at this price makes it the cheapest tour in the range, and the park roads are the reason to take it rather than the Douro. The route has also been written up independently by a classic car magazine journalist, which is worth more than most of what operators say about themselves.