Hiking & 4WD Excursion in Peneda-Gerês National Park, Porto

Didn’t know what to expect which may have good and bad. Hiking was the right amount and the added swimming holes were amazing and I should have better prepared for them. Lunch with the group was memorable and I got more out of this than just hiking. I’d always recommend- the group we had really made it better than a private tour

Peneda-Gerês National Park is an amazing nature preserve with a tranquil water pool, secluded and welcoming for a quick soak. We learned about the wolf trap and reviewed the ruins of the trap. Then it was time for a hand-prepared lunch with an assortment of Portuguese foods, soup, and desserts. Finally, on the way back we hiked down to a few more pools and all took a good long peaceful soak. We also saw a working water-powered Olive press that was still revitalized each season by the locals for use. A great memory that we will never forget.

This excursion for us was our most favorite excursion we have ever done. Our guide Renata was exceptional. She was educated, knowledgeable on this park specifically and she was a pleasure to spend the day with. We hiked to two water falls. Had lunch in a local village where every serving was sourced from the local village (grown or raised in the village) and prepared in a traditional Portugese style. My wife and I were presented with 15 different dishes to eat. We later walked through he village and saw first hand their gardens/crops, the animals they raised, etc.. We thought this was a wonderful day.

We enjoyed the serenity of the national park and opportunity to do a bit of trek and bathe in the clear pool of water which was followed by a great lunch. The second half of the day had a walk through the village and a another mini trek to another waterfall with a further opportunity to swim.
I was probably the least fit person of the group - but the guide made sure we went at a decent pace. Maybe two swims was not required as they were people in our group who were not keen on swimming and we could have done a viewing point instead.

This was a lovely trip to add on to a City stay. Having a day trip to a national park day trip to be outside with nature was a nice contrast to restaurants, tours and shopping. Carlos was a great guide. He was very knowledgable about nature. Everything about the day went smoothly, including the picnic, which was a nice touch. Carlos found out we had never been to Spain, so he took a little extra time to drive over the border, so we could say we have been to Spain!

Fun day but our guide wasn’t the best. He was fairly lackadaisical and because the vehicle had issues we arrived back to Porto an hour late. It was a fun day, but could’ve been better. Also, the weather was extremely hot on this day so we think that may be why we didn’t do any real hiking, which is what we were expecting, and instead spent the day in the river. (Which was fun, we were just hoping for more hiking)