Visit Alto Tâmega e Barroso

For two and a half days, a team of bloggers, journalists and influencers travelled through the territory of Alto Tâmega e Barroso in what is called the Water Route, which encompasses the six municipalities that make up this Intermunicipal Community, through the aggregating element: Water.

Between the 24th and 26th of March this team of guests visited 21 of the more than 200 points of special touristic interest of the region, which demonstrates that the current average of 1,8 nights in the territory is not enough to know all the potential of Alto Tâmega e Barroso.

With such a vast amount of points of special touristic interest it was not an easy task to select the points to include in this itinerary, however, the criterion was to try to insert several places in each of the municipalities that could provide to these bloggers, journalists and influencers differentiated experiences, but representative of the identity of the municipality in question.
This territory of Health and Wellness from now on presents itself with a new route – Water Route – which unites the six municipalities that make up the CIMAT (Intermunicipal Community of Alto Tâmega and Barroso).

The Press Trip “This is where I like to be!” aimed to attract new tourist flows through a set of journalistic works, as well as the dissemination through the social networks.

The official start of the Press Trip was given by the First Executive Secretary of CIMAT, Ramiro Gonçalves, in the Alto Tâmega e Barroso Tourism Office. Afterwards, the delegation left towards Valpaços, where it was received in the Wine House, an interactive museum with last generation multi-touch equipments which unveil the history, the characteristics and specificities of the vineyards and wines of the region, also highlighting the archaeological and landscape heritage. The day ended with dinner at the Olive Nature Hotel & Spa Quinta Dona Adelaide restaurant, where they also stayed overnight and prepared for the following day’s activities.

On the second day the group found pure landscape and nature on a visit to Ecovia do Rabaçal, from where they headed to their next destination, Chaves.
The day in the city began at KM0 of National Road 2, followed by a visit to the Roman Bridge and the Roman Spa Museum.
The energies were recharged with a lunch at Carvalho Restaurant, where everyone had the opportunity to taste a smoked rice with a piece of veal on the rack, Oak style French toast and Trio à Sr. After lunch, the team went to the Alto Tâmega e Barroso Tourism Office to pick up the kit of Termas which contained, among others, a glass to drink the water of Termas de Chaves. The next destination was the municipality of Montalegre.

In the town of Friday the 13th, the visit started at the EcoMuseu do Barroso with a presentation of the several valences and touristic activities of the municipality, having the opportunity for several sensorial experiences available inside, followed by a tour to the Castle of Montalegre. From here, they went around the Alto Rabagão dam towards Casa do Pedro, in Vilarinho Seco, already in the Boticas municipality, where they could enjoy the typical Barroso stew. After a full day, the night ended at Boticas Hotel Art & Spa.
The last day started with breakfast at the Boticas Hotel Art & Spa, followed by a visit to the Nadir Afonso Arts Centre and the Boticas Parque Nature and Biodiversity, where all the nature was contemplated and recorded in memory and, for future recall, through photos and videos, published in the social networks of these bloggers, journalists and influencers.

Already in Ribeira de Pena it was time to enjoy a bit of adrenaline at Pena Aventura Park, inside the toboggan style cars of the Alpine Coaster, and glimpse the landscapes of this county.

Lunch at Pena Park Hotel comforted the body and soul to prepare the trip to Vila Pouca de Aguiar. In the afternoon, there was also time to discover the Alvão Lagoon, the Roman Gold Complex of Tresminas and the Pedras Salgadas Riding Centre, where the group had the opportunity to ride horses and enjoy a unique experience.

Dinner of this day was at Casa do Capador, ending this experience at Vidago Palace Hotel.
This team participated, still, in the following day (27th March) in the Forum “Tourism, Sustainability and Growth of the Interior”, which took place in the Casino of Pedras Salgadas – Vila Pouca de Aguiar, where some of these elements were invited as speakers of the panel “Tourism in Alto Tâmega e Barroso” to speak about the experiences lived in the weekend.

Alto Tâmega e Barroso, this is where I like to be!