Viana do Castelo

Between the sea and the river Lima and lying below the hills of Santa Luzia, the city of Viana do Castelo, with its beautiful houses of different styles and narrow, winding streets, is both a fishing port and a tourist site.
Quite near, the riverside town of Ponte de Lima boasts of a fine roman bridge, a lively market and a neighbourhood of ancient and impressive rural mansions.
These can be seen across the district, from Monção, on the other side of the river Minho from Spain, and Valença, another border town with fortresses from the 17th and 18th centuries, to the tranquil towns of Ponte da Barca and Melgaço, a gateway to the Peneda-Gerês National Park.

Here, Nature did its best: about 700 square kilometers (270 square miles) of a wild and breath-taking scenery, from high peaks to wooded valleys, a wide variety of fauna and flora, remote villages and calm rivers where you can enjoy water sports.

Vila Nova de Cerveira offers, once every two years, an interesting arts festival, and all over the district, as is common in the North of Portugal, there are popular feasts and fairs and splendid little restaurants to explore the regional food.
You also shouldn’t leave Viana do Castelo without visiting the beautiful towns of Arcos de Valdevez, Caminha and Paredes de Coura.

Peso Spa (Melgaço)
This spa works as a healing, resting and tourism resort. Besides the medicinal waters that treat obesity, diabetes and cholesterol, among many other illness, the spa has two green hectares with mini-golf course, maintenance circuit, tennis court, café, recreation boats, changing room, health club, camping park and bungalows.

Melgaço’s Castle (Melgaço)
This castle was founded on the 13th century. From the old medieval fortification the only remains are the keep of the castle, part of the fortress, the northern and west doors, part of the tower’s barbican that used to flank one of the fence’s door and the cistern.

Monção Spa (Monção)
This is a natural concept of health that, with baths in warm and sulphureous waters, offers the visitors healthiness, environment and leisure.
Located at the Caldas Park and surrounded by the green, with views over the Minho river and Spain, the Monção spa invites the visitor to invigorating walks or just to have a seat, think, read or chat.

Santa Luzia’s Citânia – ruins of Roman or pre-Roman settlement in Portugal - (Viana do Castelo)
The old Santa Luzia town ruins consist on a fortified village from the Iron Age, widely excavated.

Misericórdia’s Church (Viana do Castelo)
Its construction was begun in 1520 and continued till the end of that century. The façade is composed by two large porch balconies with sculptured columns settled on an arcade. On top of the façade there’s a triangular fronton, and on the west the highlight is the granite portal with several sculptures.

Mezio’s Megalithic Nucleus (Arcos de Valdevez)
This is integrated in a wide megalithic monuments whole also known as "Serra do Soajo Dolmens". Mezio’s Megalithic Nucleus brings together 10 monuments, arranged in a small area with 2km, favouring the visit and the consequent contact with unique exemplary of pre-historical funerary spaces.

Santa Cruz Castle (Arcos de Valdevez)
Closely connected to the roots of Valdevez, the Santa Cruz Castle assumes a role particularly important to this region’s history.
Conceived under the Romanic style coordinates, this castle has a defensive structure, confirmed by the fence’s tracks and by the keep of the castle foundations.

Ermelo’s Monastery (Arcos de Valdevez)
This old monastery adopted the Cistercian work by the end of the 13th century. Nowadays, the remains are the architectonic structures of the Romanic church and of the changes made after.