Portugal's only National Park - Peneda-Gerês

If you are traveling to Portugal, you will do so in the first place to roast in the sun on the over 600 kilometers of coastline. The cities of Lisbon and Porto are also popular destinations for many tourists.

However, most travelers don't know the beautiful Peneda-Gerês National Park with it's stunning landscapes and unspoiled nature that awaits them in northern Portugal.

Last year we made a spectacular road trip through Portugal and visiting the National Park was one of our absolute highlights.

_{Here we are hiking on the historic Roman road Via Nova XVII (Geira)}

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Portugal's only national park, Peneda-Gerês, is located on the northern border with its large neighbor Spain. The park is around 70,000 hectares big and is full of mountains, huge lakes and rivers. The highest peak is the Nevosa with a height of 1,545 meters.

_{View from one of the peaks in Peneda-Gerês}

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Wild Life

The National Park serves many rare and endangered species as a retreat. There are snakes, geckos, lizards, wild (!) Horses, Iberian wolves, scorpions and many more.

_{This lizard grows a new tail.}

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Activities

Canyoning

Madlen has already made a canyoning tour on Madeira and was thrilled. And when we found "Oporto Adventure Tours" online, it was clear that we would go on a canyoning tour in Peneda-Gerês. And so should you!

_{The water in the pools below the falls is much deeper than it seems from above}

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The two guides are members of the most successful professional canyoning team from Portugal. Before, during and after the tour, they were enthusiastic about the sport and the love of the unique landscape and nature of the national park.

Hiking

Especially among the locals of the country, the hiking tours in the Peneda Gerês enjoy growing popularity. But more and more tourists - like us - discover the intricate hiking trails in the mountains and valleys of Peneda-Gerês.

_{our longest hike was 14.1 km and we made more than 400 meters in altitude.}

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We sometimes wandered over millennia-old paths. Historic roman roads run through the national park and are still recognizable on the milestones, stone walls and bridges to this day! Just behind the campsite, where we pitched our tent for four days, was one of the Roman roads along the lake "Rio Homem".

Conclusion

We are absolutely thrilled after just four days in the Peneda-Gerês National Park. If you're traveling to Porto or anywhere else in the north of Portugal, definitely plan a visit to this unique region. The nature here is simply overwhelming and the entire park is criss-crossed by great hiking trails and small cozy villages.

You can read the full article about the only National Park in Portugal in german language on our blog over at RonnyRakete.de.