Casa Benedita

Enveloped in vineyards and rolling hills of green, Casa Benedita is located in the beautiful Barcelos area of the Minho province, famous for its delicious wines.

At just 4km from Barcelo's city, you are ideally located to enjoy the quaint communities, local culture and the slow pace of life of rural Portugal. The town of Braga, the capital of the district, is about 25 minutes away and hosts many relics of the region’s diverse history.

The thriving town of Porto is about a 45-minute drive away and is a UNESCO World Heritage city, built along the hills overlooking the Douro river estuary, with a busy historical and commercial centre.

Porto is, of course, famous for its eponymous Port wine, a 40% sweet, fortified wine, and you can enjoy many a port tour, and we would highly recommend a visit to the various wine caves, both of which are thoroughly affordable and excellent value.

Minho is a fantastic, mostly rural region on the northernmost Atlantic tip of Portugal, bordering the Spanish region of Galiza, with which it shares many attributes. Minho is perhaps most famous as the home of the Vinho Verde, a crisp, dry white wine (although as the name suggests, it is, in fact, green!) best enjoyed with a local fish dish. Very lovely, and very affordable.

Minho is particularly special as it features the country's only National Park, the Parque Nacional da Peneda-Gerês, which is less than half an hour from Casa Benedita, with around 72,000 ha of land. It is a mountainous nature reserve that includes prehistoric remains, walking trails, rugged hills as well as deer, wolves and golden eagles!

Portugal itself is a small, fascinating country at the most Western point of mainland Europe. The capital, Lisbon, is known for its lively nightlife, with endless bars and clubs full of fun-loving locals and tourists alike, but also has plenty of fascinating history (check out Belém, jam-packed with monuments!) and undulating terrain, famously termed the ‘city of the seven hills’.

From Lisbon, it is very quick to travel by the domestic high-speed train line to the city of Braga, which will connect you reasonably quickly to Casa Benedita.

With a vast coastline with the mighty Atlantic Ocean, Portugal is a real paradise for the keen surfer, or indeed even those looking to try it for the first time. And for those less keen on surfing, the beaches of Portugal are still well worth a visit for their beautifully clear waters.

Read more about Minho

Please be aware that the location tab shown on the website is not based on the property's exact location; therefore, all location amenities are an approx of facilities, restaurants, and villages/towns you might find around the property. The property's exact location will be provided to you before arrival and might come along with some recommendations about the area and what to visit.

ABOUT MINHO

The areas of Minho extend from the Spanish border in the north, south to Porto and east to the mountains of Vila Real. It is a green and fertile area of rolling hills encompassing the great rivers Minho, Lima and Douro, and the National Park of Peneda Geres. The countryside of the region is typified by long, sandy beaches bordered by pine woods, picturesque villages nestling among vine-covered hills, and historic towns such as Amarante, Guimaraes, Barcelos, Ponte de Lima, and Viana do Castelo.

The area encompasses a range of postcard-worthy landscapes and features that could almost be Portugal in microcosm: dreamy river scenes, high mountains, rolling vineyards, beautiful historic towns, dramatic Atlantic beaches, ancient religious foundations and mysterious archaeological sites.

Then there's the bold, sharp and fruity Vinho Verde to consider. This young wine is fashioned from the fruit of kilometres of vineyards that wind along rivers, over foothills and into Minho mountain villages.

But while you're enjoying one of our fantastic villas in Minho, you may well want to take some time out from all that sun worship to explore everything else the region has to offer – so we've put together this handy travel guide to give you a little help and inspiration!

Check out our Minho Travel Guide >>