Name: 3 Day Horse Riding Holiday on The Spanish-Portuguese Border
Brand: Caballos Marvão
Price: 1100 EUR
Availability: InStock

Portugal Horse Riding Holiday

Come and join Caballos Marvão for this amazing horseback riding holiday to explore beautiful landscapes along the Spanish-Portuguese border.

Meet the instructors

Sara
Read more

Highlights

3 days of horse riding
Approximate daily riding time: 4 - 7 hours
Enjoy the International Park of Taejo and its unique, virgin nature
Guided tours to Castelo de Vide and Marvão
Visit the ruins of an abandoned Roman city, medieval and Visigoth burials, 5,000-year-old dolmens
Guide fluent in English with a master's degree in history and archaeology
3 nights accommodation
Daily meals

Styles

3 days with instruction in English

The organizer also speaks: French, Portuguese, Spanish

Group size: 4-7 participants

Program

Day 1

Arrival at the facilities (start at 9:30 a.m.). You will begin with a four-and-a-half-hour tour that will take you to Ammaia, a Roman city. To get there, you will follow the Sever Virgin riverbank, a paradise where you will hear nothing but the sound of water and birds. That used to be the historical route from Spain to Portugal, and as such you will arrive at the ancient border with its 15th-century tower and bridge. Next, Ammaia, a 2,000-year-old city where a Roman amphitheater, has been recently uncovered.

You will stop here for a picnic and a quick visit around before hopping back in your horses. You will return home following a medieval cobblestone road. You will enjoy beautiful views, possibly spot some vultures, and of course, more history. Caballos Marvão will show you the early Christian graves and granite sarcophagi located next to the routes as if their inhabitants wanted to keep an eye on the walkers wandering next to their properties.

They then will take you to your hotel for a rest. After that, you will visit Marvão, a medieval town so well-preserved, that you will feel like traveling back in time. Time magazine has chosen it as one of the 100 places you should visit before you die. Sunset here is magic, and after enjoying this spectacle, they will take you to dinner at a local restaurant, before heading back to the hotel.

Day 2 (six hours)

You will follow the historical route linking Marvão and Castelo de Vide, a route that goes through black oak forests and high hills. You will stop in the middle for a picnic and will come back following a trail surrounded by a landscape formed only by rocks, but also the typical Portuguese “montados”.

You will cross a couple of streams and enjoy the imposing view of Marvão. They then will take you to your hotel for a rest. After that, you will visit Castelo de Vide, a medieval town with a lot of Jewish traditions still alive. Its Gothic neighborhood is a beauty, and you will enjoy an artisanal beer at a local tavern before heading to the restaurant and then the hotel.

Day 3 (seven hours)

Smuggling routes! You are going to cross the border (twice!) on a horse. First, you will go to Galegos, the last Portuguese town, and cross on Pitaranha. The only thing that will let you know you are in Spain is a stone with the letter E. You will enjoy beautiful views while descending to the cute village of San Pedro, where you will spot the 15th-century convent where St Peter of Alcantara used to live. Next to it, you will visit a huge testament written on the rock before heading to a fountain where a Roman aqueduct starts.

You will enjoy a picnic here and then follow a path that crosses the typical Spanish “dehesas”, cork trees, and a lot of grass for the cattle to eat. Your picnic will include by the way Iberian ham made from your black pigs. You have never tasted anything alike. After following the aqueduct for a while, you will turn to La Miera to visit two dolmens, 5,000-year-old graves made of huge stones, and have a second picnic.

You will cross the border again at La Fontañera and return home following the ancient route of smugglers that used to go to Spain to sell their products on the black market. You will cross the Sever and go through very narrow trails. You will rest at the hotel before enjoying your last dinner all together, with a local restaurant with great natural food and, of course, a shot of ginjinha.

Instructors

Sara Rodríguez Romo

With a masters in Archeology she has explored the region with the local Archaeologist in order to get to know all the interesting facts and monuments of Marvão and its surroundings. Being a family business, she has broken or helped all the horses that were born there. Natural and traditional horsemanship. Easy-going, approachable, dynamic, multi-task, empathetic. Able to make at ease any kind of rider with his/her horse. Eight years of experience, top score and fully recommended (certificate of excellence) in Trip Advisor.

Location

The holiday will take place in Marvão, Alentejo, Portugal.

Marvão

The town was founded in the ninth century by a Muslim rebel. It towers at the top of a hill at 860 meters above sea level, some 400 meters higher than all the nearby lands of the Natural Park of São Mamede. The view from the top amazes tourists today, but it was very useful in the past, too; no one could attack it without being spotted from miles ahead. Its strategic position in the Alentejo, right in front of the Spanish border, made it a key fortress for Portugal in medieval times.

Castelo de Vide

A cozy, beautiful town. It looks like a postcard because of the neat whiteness of its house walls and orange roofs. Castelo de Vide is not as ancient as the neighboring Marvão, but its well-preserved medieval streets, filled with dozens of different flowers, charm every visitor.

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Food

You will be served daily meals included in the price. Every evening, you will have dinner at a local restaurant, every lunch will be homemade with fresh products (Caballos Marvão has a farm), and breakfast will take place at the hotel.

The following meals are included:

Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner

The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:

Regular (typically includes meat and fish)

If you have special dietary requirements it's a good idea to communicate it to the organiser when making a reservation

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