“Explore the history of Portugal on horse back”
7 Day Horseback Riding Holiday Around Marvão Near the Border of Portugal and Spain
Caballos Marvão, Rei Dom Manuel de Marvão, Marvao, Portugal
Portugal Horse Riding Holiday
The trip goes through entirely on the International Natural Park of the Tagus, located on two countries, Spain and Portugal. You will be crossing the border twice using old smuggling trails. You will ride through mountains, plains and canyons, follow rivers and go round a lake where you will spot vultures, eagles, sometimes a fox, a rabbit. Sometimes it will be hours without seeing any people, only surrounded by nature. You will also visit a recently discovered Roman amphitheatre, and Sara will take you to Marvão, a place that the Time Magazine has chosen as one of the places you have to visit before you die, a village where time stopped somewhere in the Middle Ages. You will discover Castelo de Vide and Valencia de Alcántara and their Gothic downtown, narrow streets going all directions, hiding beautiful arches, façades, coats of arms. And the food! This is real food, all natural ingredients, because you will stay in the countryside and will only eat fresh local products.
Key Information:
- Riders Weight Limit: 100 kilograms / 220.46 pounds
- Horse Height Range: 1,55 m (for children) to 1,68 m
- Tack Type: Vaquera (Spanish cowboy), Portuguese, English
- Horse Breed: Spanish, Crossbreeds with Arabian, Hanoverian,
Meet the instructors
Sara
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Highlights
- 5 days with horse riding activity
- Between 2 and 7 hours daily riding
- Enjoy the nature and history of Portugal
- Tours to Castelo de Vide, Marvão, and Valencia de Alcántara
- Visit the ruins of an abandoned Roman city, medieval and Visigoth burials
- Guide fluent in English with a degree in history and archaeology
- 6 nights accommodation
- Airport transfer
Skill level
- Beginner
- Intermediate
- Advanced
Styles
5 days with instruction
Group size: 4-12 participants
Airport transfer included:
Lisbon Portela Airport
Accommodation
You will be accommodated in double rooms along the way. In Marvao you will stay at Rei Dom Manuel de Marvão.
All the lodgings were chosen because of their excellent opinions on TripAdvisor, even certificates of excellence.
Program
Day 1 - Arrival in Marvão
This is a day to rest with dinner in a local restaurant.
Day 2: The adventure begins!
You will follow the beautiful river walk of the Sever the old natural border with Spain, until Portage. Its name means “toll”, after its role during the medieval ages as the border between Spain and Portugal. Every Castilian people had to pay the toll to cross the bridge and get into Portugal. It became more important when the Catholic Kings expelled the Jewish people from Spain. You will follow their steps and cross the Renaissance bridge (made with Roman stones from the nearby Roman city Ammaia) and take the medieval stone path that was used to link Portalegre and Marvão.
On the top of the hill, you will see the view and take a hunters’ trail through the woods and then head back home. You will have a picnic in a bucolic corner.
Back at the facilities, you will visit the town of Castelo de Vide, famous for its Jewish neighborhood and its medieval castle. Dinner at a local restaurant.
- Time on horseback: 2 - 3 hours.
Day 3: Go through the Natural Park "Serra de São Mamede"
You will follow the medieval road almost until the very top: Marvão, the ancient Moorish city, known as the "eagles' nest", before heading to Castelo de Vide through the forest of black oaks. Picnic en route and back to your facilities going through the typical Alentejan landscape. After, you will go around Marvão, where you will be able to enjoy one of the most beautiful sunsets of the Alentejo. Dinner at a local restaurant.
- Time on horse back: 6 - 7 hours.
Day 4: Visit on horseback "Monte Velho"
The "old mount" is a place that hosts a village of the VI century, with its huge necropolis. Far away from all roads, you will ride through a very solitary and beautiful landscape. This is, after all, at the only International Natural Park of Europe: the Taejo. Then you will cross the Sever River, which serves as a natural border between the two countries, to arrive in Spain. You will see on the way the old Roman aqueduct and old dolmens.
You will have a picnic at the border next to the river and after visit Valencia de Alcântara with its synagogue and its medieval neighborhood, full of noble ancient houses, in the afternoon. Dinner will be in a local restaurant. If the group has 10 people, you will have the chance to sleep two days in an old medieval palace.
- Time on horseback: 6 - 7 hours.
Day 5: The route of the Dolmens
You will be in the European region with the highest concentration of these Neolithic burials, and they are in an excellent state of preservation. You will be riding through rocky canyons, with the vultures flying over your heads. Later on, the landscape becomes rich and green: you are approaching the reservoir of Alpotrel, where you can picnic. This afternoon the riders can decide: to relax with massage sessions or sightseeing. Dinner will be at a local restaurant.
Day 6: "Campiña" of Valencia de Alcántara
You will walk paths in the middle of nature. Then will be following your way to the medieval town of San Pedro de Los Majarretes. Here you can admire a 19th-century stone testament and the monastery where the famous saint used to live. Afterward, you will head to the border again (the guide will point it out where it is: in this area, the border is just a political idea) before starting your way home. En route you will see waterfalls, and impressive dolmens, and you will cross a couple of creeks. Picnic on the way, dinner in a local restaurant. Visit the Cork Museum: do not forget that this region contains the largest amount of cork oaks on the Iberian Peninsula.
- Time on horseback: 6 - 7 hours.
Day 7: "Hunters Road"
From your facilities, you will ascend by a path of hunters, among chestnut and oaks trees, the typical Atlantic vegetation. From up you can see the border’s countryside. You will go down using some old roads before taking a path that runs through the typical Alentejo “montados”, a semi-natural landscape created for breeding cattle in freedom. Transfer to the airport in the afternoon.
Included excursions
- Tours to Castelo de Vide, Marvão, Valencia de Alcántara
- Visit the ruins of an abandoned Roman city, medieval and Visigoth burials, dolmens (6,000 years old stones)
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
This holiday takes place in Marvão, Portugal. One of the many exciting trails is the ‘smugglers route’ which was in the past used to illegally transport goods across the border of Portugal and Spain undetected. With this wonderful trail not only will you have the rare opportunity to relive a piece of history, but also to explore Valencia de Alcántara and San Pedro de los Majarretes. Other trails run through the awe-inspiring landscapes of Cabeçudos marvanenses, Santo António das Areias, Pitaranha, Galegos, and Beirã.
The horse trails have been organized by Dr. Jose Silva, a passionate lover of horse riding and an experienced advocate of hippotherapy. He and the rest of the Caballos Marvão team teach a unique way to enjoy the soothing sound of hooves, the rhythmic motion of the horse, or even to discover the boldness of the gallop. All this, while breathing the pure air of a region still unknown to pollution.
Food
- Breakfast: 2 days there will be churros with coffee or hot chocolate, the rest coffee, tea, and toast.
- Lunch: picnic: tortilla de patatas, Iberian chorizo, cheese, home made iberian jamón, made of pigs that only eat grass and acorns. Cut in front of clients. Panned chicken. Salad. Etc.
- Dinner: a meal at a restaurant. Full menu, with 2 dishes, wine, dessert, shot in the end.
The following meals are included:
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
- Drinks
The following drinks are included:
- Water
- Coffee
- Tea
- Alcoholic beverages
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
What's included
- 5 days with horse riding, always inside the international natural park of Taejo View of vultures and eagles
- Between a minimum of 2 and maximum of 7 hours daily riding
- Tours to Castelo de Vide, Marvão, Valencia de Alcántara
- Visit the ruins of an abandoned Roman city, medieval and Visigoth burials, dolmens (6,000 years old stones)
- 6 nights accommodation
- Transfer from the airport
What's not included
- Other personal expenses
- Transfers to visits - 10 EUR
- Airfares
How to get there
Recommended Airports
LIS
Lisbon Portela Airport
168 km
Transfer included
Arrival by airplane
Please book your flight to arrive at Lisbon Portela Airport (LIS). The organizer will pick you up from the airport. The pick-up is included in the price.
Airport: Lisbon Portela Airport
Airport transfer included: Lisbon Portela Airport
No additional charges. You can request this in the next step.
Cancellation Policy
- A reservation requires a deposit of 50% of the total price.
- The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
- The rest of the payment should be paid 30 days before arrival.
For this organizer you can guarantee your booking through BookHorseRidingHolidays.com. All major credit cards supported.
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