lookgofind

SINTRA GUIDE BOOK

2012-01-25T08:29:00.000-08:00

SINTRA GUIDE BOOK

Only a limited amount left!!!

Look Go Find, a unique and personal guide to Sintra, Portugal with places to visit, stay, eat and including wonderful walks.

ONLY 12 EUROS (including delivery)

SEE THE WEB SITE AND BUY YOUR GUIDE NOW

http://www.walksinportugal.com http://www.walksinportugal.com/sintra-guide-book.php

WALKS IN PORTUGAL

2012-01-25T08:25:00.000-08:00

Walks in Portugal offers a collection of maps and descriptions of walks (available to download in pdf format).

The first in the series of walks is in Sintra, Portugal just down the coast from Lisbon.

Sintra, ‘mountain of the moon’, as it was known by the Celts, its early settlers, is an enchanting place within easy access of Lisbon. A fascinating mixture of Roman relics, Moorish ruins, medieval cloisters and royal palaces. A mountain range of ancient forests abounding in wildlife. A coastline of rugged cliffs, broken by wild and wonderful beaches and a microclimate in which exotic gardens flourish. A rich culture and a natural beauty, which have justly earned its designation as a Unesco World Heritage site. A magical place waiting for you to discover.

SEE THE WEB SITE AND DOWNLOAD A FREE MAP OF A WONDERFUL WALK.
A 4.5 km walk in the Sintra hills (Serra de Sintra), Santuário da Peninha (a castellated stone building on the hill) to the Anta de Adrenunes (a megalithic dolmen, built more than 3,000 years ago).

http://www.walksinportugal.com/

The legend of "Praia da Ursa" Bears Beach, Cabo da Roca, Sintra.

2010-04-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

Only a few will dare to descend to the westernmost beach in mainland Europe, “Praia da Ursa” (Bears Beach) an apt name due to the naturists in the summer and the difficult access. But those who have visited this beach, near Cabo da Roca, can not forget the outstanding and overwhelming wild beauty that surrounds the small (and sometimes unexisting) sand crescent. Two enormous sea stacks stand in the wild Atlantic Ocean, one of them at a certain angle looks like a bear posing with pride.
There is a legend that, a few thousands of years ago, when the Earth was still covered in ice, a mother bear and her young lived here. When the ice started melting the Gods told all the animals to leave the sea shore but the stubborn bear refused to do so, because she was born there and she would stay.
The angry Gods transformed the bear into rock and her young into smaller rocks dispersed around the mother and there they stood, giving the name to this beach.
A wonderful paradise of natural beauty.
An adventure not to be missed!

See the link for the walk:

http://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=747436

Superb food at O Poejo restaurant

2010-03-25T04:15:00.000-07:00

In António das Areias a few kilometers from Casa do Brasão is the Boutique Hotel O Poejo. In the restaurant they serve fabulous food. Every time we visit our holiday home we look forward to our meal here. It's well worth a visit if you are going to this area. You can eat outside in the courtyard or in the trendy modern interior. Don't miss the prawns in beer sauce or the pork with plum sauce. Great with a bottle of Chamine Vinho Tinto (red wine).

http://www.a-opoejo.com/

Alto Alentejo article in The New York Times

2010-03-24T07:47:00.000-07:00

Alto Alentejo article in The New York Times.
See this article and look at the great photos on the slide show.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/travel/08next.html?scp=3&sq=Marvao&st=cse

Walking in the Serra de São Mamede and Marvão.

2010-03-24T02:37:00.000-07:00

A great walk in Marvão, Alto Alentejo, Portugal with fantastic panoramic views, wonderful countryside and interesting historical sites.
This walk is 7.38 km and is easy to moderate. The map/guide we bought earlier from the tourist office in Marvão, and the start is from Portagem near the public swimming pool.
The four of us, two adults and two children aged 12 and 14, set off from the 16 century bridge and tower in Portagem. The guide informs you to follow the trail by posts with green markers and we realised after a few kilometres there are none. Instead follow the normal markers of a red and yellow rectangles.
This walk took us about two and a half hours with regular stops to see the sights such as:
The 16 century bridge and tower next to the river Sever.
The mediaeval cobbled road, possibly of Roman origin.
Views of the imposing town and castle of Marvão, the mountain range of Serra de São Mamede and the granite plains of the Alentejo countryside.
The Convent and Church of the Lady of the Star (Igreja do Convento de Nossa Senhora da Estrela).
Typical small Alentejo hamlets.
The 16 century derelict chapel and mediaeval tombs cut into the rock at Fonte Souto.
Oak, Walnut, Olive,Chestnut and Horse-Chestnut trees.
Plenty of farm animals and the wonderful fauna and flora of this region.
At the end of the walk why not have lunch at O Sever restaurant at Portagem for a hearty typical Alentejo lunch washed down with a bottle of Conventual Red wine.
This is a perfect day out in this great region of Portugal.
See the walk on Wikiloc:
http://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/spatialArtifacts.do?event=setCurrentSpatialArtifact&id=747362
For more information on this region see:
http://marvaoholidayhome.blogspot.com/
For a place to stay stay:
http://www.casabrasao.com/

The Peregrine Falcons of Cabo da Roca, Sintra.

2010-03-24T02:27:00.000-07:00

The Peregrine Falcons of Cabo da Roca, Sintra.
We now have dog called Chance and on our walks across the headland we often see a beautiful sight in the skies above, the Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus brookei).
I never get tired of watching these amazing birds of prey, they can reach speeds of over 320km/h in a stoop, making it the fastest animal on the planet. The Peregrine Falcon is a raptor, or bird of prey. Adults have blue-gray wings, dark brown backs, a buff colored underside with brown spots, and white faces with a black tear stripe on their cheeks. It has long, broad, pointed wingspan and a relatively short tail and they have hooked beaks and strong talons. Their name comes from the Latin word peregrinus, which means "to wander." They are commonly referred to as the Duck Hawk. We see at least one nearly every day and I love to watch them hover in the sky and suddenly they will stoop reaching amazing speeds to catch their prey.
Sometimes we see one close up perched on a telegraph pole at the side of the road.
They were on the endangered species in many areas in the 70's and now thankfully the populations have recovered.
One of the many species of wildlife you can see on the walks in Sintra.

Wildside Hoilidays - a great site if you are interested in walking and nature in Iberia

2010-03-24T02:22:00.000-07:00

Wildside Holidays Iberia.
A great site if you are interested in walking and nature.
Well done to Clive Muir and Sue Eatock on providing a site full of good information and places to visit.

http://www.wildsideholidays.com/

A great walk from Casa do Brasão, near Marvão

2010-03-23T10:55:00.000-07:00

A local walk near Marvao from Casa do Brasão, our holiday home in Barretos and back. An 8 kilometer walk along ancient paths through typical Alentejo countryside past small hamlets and farms with plenty of farm animals and interesting terrain to keep the children amused.

see the link:

http://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/spatialArtifacts.do?event=setCurrentSpatialArtifact&id=747406

Walks in Portugal

2010-03-23T10:30:00.000-07:00

This is my blog about walks in Portugal.
Information about two beautiful regions in particular, Sintra and its Natural Park, which has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, and the Serra de São Mamede Natural Park which includes the historic imposing walled town of Marvão.
Here you will find places to visit, stay, eat and stimulating walks.

Another satisfied customer of the Sintra guide book

2008-09-27T06:19:00.000-07:00

Thank you Helena and Dennis Doherty for your E-mail:

Dewi,

We just wanted to say how great your book was, we really wouldn't have made half the discoveries if we'd relied solely on a generic Portugal guidebook - we ate in the majority of the restaurants, some of which we would have passed by several times without a second glance, the food was consistently good and we quickly began to develop favourites! (the riberina restaurant in Colares was revisited, great value and delicious!)

It was one of the best holidays we've been on , we stayed just above the village of Azoia, a stones through from the windmill bar, Dom Quixote's. We'd recommend a restaurant in the village - am sure you know it, Refugio da Roca.

Thank you once again, Sintra is a fantastic region, ticked all the boxes for us. We're due a baby in November so it was a particularly memorable trip but one we hope to make in some years with our larger family.

Kind Regards

Helena and Dennis Doherty

A satisfied customer of the Sintra Guidebook

2007-05-07T13:20:00.000-07:00

I had very pleasant surprise in my E-mail box the other day. A letter from a satisfied customer.
Dear Dewi,
We just returned from our trip to Portugal and our three-day stay in the
Sintra area. Your book was fabulous! It guided us through two days of walking, one along the coastline and one to visit the castles and ruins.
We stayed at the Casa Miradouro... a great place. We took your recommendations for restaurants as well. Unfortunately, on the last day (almost the last hour of our final walk) we lost the book. We checked the book store in Sintra and they didn't have it. We urge you to talk to them about having your book available. I am sure there are many visitors who want to walk to explore your beautiful area.
Also, we searched and searched for a similar book for our next few days in Salema. There was no such book (at least that we could find). We think you should write another book for the walks in the Salema area! We found our own way, hiking from Salema toward Sagres, but a book like yours would have been so helpful. Again, thank you for the book, the advice, and the very precise directions describing your walks.
Gail Noller

I would like to say a big thank you to Gail Noller for her much appreciated comments.
Maybe one day I will write a similar book on the Western Algarve.

Sintra a place of discovery

2007-02-24T12:59:00.000-08:00

Where can you find a dinosaur’s footprint, some of Europe’s oldest grapevines and a deep blowhole that echoes the sound of the Atlantic Ocean in the space of a short walk?. The answers are revealed in a fascinating guide to one of the most beautiful and remarkable areas in Europe.
The beaches of Sintra in Portugal - only a short trip down the coast from Lisbon - have been a popular destination for British tourists since the Christian crusaders first sailed to the region in 1147, yet most visitors remain completely unaware of the easily-accessable delights of the area.
Dewi a Welsh graphic designer - who fell so in love with the area that he moved his family there more than a decade ago - has used his local knowledge to produce a unique guidebook to Sintra that could turn even the most run-of-the-mill package holiday into a voyage of discovery.
Look go find, discover Sintra is a personal guide to one of Portugal’s most beautiful, historic and natural places. This is a practical, colourful and easy to follow guide book for visitors wishing to enjoy fully the delights of this special region of Portugal, showing and describing places to visit, stay and eat, and with stimulating walks which will lead you to the hidden treasures of Sintra.
The delights revealed by Dewi include:
The sea cliff that once marked the end of the known world.
How Byron’s poem was inspired by the lush landscape.
Eat wild boar in a restaurant where the ancient brotherhood once met.
A colourful market dating back to the Christian reconquest.
A small monastery built into the rock, its tiny rooms lined with cork.

Dewi says: “This guide book is for people who want to discover the immediate area they are visiting. Whilst including more usual tourist attractions, such as the magnificent kitchens and chimneys of the National Palace, many places of interest not normally found in the more general guides, for example the dinosaur footprints at Praia Grande (Big Beach), are featured.”

Check out www.lookgofind.com and discover the delights for yourself.