Motorways
The other day I accompanied my husband to a meeting 385 kms away from Sintra, to Trancoso in the 'Beira Interior'. We left at 6 am, I spent an hour in town while he was in the meeting, we drove back and stopped in another town on the way where he had another meeting, we stopped for lunch and were back in Sintra by 4 pm. These 800+ kms were leisurely passed with all the stopping in 10 hours. Yes, the motorways in Portugal are great!
There is a crisis in Portugal, but I have full faith that all will turn out well. All of these motorways going through remote areas have guaranteed something: businesses are all over our country, not only in the big cities (and this includes tourism!). The roads enable good and efficient transportation of raw materials as well as ready products, linking the interior to the coast, North to South - and of course to Center, our region.
As we were driving, I was marveled by the green - the vast forests (even after the fires of the last years); the little towns, the colors of autumn now as the vineyards were read and yellow against the green. High mountains, some green and lush, some rocky like the Rocky Mountains; and the valleys - one more beautiful than the other.
It is really easy to use Sintra as a point of reference and day trip from here. After spending a few days visiting the local monuments and relaxing by the pool, it is easy enough to drive to Óbidos, Nazaré, Peniche ou Fátima for a day - and if you are moving on, you don't have to spend a whole day going from a town to another, the motorways are great and well serviced (stations after every 30-40 kms); plan with 3 hours to Porto, the same to the Algarve. Guests we have here now drove here yesterday from Sevilla in 5 hours, not knowing the roads previously (and that included changing a tire on the way due to a nail-puncture...). And if you don't have a car with you, the roads make it also fast and comfortable for the long distance buses.
The best roads from Porto to Sintra are A1 all the way to Alverca where you take CREL in direction of Cascais, and then A16 to Sintra OR A1 until Aveiro where you take A25, then A17 that terminates as A8, and then CREL and A 16. From the South, the easiest way is the A2, passing the Tagus river o
n the wonderful bridge of Vasco de Gama.
And while in Trancoso, I did great shopping; the marvelous chestnuts, walnuts, hazelnuts are all in season, and I was in the right region! I got many, many kilos of fresh, wonderful nuts to place in the rooms with port wine to welcome our guests - and to bring all of Portugal closer to all of you!
(The following picture is of the entrance to Trancoso, a city within the walls).
There is a crisis in Portugal, but I have full faith that all will turn out well. All of these motorways going through remote areas have guaranteed something: businesses are all over our country, not only in the big cities (and this includes tourism!). The roads enable good and efficient transportation of raw materials as well as ready products, linking the interior to the coast, North to South - and of course to Center, our region.
As we were driving, I was marveled by the green - the vast forests (even after the fires of the last years); the little towns, the colors of autumn now as the vineyards were read and yellow against the green. High mountains, some green and lush, some rocky like the Rocky Mountains; and the valleys - one more beautiful than the other.
It is really easy to use Sintra as a point of reference and day trip from here. After spending a few days visiting the local monuments and relaxing by the pool, it is easy enough to drive to Óbidos, Nazaré, Peniche ou Fátima for a day - and if you are moving on, you don't have to spend a whole day going from a town to another, the motorways are great and well serviced (stations after every 30-40 kms); plan with 3 hours to Porto, the same to the Algarve. Guests we have here now drove here yesterday from Sevilla in 5 hours, not knowing the roads previously (and that included changing a tire on the way due to a nail-puncture...). And if you don't have a car with you, the roads make it also fast and comfortable for the long distance buses.
The best roads from Porto to Sintra are A1 all the way to Alverca where you take CREL in direction of Cascais, and then A16 to Sintra OR A1 until Aveiro where you take A25, then A17 that terminates as A8, and then CREL and A 16. From the South, the easiest way is the A2, passing the Tagus river o
n the wonderful bridge of Vasco de Gama.And while in Trancoso, I did great shopping; the marvelous chestnuts, walnuts, hazelnuts are all in season, and I was in the right region! I got many, many kilos of fresh, wonderful nuts to place in the rooms with port wine to welcome our guests - and to bring all of Portugal closer to all of you!
(The following picture is of the entrance to Trancoso, a city within the walls).
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