Minho Tour small group, Braga, Ponte de Lima, Viana, Vinho Verde Winery & Lunch

From your hotel in Porto, you’re picked up in the morning for the drive to Braga. We will stop at the city of Braga to visit the city center. The Braga Diocese is the oldest in Portugal and, in the Middle Ages, the city even competed with Santiago de Compostela in power and importance. You will have the opportunity to taste some delicious sweets at a well known cake-shop.

After Braga city center we will proceed to visit Bom Jesus Sanctuary, an Italian inspired neo-classical design, integrates harmoniously with the landscape of northern Portugal. The baroque stairway leading to the top contains 17 landings adorned with symbolic fountains and allegoric statues.

We will stop for lunch at the medieval village of Ponte de Lima and walk the Roman bridge that gave its name to this very ancient and very beautiful village, which received its first charter in 1125 from D. Teresa, the mother of the first king of Portugal a number of years before the foundation of the kingdom.

The lunch includes the traditional Minho gastronomy and the taste of a unique wine, Vinho Verde White & Tinto.

The tour continues driving north to the Brejoeira Palace. Ex-libris of the Alto-Minho region, this is an outstanding neo-classical building of the 19th Century. You will learn from a certified guide the story of the palace and at the end enjoy walking and taking pictures in the gardens. The visit will end with the tasting of its famous white wine, Vinho Verde Alvarinho.

We will return to Porto stopping at Viana do Castelo to visit the city center. Situated close to the mouth of the river Lima the city was founded in the thirteenth century by D. Afonso III, the king of Portugal. Your Minho full-day tour ends with return transport to your Porto hotel.