Category: Uncategorized
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Caminha – The Border Town where Portugal’s River Minho Meets the Atlantic Ocean
We drive 21 kilometres along the sinuous N301, from Covas to Caminha, a small seaside border town between northern Portugal and Spain. Finally crossing out of the defensive ring of mountains which surround Covas, we’re assaulted by busier roads than we’ve seen for a week. The bustle of Caminha is also a shock as we’ve…
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Panning for Gold from the Romans to 21st Century in Portugal’s Covas
We follow the signs from Covas Village, cross the ancient bridge and follow the walking signs along the road that runs above the Couro’s dramatic gorge. There’s times I can’t make out the river snaking so far below. A sudden cooling on a bend in the sun-drenched road and a tributary tumbles down into the…
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Portugal’s Industrial Heritage Meets the Rural Idyll of Covas in the Minho Region
So, we follow the red and yellow signed circular trail around Covas. We walk under huge ancient oak trees, cork oak and Portuguese laurel. Willows and poplars line the Coura River. Eventually we cross the bridge and take the forestry track across the hillside to the old dam’s ruins. The sandstone track weaves through shrubs…
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Over the Border to Portugal’s Minho Region
We’re on the AP9 motorway south in Galicia, having failed to find a campsite as there’s literally no room at the inn, because the rest of Spain and Portugal are experiencing inferno temperatures, so many campers have had exactly the same idea as us. When we get an answer to our enquiry from a campsite…
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Spain and Galicia’s Romantic Ria de Muros y Noia
The A6 motorway through the León, Cantabrian and Galician mountain ranges to the Atlantic Ocean’s Ria de Muros y Noia is stunning, starting with a rural idyll of rolling pastures, cow-bells tinkling and forested valleys, and becoming more dramatic past Ponferrada, when russet cliffs and mountains contrast with the verdant green forests. There’s miles and…
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Ameyugo in Spain’s Léon y Castile
From giant stone shepherds to sun-flower fields, gorges and ruined chapels, Leon y Castile’s Ameyugo is a wonderful hiking destination.
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A Detour to Thomas Hardy’s Dorchester and a trek to Dorset’s Golden Cap
I can’t visit Dorset without a mooch around one of Thomas Hardy’s old haunts, in this case Dorchester, the setting of his tragic novel, The Mayor of Casterbridge. However, this is us, so we turn up on a Friday to visit Max Gate, the house that Hardy, as an architect, designed and where he…
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Dorset’s Kimmeridge Bay to Chesil Beach – Fossil Hunters, Crocodile teeth, Tropical Seas and Smugglers
Kimmeridge to Chesil Beach’s section of the South West Coastal Path has it all: from pterodactyl remains to mysterious mansions and smuggling dens. We drive along the undulating B3069 from Tom’s Field Campsite 9 miles to Kimmeridge, the road taking us under cathedrals of trees, through valleys and over hills, past bucolic villages, such as…
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Durlston Nature Reserve
From pithy poetry to fantastic natural world facts; from sea views, lighthouses and castles to obelisks – this walk has it all.
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The Dorset Coastal Path – Idyllic Isle of Purbeck
The Isle of Purbeck rolls out around us in green chalk-lands, tree-lined lanes and luscious hedgerows. Corfe Castle sits on its hilltop with 360 degree views, to the sea and across the biodiverse heathland. William the Conqueror sited his royal palace at this perfect vantage point to ward off invaders. But my favourite story is…
Campervan Therapy 