You can also contact us by clicking here.As I drive along the roads, flanked by granite boulders, wildflowers and vines, and pastures dotted with wildflowers, I open the windows to breathe in the fresh air of Portugal’s remote and historic Beira Interior. The motor is quiet, and the only sounds are birdsong and bleating sheep. It is a serene atmosphere. “This is easier,” I say to myself with a smile, recalling my previous attempt to visit the Aldeias Históricas – a dozen historic hamlets bound by a 1995 conservation project – using woeful public transport. This unspoiled pocket of Portugal is just 155 miles away (250km) from Lisbon, close to the border with Spain. I don’t have to pay a dime for the transport.
An hour before, I arrived in Castelo Novo, a four-hour train ride from the capital, and currently the sole hub of the Aldeias Históricas’s Sustainable Urban Mobility Scheme. In 2022, the program was launched to tackle local transport problems. Five electric vehicles were provided for free rental along with community-supporting programs. It sounded too good to be true, but I booked the maximum three-day rental – enough time to see at least nine of the villages. When I told them I would be arriving by train, they said someone would greet me at the station.
Duarte Rodrigues is a warm and friendly host. “The main focus of the project is tourism, but some cars are used to serve the community by taking elderly people to market or distributing meals,” he said on the beautiful drive to the medieval village of Castelo Novo 650 metres above the Serra da Gardunha. The take-up of the cars was roughly equal between residents and tourists, he says.
Duarte gives me my Megane E-Tech keys with a smile and a wave ten minutes later. You should stay for at least one night. Pedra Nova, a gorgeously renovated boutique B&B, but it needs to be booked well in advance and I am keen to make the most of my time in the EV. Having decided to skip popular Piódão and Monsanto – now a House of the Dragon jet-setting destination – my first stop is Belmonte. Belmonte is the first stop on my list. aldeiasThis hazy hilltop village played a crucial role in Portugal’s identitiy. A Brazilian flag flutters behind a statue of local legend Pedro Álvares Cabral, the first European to “discover” Brazil. I walk through the single-storey houses of granite in the Jewish Quarter to the Bet Eliahu Synagogue. It was built 500 years after King Manuel I expelled Jews from his kingdom.
Continuing to 12th-century Linhares da Beira, I wander the leafy slopes of the Serra da Estrela – mainland Portugal’s highest range. The hamlet is situated between granite boulders and on top of them, similar to the much-loved Monsanto. The Mondego Valley’s panoramic view is unending from the biggest rocky outcrop. This is where the castle wall’s crenellated walls stand. The only people in sight are an airborne paraglider, and a guy selling hand-carved magnetics in the parking lot.
I walk a stretch of slabbed Roman road that once linked Mérida in Spain to Braga, north of Porto, and remember why I adore these villages. The Algarve is a place where history is slowed down, unhurried and bite-sized. I drive a few minutes and park outside the medieval defenses of the city’s most populated area. aldeia.
Trancoso was founded in the 9th century. Its turrets-topped walls have seen royal weddings and many skirmishes. It feels peaceful today, as you walk beneath the weathered porticos. The streets are lined with hydrangeas. As does Solar Sampaio e Melo, a palatial 17th-century guesthouse – repurchased by a descendant of the original owners in 2011 – with an honesty bar and a pool shaded by turrets.
After a late breakfast, sardinhas Doses, Troncoso’s sardine-shaped, almond-stuffed sweets, I make for Marialva. The satnav said 30 minutes. But with detours on back roads to marvel at granite mounds surrounding Moreira de Rei and a lunch break, I arrived well after the meal. This site was crucial for the Christian Reconquista. It was first occupied by the Aravos tribe of Lusitanian, then by Romans and Moors.
Unknown to me, an old man wearing a checkered t-shirt sits on the porch of his home hammering out almonds. I buy a bulging bag for €7 and gobble a handful inside the semi-ruined citadel, where Bonelli’s eagles soar and cacti reclaim the stone. It takes me back to the Algarvian holidays of my childhood, when I used to hide from the heat (and my parents!) under almond trees. It feels for a moment like Portugal hasn’t changed since 30 years. Maybe here, away from the coast, not much has changed.
The journey to Castelo Rodrigo is filled with awe, particularly around the craggy valley sliced by the Côa river. The unique collection of waterfalls just upstream are a sight to behold. rock art etchings from three eras – prehistory, protohistory and history – and Faia BravaThe biologist Ana Berliner founded the first private nature preserve in Portugal with her husband and other friends. In 2004, the couple undertook a renovation. Casa da Cisterna Ana greets me at a boutique hotel with sugared roasted almonds and fresh orange juice. Ana, who guides guests to the reserve where prehistoric rock art is found, and if they are concerned about the growth of tourism.
These small villages gain a lot [from tourism] She tells me that “because there aren’t a lot of people here or opportunities, people move to the big cities.” It’s good if you keep your people and have your young people live here.
As I poke around the castle ruins, I mull over how the Portuguese writer José Saramago Castelo Rodrigo was described in Journey to Portugal, 1981 as “desolation and infinite sadness”. It had been “abandoned” by the people who lived there. Ana is absolutely right. Lisbon’s tourist boom has created Europe’s least affordable city For locals. The right tourism approach in these hinterlands could help preserve local cultures.
The majority of the aldeias, Castelo Rodrigo was founded by the Kingdom of León. The Alcanizes treaty in 1297 defined the oldest border of Europe. Reminders of Spain linger, such as the Ávila-style semicircular turrets and ruined Cristóvão de Moura palace, constructed under the Habsburg Spanish kings. Portuguese locals later torched it.
With no charging station in Castelo Rodrigo (work is under way to expand the project to other villages, including the installation of chargers and the opening of new bases with additional cars in 2026), I drive to Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo, the modern town below. The town below is a modern one, and there’s a charging station. Taverna da Matilde Flaming chouriço scents the dining room, and the pork loin – bisaro, an indigenous part-pig, part‑boar – is perfect. I sleep like a prince at Casa da Cisterna.
Seia mountain butter cheese is the perfect breakfast for a casual and communal meal. pão com chouriço, followed by a quick stop at Castelo Rodrigo’s wine cooperative to collect a case of robust Touriga Nacional (tours and tastings €18pp). Before continuing south, I explore the grassy ramparts of Almeida. Swallows quickly replace eagles as granite is replaced by gentle farmland.
As I stand by the double-turreted Castelo Mendo gate, I take in the silence. It feels like the world has stopped. I tiptoe across the ruined castle keep and am transfixed by the endless panorama of olive groves, cherry trees and occasional shepherd’s huts.
In search of coffee, I step into a dimly lit stone room below a sign that reads D Sancho. The interior is a retail wonder from the old world. Pictures of retired horseshoes and coins, old popes’ photos, boxes of wine or boxes of wine. I am tempted to buy a mystery box for ten pounds. A hunched woman with a smile gifts me a shot of ginjinhaShe signals to me that I should sit outside with her, on a bench. Although we don’t talk, I feel a connection with her land. I hope to take that feeling with me when I return home.
My final stop, Sortelha, comes with high expectations – Saramago promised a perfectly preserved medieval town. Hulking walls cradle a 16th-century cluster of stone houses dominated by a castle that crowns an outcrop. Almost as if on cue fog and showers cloak the entire scene in mystery. I retreat into O ForalPlates of bacalhau (Salted cod) is bathed in local olive oils with a pistachio hue.
Parking back in Castelo Novo with a panic-inducing 7% charge showing on the dash, I am grateful to return the keys, and use the time before my lift to the station to survey the Knights Templar’s former domain from the 12th-century castle.
Stopping outside the red door where Saramago reportedly once stayed, I ponder how he would describe these villages 44 years later. He’d hopefully recount this for travellers., It’s still a magical place, but returning visitors and those who have revived it have banished all melancholy.
Enjoy a complimentary EV Online booking is available for rentals from one day to three days. plataformaaldeiashistoricas.comReservations open at about 75 days in advance. For details of the 12 Aldeias HistóricasVisit aldeiashistoricasdeportugal.com
