10h00 - Guided tour to Quinta de Curvos, wine tasting included

Quinta de Curvos looks like something out of a fairytale. From the grotto surrounded by a large lake to its gardens and vineyards, it is a place that invites you to visit and explore its different corners. A remarkable park awaits you with an immense wine-growing activity, in what is one of the most notable recreational estates of the 20th century in Portugal.

You will pass the portal and follow through a monumental alley of plantains. The park develops on both sides, traversing winding paths, with remarkable tree species. Side by side with the lane, naturalized concrete constructions appear, namely a small cave with a fountain, forming a frescoed house topped by a lookout - an original giant umbrella - and a fountain with a pergola also in naturalized concrete. The most distinctive and surprising element is the huge lake, with an island, bridge and a large cave topped by a turret. The interior of the cave, all in naturalized concrete, is full of details with vases, artificial stalactites suspended from the ceiling, benches and tables.

The visit includes a tasting of 6 wines: 4 green wines and 2 Douro wines.

12h30 - Lunch at the Restaurant L ’Eau Vive, in the Monastery of Tibães

Located inside the Tibães Monastery, you will taste flavors with history. Find a distinct combination of traditional Portuguese food with international trends and let yourself be enchanted by delicious delicacies.

The meal includes starter, main course, dessert and drinks.

15h00 - Guided tour to the Fence and Cloisters of the Monastery of Tibães

On the half slope of Monte de São Gens, on the left bank of the Cávado River, is one of the most notable Portuguese monasteries, the Monastery of Tibães. The access is made from a wide terreiro, surrounded by walls of the estates of Ouriçosa and Eira, formerly belonging to the monastery, which begins with the Tibães cruise and ends at the church and monastic quarters.

On the fence stands out the fields of cultivation, the forests, the staircase, the water system, fountain, tanks and aqueducts. The dense forest of oaks, chestnut trees, pines, arbutus, laurel, olive trees, viburnum follows the route, with camellias and azaleas.

16h30 - Guided tour to the park of the Bom Jesus do Monte Sanctuary

The Bom Jesus do Monte Sanctuary is perhaps the most beautiful and the most monumental of the Portuguese sanctuaries. It is a cultural landscape, a combined work of man and nature, built and renewed several times over the course of four centuries, inscribed on the World Heritage List. Here, architectural styles, especially baroque and neoclassical, intersect and granite and water are the two building elements par excellence alongside lush vegetation.

Stroll in time and discover the gardens, the park, the lake, the grotto, the woods, the basilica, the bell tower and the Memory Center. In the stairwells there are twenty evocative chapels that house sculptural ensembles, fountains and statues. The fence distinguishes two areas with different characteristics surrounding the staircases, the park, the east of the church at the top of the hill and the west at its bottom, the framing forest.

The park was created in the second half of the 19th century and has a lake as its central element, it has a vast network of paths, a huge cave topped by an observation deck and here was placed the 17th century frescoed house from the former Braga archiepiscopal palace by André Soares. Here there are specimens of notable trees, namely oaks, cork oaks, cedars, redwoods, camellias, linden trees, among others.

Accommodation not included.

10h00 - Guided tour to Quinta do Prado

With ancient origins (16th century), Quinta do Prado has as one of the first owners João Gonçalves do Prado. The current construction takes us back to the 18th and 19th centuries, with the original garden of the house punctuated by topiaries of remarkable specimens of camellias, some forming houses of fresco, much to the taste of the so-called “Jardins de Basto”. This was one of the first gardens of the second half of the 19th century made by the gardeners of Basto.

The estate is located in an urban environment, on gently sloping terrain, armed with terraces. The grove with plane trees, cedars from Buçaco, dill and a Washingtonia palm tree, the path that leads to the house's terrace, the dryland, the threshing floor and the granary, the formal gardens, the wisteria pergola and the water mirror, the azaleas and lavender... In every corner, a secret to be unveiled, a place with unique magic.

11h00 - Guided tour to Casa do Campo

Casa do Campo has origins in the 15th century, it was built in the 17th and 18th centuries and is one of the most emblematic gardens of Terras de Basto. Two imposing araucarias welcome us. Highlight for the garden created in the middle of the 18th century by Torcato Álvares de Carvalho, altered in the 19th century, probably under the order of the owner António Maria Meirelles, who introduced the famous topiaries, driven by the Pinto Basto sisters in Terras de Basto.

The large landscaped landing is divided into eight flower beds bordered by boxwood. There are successive houses made up of carved camellias, a central lake with a fountain and a succession of small granite tables, benches and notable examples of trees and shrubs such as camel, lagerstroemia or the immense rhododendron.

The different views of Senhora da Graça or Serra do Alvão are in the memory of those who visit the very old Casa do Campo.

12h30 - Lunch at Casa do Campo

At Casa do Campo, take a journey through the avoengos flavors. Discover palates that are memories and old recipes so well kept. Enjoy excellent traditional cuisine, with seasonal vegetables and meals suitable for the time of year. At the end, treat yourself to a traditional egg pudding!

15h00 - Guided tour to the Casa da Igreja

The Casa da Igreja was built in the last quarter of the 18th century, it has in front a formal garden composed of different camellias topiaries, which are part of the typology of the gardens of Basto.

The estate, nowadays, has only about 1ha. Next to the house, a ladder goes up the slope armed with cultivated terraces and ends at the highest point with a tank. It has a privileged view over Monte Farinha where the Sanctuary of Nossa Senhora da Graça is located.

During the French invasions, in 1809, the house was pillaged and badly damaged. In the last quarter of the 19th century, it belonged to Comendador José Augusto Álvares de Carvalho, the so-called Comendador da Igreja, a person of great fortune won in Brazil.

In 1962, at the request of the owner António Lages, descendant of the Comendador, the house was intervened by the architect Fernando Távora, according to a 1959 project.

16h30 - Guided tour to the Monastery of São Miguel de Refojos 

The Monastery of São Miguel de Refojos was founded at the beginning of the 12th century and belonged to the Benedictine Order. It is the true origin of the village of Cabeceiras de Basto.

Bordering the Monastery, you will find Praça da República, landscaped with boxwood beds, punctuated by camellias and rose bushes, culminating at the top with a baroque cross, the famous statue of the Portuguese warrior “O Basto” and the old Court of Couto de Refojos, transformed into the House of Barão de Basto, in the 19th century. Behind the monastery runs the Penoutas stream, under a wisteria branch.

The source is a landscaped space with several walls and fountains, one of the 18th century, probably made according to the risk of Frei José de Santo António Vilaça. The hill to the west, on what would have been the old Benedictine forest, has been occupied by the Parque Florestal since the middle of the 20th century.