🏡 When booking with us, you are reserving not only the entire house, but also its swimming pool and the surrounding garden.
🏊♀️ When we built the pools in 2016, we wanted to take our guest offering to a new level. In addition to the experience of spending holidays in a country house, as if it were their own second home, guests began to enjoy diving and swimming in the pools.
🧘♂️ A peaceful holiday, whether familiar or romantic, with everything you are entitled to and deserve.
Is it really necessary to pay an advance deposit to confirm the reservation?
Yes, we ask for the advanced deposit of 50 % of the total value for the reservation to confirm. Starting from this commitment, we are more capable of facing the challenges that are usually faced by small family businesses such as ours.
🗓️ Summer holidays are normally scheduled between December and May and the most popular weeks are July and August.
🙏 In fact, every year we receive reservations almost a year in advance (there are very methodical and cautious travelers all over the world). We are fortunate that some of these weeks are occupied by repeat families or couples.
✅To avoid disappointments or surprises, we recommend that you contact us as soon as you know which dates you can visit us!
By the way:
☑️Direct bookings are more economical
☑️Pools are operational from April to early October
Electronic tolls – we are a bit confused… How does it work?
The electronic only tolls is a quite unique system. If you are on a roadtrip with your own foreign car coming from abroad or if you rented a car registered outside of Portugal, you should learn more about the Portuguese electronic only tolls – read this!
So many orange and lemon trees … Do you have oranges and lemons all year round?
Lemons, yes! Closer to Autumn a bit less, but we do pick lemons during all year! Most of our orange trees bloom in the Spring time. Actually, during the entire year, on the same tree there are oranges already orange colored and, at the same time, still green … It is a curious phenomenon that also happens with lemon trees. We pick the most juicy and sweet oranges in the Winter time. But some orange trees are of a later variety and it is also possible to have some fairly good orange in the Summer.
⛰️ Typically, bush areas are called “bouça”, which are abundant, with wild vegetation, because they are difficult to access or have weaker land. Depending on the region and depending on human intervention, “bouças” can have many different looks.
🌳 Our Bouça is not in a wild state, of course. She is very well looked after and we try to keep her personality intact. It is made up of many native trees, such as cork oaks, oaks, strawberry trees, olive trees and other fruit trees. But we also still have eucalyptus and “mimosas” – trees that are more invasive and less beneficial to the health of this ecosystem.
🌲 This private forest of ours, available to our guests, is a work in constant progress. We haven’t given up on fighting the invaders yet.
For how long are your holiday villas available to rent?
In the Spring of 2013 we began to host the first guests only at Casa da Raposeira. Meanwhile, the recovery works for the other villas began, and from the Summer of 2014, we also have available Casa da Eira and Casa do Sobreiro. See also our About page and everything about our Villas.
We love hiking. What are the hiking routes you recommend?
To this question we have too many answers! Fortunately, around us there are many footpaths for hiking that are well worth. Using the opinion and experience of our guests, we highlight the PR2 of Cinfães (Bestança Valley) and PR1 of Marco de Canaveses (Soalhães).
When is the grape harvest season at Quinta da Bouça?
Usualy the harvest is done in the second half of September. With not that many vineards, our harvest lasts no more than two days … That is, we harvest the grapes in one day. Everything else is handled in the following days until the washing of the baskets, of course.
Our wine production is modest but the harvest involves us all. And when there are guests present, that is a bonus for everyone!
Since we’re staying for a longer period, we decided to spend a day at Porto. Mosteirô Station is less than 10 min. away by car. Should I take the train or drive to Porto?
To not go by car can become very practical when arriving in Porto! The Douro rail line takes you to the very center of the city, to the beautiful station of S. Bento. Here, you can visit on foot around the historic city center and it is also easy to find tourist transports (such as Hop-On Hop-Off buses).
However, there are guests who prefer to be free of schedules and visit Porto by car. After all, it’s only one hour driving.