Peneda-Gerês National Park

Many people think of sunny beaches and bustling cities like Lisbon when they consider a trip to Portugal, but just over an hour north of Porto lies a place that seems a world apart but still distinctly Portuguese. Peneda-Gerês National Park, or simply Gerês, is Portugal’s first and only national park.

The area covers more than 270 square miles up to the northern border and was established in 1971 to ensure the ancient customs of the region were kept intact. The earliest signs of habitation are from 6000 B.C. as evidenced by the Neolithic tombs that dot the landscape. Roman roads, bridges, and milestone markers show visitors the once-prominent Roman influence and from the 12th century onwards. The formerly inhospitable mountainous regions were plowed and cultivated, resulting in a beautiful patchwork effect of fields and pastures.

In Gerês you’ll find remote, granite hamlets where shepherds tend their cattle, goats, and ponies. The forested areas are made up of English and Pyrenean oaks and birch, while the remaining land is covered in gorse and heather. If you’re lucky you could glimpse wild boar and even wolves in the mountainous holly, birch, juniper, and pine forests; there’s even a breed of flower found nowhere else on Earth: the Serra do Gerês iris.