Viva Vacations: Guimaraes

Guimaraes Portugal

Guimarães is a city in Minho, Portugal and is one of the most historical cities in Portugal, said to be where "Portugal was born". It is the first city of Portugal, and have a beautiful Castle, and a Palace to visit, from the beginnings of the country. The Castle has been classified as one of the New Portuguese Seven Wonders. The first King (D. Afonso Henriques aka D. Afonso, I of Portugal). Placed about 50 km from Porto, Guimarães is placed near to a mountain, Penha, with wonderful views to all the city. In Guimarães, there is a bus that lets you travel through the city centre. But there is not a very big city centre so you probably will prefer to walk by foot and enjoy the harmony of this medieval city. If you usually purchase a long time ticket in other cities, to travel, here you may not afford it. to travel by bus, To go to Penha Mountain the best solution is getting the Elevators - Teleférico da Penha - and climb up. If you prefer to have a walk through the mountain it's very safe, and you have nice roads to go up, but it will take about 30 minutes. Renting a car can be a very nice solution, because, in a small city there is not many traffic jams, and if you want to stay in a place "far" from the centre, it can be a wonderful transport. It's not so expensive to rent a car. But, if you want to feel the city, you can make longer trips, because the city centre has a lot of small medieval streets, that you can only enjoy walking. You can see: Guimarães Castle, l Dukes of Braganza Palace (Paço dos Duques de Bragança) Penha Mountain, Largo da Oliveira (Olive Square) Casa de Sezim (Sezim Manor), located in Nespereira (about 5 km away from the city centre),

Recommended airport

Porto (OPO)

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