Easy hikes and walks around Lapa Dos Dinheiros

Loud croaking! Wonderful

Next to the Nave de Santo António, the Covão do Ferro or Padre Alfredo dam, inaugurated in 1956, uses a glacial cirque and collects water from the Alforfa stream. It was commissioned by Father Alfredo to supply electricity to the wool industry in Unhais da Serra. Unhais da Serra can be seen in the background.

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Desterro stands on the banks of the Alva River as an authentic path of faith, marked by ten chapels built over more than two centuries, between 1650 and 1892. Near the village, nature itself left its masterpiece: a curious rock, sculpted by time, that resembles the head of an old woman watching over the mountains.

Located at an altitude of approximately 1,600 meters, Lagoa Comprida is the largest water reservoir in the Serra da Estrela, intended for hydroelectric generation. This natural lake lies in a wide depression of glacial origin, approximately one kilometer long, which fed the Covão Grande glacier. Numerous glacial scars are visible along its banks, making this lake one of the most interesting geomorphological sites in the Serra da Estrela. Construction on this lake began in 1911, and by 1914, it was already six meters high. Later, in 1965, it underwent heightening work that increased its height to 28 meters, currently boasting a storage capacity of approximately 14 cubic hectometers, flooding an area of approximately 80 hectares. Small streams of water flow into this lagoon, as well as water retained in the Covões dos Conchos and Covões do Meio and carried to this lagoon through underground tunnels.

The Serra da Estrela Natural Park is something truly special. This 1,000-square-kilometer park, spread across six municipalities, was the first and currently the largest protected natural park in Portugal. It is home to the highest point on the Portuguese mainland, the country's only ski slope, the source of two important rivers, and a fascinating, alpine-like landscape formed by glaciers.

At exactly 1993 meters above sea level, Torre is the highest point in mainland Portugal, where the only ski resort is located. The landscape on the upper plateau of the Serra da Estrela is like a sprinkling of granite rocks over low scrub and patches of snow and ice, which the sun threatens to melt soon in the summer and which always returns the following winter. In winter, it sometimes becomes inaccessible.

Among the terraces, chestnut groves and pine forests, a rural heritage that is as authentic as it is surprising is hidden. Like this house, for example, which seems to have grown out of the rock itself: embedded in a huge boulder, in a perfect symbiosis between popular architecture and raw nature. It is as if it had been sculpted by the mountain.

Beautiful panoramic views from the highest point in Portugal. You can ski here in winter, and there is sometimes snow even in summer.