Hiking & 4WD Excursion in Peneda-Gerês National Park, Porto

Our guide, Emanuel, was very knowledgeable, friendly, and funny. He knew a lot about the local flora and fauna, and the history of the area we were in. Despite him believing the water was too cold, he was happy to let me go for a swim in some waterfalls :). We had a great visit in a local village and enjoyed some drinks at a small pub to cap off the day.

Great hikes. Beautiful waterfalls. Loved our guide Nuno. Great local lunch at a nice restaurant at the park.

Beautiful, breathtaking, spectacular scenery and a wonderful guide

While all of our excursions in Portugal were awesome, this trip to Geres may have been our favorite. This park is simply gorgeous. We came to Portugal to get some hikes in, and that is exactly what we did on this full day tour. We had several challenging hikes throughout the day. The landscape was beautiful and at times rugged, but our guide made sure we always felt safe and were ready to keep going. The views from the day were incredible. The mid-day meal was exceptional - it was a lot of food. We enjoyed seeing the small village and learning about its history. We really liked how the tour company worked along with the community to help give back by letting us plant a seedling (oaks and chestnuts) that in the future would be replanted in the forest.

There were some interesting aspects to this trip, it was a bit more strenuous than we expected. I honestly enjoyed walking around in the Palacio Nacional da Pena (Pena Palace) in Evora far more. Rafael was a lovely guide and a very nice person. He showed us around the villages that still exist within the park which was interesting

Didn’t know what to expect which may have good and bad. Hiking was the right amount and the added swimming holes were amazing and I should have better prepared for them. Lunch with the group was memorable and I got more out of this than just hiking. I’d always recommend- the group we had really made it better than a private tour

Peneda-Gerês National Park is an amazing nature preserve with a tranquil water pool, secluded and welcoming for a quick soak. We learned about the wolf trap and reviewed the ruins of the trap. Then it was time for a hand-prepared lunch with an assortment of Portuguese foods, soup, and desserts. Finally, on the way back we hiked down to a few more pools and all took a good long peaceful soak. We also saw a working water-powered Olive press that was still revitalized each season by the locals for use. A great memory that we will never forget.

This excursion for us was our most favorite excursion we have ever done. Our guide Renata was exceptional. She was educated, knowledgeable on this park specifically and she was a pleasure to spend the day with. We hiked to two water falls. Had lunch in a local village where every serving was sourced from the local village (grown or raised in the village) and prepared in a traditional Portugese style. My wife and I were presented with 15 different dishes to eat. We later walked through he village and saw first hand their gardens/crops, the animals they raised, etc.. We thought this was a wonderful day.

We enjoyed the serenity of the national park and opportunity to do a bit of trek and bathe in the clear pool of water which was followed by a great lunch. The second half of the day had a walk through the village and a another mini trek to another waterfall with a further opportunity to swim.
I was probably the least fit person of the group - but the guide made sure we went at a decent pace. Maybe two swims was not required as they were people in our group who were not keen on swimming and we could have done a viewing point instead.

This was a lovely trip to add on to a City stay. Having a day trip to a national park day trip to be outside with nature was a nice contrast to restaurants, tours and shopping. Carlos was a great guide. He was very knowledgable about nature. Everything about the day went smoothly, including the picnic, which was a nice touch. Carlos found out we had never been to Spain, so he took a little extra time to drive over the border, so we could say we have been to Spain!