Useful Information

The Trueman's Treks in Portugal

Walk No 1 -  Villages, Orchards, Windmills

Walk No 2 - Pegoes Aqueduct

Walk No 3 -  Hamlets North of Ferreira do Zêzere

Walk No 4 -  River Confluence

Walk No 5 - Pretty River

Walk No 6 - Serra de Aire

Walk No 7 - Country Lanes

Walk 8 - Vale do Alvorão

Walk 9 - Make Your Eyes Water

Walk 10 - Serra and the Lake

Walk 11 - Views & Solitude

Walk 12 A & B - Exploring the Candeeiros

Walk 13 - Summit of the Candeeiros

Walk 14 - Beware of the Cats

Walk No 3 - Hamlets to the North of Ferreira do Zêzere, Portugal

Leaving the attractive small town of Ferreira do Zêzere in central Portugal, the walk explores several small hamlets to the north and ends at the picnic area in the town. A gardener’s delight looking at the village gardens en route.

Location: Ferreira do Zêzere, central Portugal

Distance: 8 or 10 kilometres

Time: 3  or 3.5 hours

Map: Carta Militar Numero 300

Start - Park in the car park next to the new market place in the centre of Ferreira do Zêzere. Remember that there is a superb little picnic area at the end of the walk, so you may wish to take a packed lunch.

1. Walk past the market, keeping it to your right until you meet the main road towards Aguas Belas and Alvaiázere. Take this road for a few metres and turn right immediately after the church.

2. Follow this road, past a sports centre on your right and a new school (under construction in 2011) on your left.

There is damage to many of the trees caused by the 2010 tornado, which has made the start of this walk a little untidy.

3. Just over one kilometre. on you come to T junction, where you turn right then, after a further 50 metres, left through the village of Cerejeira.

There is a mixture of old buildings and rural homes on this road with one particular garden on the left (Casa da Mina) decorated with a menagerie of animals. A further one kilometre on, at the last cottage on the right, we met a friendly old lady in the garden and admired her magnificent magnolia tree. We began chatting in broken Portuguese and told her that we were English. She smiled knowingly and ripped a branch from the magnolia and passed it to Sue indicating that we should plant it. We have now done this and look forward to watching the tree grow.

4. The road becomes a track and drops steeply downhill through a eucalyptus wood until it meets a stream near a ruined building, possibly a mill. Keep the river to your right as the path begins to climb uphill.

Here, there are a number of abandoned farm buildings and you can only wonder about the tough life endured by previous residents of the homestead. Exploring the buildings we found a number of old bee hives, made from the bark of cork oaks. I wanted to take one home as an interesting rustic decoration, but balked at the thought of lugging it around for seven or eight kilometres.

5. At the T junction just after the abandoned buildings, turn left and follow the track as it winds uphill to the villages of Outeiros, Bela Vista and Varella (the boundaries between the villages are unclear).

6. Follow the road, ignoring a junction to the left as it bends round to the left. And continue through the village(s) past the world’s ugliest building on your right.

This is an old/abandoned/unfinished/unsightly industrial monstrosity which should be pulled down immediately. It is also home to a motley collection of dogs that lean out of upper storey windows and threaten passers by.

7. Just after the ugly building, take the road to the left and almost immediately you will see roads to your right. Ignore the first two which are very close together and take the third turning which becomes a track and drops down towards a eucalyptus wood.

To your left you may see the damage caused by wild boar, their snouts used like miniature JCBs as they dig for roots.

8. Continue on this track ignoring any turnings for one kilometre, until you reach a main road, a few metres after farm buildings on the left.

It was here that we were watched by a small herd of interested cattle, one of whom appeared to be wearing a toupee.

9. Cross the road and take the track directly opposite. Follow the main track to the right and then to the left past abandoned buildings and through woodland. After 500 metres you will find a road to the left near houses in open country. You can either take this road and return to the start (see number 12) or continue straight on to extend the walk and take in the village of Venda da Serra.

This track passes some strange but interesting terracing, now used for grazing sheep. I have no idea why it is there.

10. Carry on past two roads to the left until you come to a main road, where you turn left then immediately right, following a tarmacked road downhill to a crossroads, where you turn left along Rua Joao de Sousa Godhino.

Even the smallest of tracks and roads in this area are named and have beautiful tiled nameplates like this one. Something other rural areas could certainly learn from.

11. At the next junction, turn left to bring you back to the main road, where you turn left then immediately right.

12. After 500 metres you meet the outward track where you turn right then, after 50 metres, right again. Follow this track for one kilometre back to Ferreira do Zêzere and the start point.

Decorative Name Plates

As you enter Ferreira do Zêzere, you will see the football stadium on your right.

On your left is a pleasant, quiet wooded picnic area, (pictured left) ideal to relax with a sandwich and rest after your day’s exertions.

Useful Information

 Ferreira do Zêzere

Walking in Portugal