A weekend away in the Alentejo

It’s been long time since I booked a weekend away from home. I’ve been travelling frequently but always to attend a conference or a business meeting. This time it was for pure pleasure.

It all started with a fantastic Friday night summer concert looking at the beautiful Cortes de Cima vineyard and followed by a nice dinner in Beja with good friends and good wine.


The silence of the Cortes de Cima Vineyard

We stayed in the Pousada Beja Hotel, a former 13th century Franciscan Convent located in the heart of the historical centre of Beja and full of historic character and convent-like peace.

Saturday we drove to Alcácer do Sal passing through many small villages located somewhere in the middle of the Alentejo wine region. Beautiful vineyards, gorgeous small white-painted houses and a temperature of 38ºC completely correspond to what you can expect of this wonderful region in the south of Portugal.


All pictures from the weekend on Flickr.

In Alcácer do Sal we stayed in a small boutique hotel called Albergaria Ordem de Santiago just in front of the Sado river and looking over the many rice fields. Lots of small restaurants where you can eat plenty of local dishes. A perfect place for a 2 day getaway and only 60km from Lisbon.

From Alcácer do Sal there are several ways to reach Lisbon. After Praia da Comporta and next to Tróia there’s a very efficient Ferry service (my pictures here) that takes you and your car to Setúbal, just south of Lisbon (journey takes around 30 minutes).

I returned from the weekend more relaxed, full of energy and with some of lines of thought better organized than when I started the weekend. I should definitely do this more often.

June 1, 2009 | Tags: , , , , , , ,  

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One Response to “A weekend away in the Alentejo”

  1. José Eduardo on June 1st, 2009

    Dear André,

    I’m glad that you had a good time among us. Hope we can repeat this over in a near future.

    José

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