Monsanto

Widely regarded as the most Portuguese town, Monsanto is located in central Portugal. It's almost (depends how determined you are) a walking distance from the border with Spain. According to Wikipedia it has a population of just under 1000 and you definitely won't see crowds of locals there. If you've been to central Portugal before and are familiar with the concept of hardly anybody being out and about, then you have a pretty good idea of the sort of number of people you may encounter in Monsanto (at least out of season). If you've not been to central Portugal before, then just think of how busy a 24h supermarket is at 2am and you won't be far off. This lovely small town is situated on a hillside surrounded by fairly flat fields, groves and a couple of other smaller hills. This means that on a clear day you can see for miles from the various viewpoints as you'll see later on in this blog. It's a lovely place with a lot of character and friendly locals.

Getting There

I can't comment on public transport in the area too much, since I've not seen much of it about, I'm pretty sure getting here without your own mode of transport will be tricky. If however you are lucky enough to be in a car, on a motorbike, on a horse or in a carriage pulled by highly trained ferrets, then you're in luck as this place will be accessible to you. If however you are in a carriage pulled by highly trained ferrets then two things, 1) send me a picture because I need to see this and 2) I'm not sure that your ferrets will be able to pull your carriage up the steep roads leading into town higher up. You'll see your destination from a decent distance away as the Monsanto hill stands proud amongst its otherwise relatively flat surrounding.

The road to Monsanto isn't challenging to drive along and it's in a very good condition, certainly better than the roads around Cheshire in England! With it being in central Portugal, you won't come across too much traffic either, unless perhaps if you go in holiday season (which I don't recommend, more on that later). Therefore take your time and enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Portuguese countryside around you.

As you get closer to Monsanto the road will start to get steeper and it will gradually get even steeper the closer you get to the top. You could leave the car towards the bottom of the hill and walk up if you really wanted to, but there are parking spaces towards the top. If you do decide to park up lower down and walk up, then you will have to just leave your car on the side of the road, but there are wide sections where you can do that safely. 

It may not look like much of a walk, but your legs will notice the incline. If you combine this with the high summer temperatures there, it makes for a bit of a challenging walk. In our case, we decided to carry on in the car and park towards the top which has a limited number of parking spaces. Some are located to the left as you drive up and a few more higher up on a small square with a nice viewpoint. there are pay machines and you do have to pay to park. When we visited the machines were covered up and parking was free so I can't advise you on how much it will cost you. I imagine the cost isn't much and I'd recommend to have cash ready to pay, ideally coins. 

Once you've parked up either at the top carpark (which will be on the right side of the road), or along the road like we did, you will reach the first view point and it will give you a taste of what's to come later once you get to the castle at the top. Don't be tempted to drive past the top carpark as you'll end up regretting it trying to get back out. The roads deeper in town get very narrow with some sharp turns, it's a tight place for a modern car.

The Town

When you arrive you will be greeted by various larger buildings, but that's the boring bit if you ask me. I much prefer the deeper part of Monsanto, once you get onto the smaller roads and paths. You'll then be surrounded by the usual charming stone cottages, plants in the ground and in pots, others look like they're growing on the roofs of the buildings themselves, like this olive tree for example! 

Speaking of roofs, can you spot the One Tile House in the image below? No prizes for this one!

As you walk around the town, pretty much all of the paths and roads (and once you get past the car park with the viewpoint to the right I'm using the word "roads" very loosely) are either uphill or downhill, you won't see much flatness up there. Persevere though as what there is to see is worth it. 

Coming from the UK where we're constantly surrounded by busy roads, lots of traffic, everyone rushing around, it's so refreshing to be walking around those paths with hardly anybody there and that sense on tranquillity and peace. If you've seen the video on our YouTube channel where we drove over the Serra da Estrela mountains, you will have seen how the Portuguese liked to utilise large boulders which are part of the scenery as parts of buildings. The single tile house shown higher up is one example of this and here's another one. This is clearly made up of two or three massive boulders where somebody has just put a wall at the front between them and stuck a door in. Result, this used to be a pigsty and inside is the size of what in London is regarded as a studio apartment.

Now that we've established that there are various examples of unconventional constructions to be seen in Monsanto, here's a house with what I can only describe as a fantastic looking watchtower.

The fact that there aren't many people around may lure you into a false sense of being alone in Monsanto. Beware however, as this is not the case, you're being watched, they're there, blending into the surrounding, silent and swift yet deadly at the same time ... Inspector Rui Tiddles (pictured below) of the Monsanto Cat Police Department (MCPD) and his team will be keeping a watchful eye over you and what you're getting up to, so behave!

To The Castle

Once you're done exploring the town itself, it will be time to move further up and start heading for the castle. A nice stone winding path will take you out onto the side of the hill and reveal even more stunning views over the surrounding area, those get better and better the higher you go.

As you get close to the top, you will be able to either carry on up to the castle, or veer to the left towards the Necropolis of Sao Miguel. I suggest that you do as we did and carry on to the castle higher up. Later instead of going back down the same way you came up, you can go through the Necropolis and then follow a different narrower trail back down to town. The castle mainly comprises of the castle walls these days with the usual Portuguese approach to health and safety (which I'm  a big fan of). That means "look where you're going or die". The walls don't have any safety railings getting in the way and spoiling the view and you can get on top of them very easily. Once you're on top of the walls, the surface is uneven so pay attention, try not to trip, slip and die whilst you're there.

There is a decent sized outcrop on the other side of the castle where you can get to by crossing the main square (?) inside the castle walls. That side of the hill is a lot windier than the one which has the town on it though, and there's not a lot to see there other than the view which you can see best from the caste walls. 

Once you had a look around and you did your best not to die on the caste walls, head back the way you entered and this time turn right and head for the Necropolis.

Apart from the pretty cool building which you can see above, you will also see dotted around graves which were carved into the rock itself. Pretty fascinating and a bit morbid at the same time. There used to be covers which would go over the graves as well, but I don't remember seeing those when we were there. The graves are very small, but I believe they date back around 1000 years if not more based on what I found online, and people will have not been as tall back then. Try to ignore the radio tower that for some bizarre reason was given planning permission at a place like this! Anyway ... moving on!

Heading Back

Once you're done looking around Necropolis, carry on along the path past the large building. You should soon come across these bowl like shapes which have either been carved into the rock or have simply eroded in such a way over time. 

Theory number one is that they are man made and a noble lady used to serve soup to the poor in those, and theory number two is that they have naturally eroded like this over time. Although I wouldn't fancy eating soup out of those, I can see how they could have been man made and served a purpose at some point in the past, especially given how close yet far enough they are from Necropolis. As you can see from the image above, this is a more hikey way down than the nice wide relatively smooth path you will have followed up to the castle. The trail gets even more uneven later on so if you don't fancy this kind of terrain, then head back the way you came. Otherwise be an adventurer and carry on around the hillside and back down to town. If you follow the path to the point where it becomes very overgrown and it seems to be bending around back onto the windy side of the hill, you've gone too far. You will need to back up and follow a different not so obvious path under some massive boulders which you will have gone past earlier. When walking however, make sure to keep your eyes open as there is wildlife to be seen around here, like this pretty European Tree Frog which we came across!

  End of The Trip

Eventually, if you don't get lost and are not doomed to wonder the Monsanto hill for eternity, you will find your way back to town. 

There are various interesting trails around here which I'm sure would be pretty cool to explore, but we didn't. Instead we went to a local cafe which we found and had toast with cheese, as we couldn't find a restaurant that was open and serving proper food. Depending on what you're into, Monsanto can be either a trip for a few hours or a full day out. It all depends on how much exploring you want to do and if you're interested in the history of it. There is a visitor centre along one of the main roads where a nice lady gave us a free book, and they also had a little display on the walls of various things to do with Monsanto and its history, so go and check that out if you have the time. We came in March and it was a great time to be there. As the visit involves going up and down a lot, the temperature around 19C was perfect to stay comfortable, but the wind was a bit cold. If you decide to come in summer, going uphill with temperatures between 30C and 40C will be a bit of a challenge for some. If you like Portugal, Portuguese architecture, stone cottages and enjoy walking then you will love Monsanto.