Page 27 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Portugal

Wonderful Waterfalls
Portugal’s only national park,
the Parque Nacional da
Peneda-Gerês covers some
700 sq km (270 sq miles) of
wild mountainous and
wooded scenery (p270).
Remote villages and deep
reservoirs are the only
reminders of life here. Take
a walk through the park
to reach the Arado Falls, a
series of dramatic waterfalls
gushing from the mountain-
side – the pools are a perfect
place to bathe on a hot day.

The Arado Falls
thundering into the
pool below in the
Parque Nacional da
Peneda–Gerês

Amazing Caves
Journey deep underground into the cavernous
Grutas de Mira de Aire, near Porto do Mós
(p182). Only 600 m (656 yards) of the
whopping 11-km- (7-mile-) long network
of caves can be visited, but on your tour
you will traverse a series of tunnels and
walkways, where you can see stalactites,
stalagmites and weird
rock formations. The visit
Exploring Grutas culminates at a lake filled
de Mira de Aire with man-made fountains.

Fantastic Forests
Swathes of Madeira are
covered in laurel forests so
ancient that they are UNESCO
World Heritage Sites. To
explore them, walk along the
levadas from Ribeiro Frio to
Portela (p359) or take the
shorter walk to Balcões, which
overlooks the wooded valleys.

A family walking along a
trail through one of
Madeira’s laurel forests

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