A beautiful car trip takes you to a Torre; Portugal’s highest “peak”, located in the Serra da Estrela Mountains. “A Torre” is 1993 meters high
The Torre is not a mountain peak, through a paved road, this flat high point is easily reached by car. On Wednesdays you can combine this trip with a visit to the market in Seia
Seia is a busy country town. In Seia the route to a Torre is already clearly indicated and the road slowly rises up. At 1050 meters you reach Sabugueiro, the highest village of Portugal.
We made this trip on a rather cold and rainy day, which caused low-lying clouds to give us not much of a view. It did, however, give us beautiful skies.
Halfway between Sabugueiro and a Torre lies Lagoa Comprida, a reservoir. The dam is not to be missed from the road. To see the lake you can walk past the dam and walk up the stairs at the end.
This trip we made on a rather cold, cloudy and rainy day. We didn’t get much of a view, but beautiful skies full of big, heavy clouds. It gave us pretty nice pictures!
We went, of course, back on a sunny day, to see more of the surroundings.
Tip! Now you’re in the area: A great walk (wear good shoes!) Which is worthwhile, leads to “the secret” of Covão dos Conchos
The sinkhol is hidden behind afforestation and is not visible from the hiking trails.
Once on the flat top of a Torre, there is a restaurant and several (souvenir) shops, where you can buy delicious cheeses, sausages, bread and wine and also nice, warm and comfortable socks when you’re here on a wet and grey day.
For the way back, one can choose to follow the road further down to Covilhã and follow the N230. A beautiful mountain road leads you through nice little hamlets such as Unhais da Serra, Alvoco da Serra and Loriga. By accident, we also crossed the village of Sandomil after following the exit N231 (because the N230 was closed)
Sandomil is (again!) a beautiful gem on the shores of the river Alva. A place that is worth the effort to get out of your car!
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