A trip with my dog to Peneda-Gerês national park (Portugal)

This May, I took a trip with my dog to the Peneda-Gerês national park in Portugal. It is located near the border to Spain and takes up more than 700 km². Founded in 1971, the area also known simply as Gerês is the only national park in Portugal.

Fun fact about the park: There are lots of small fountains throughout. Any fountain that has a name plate next to it contains potable water, so feel free to fill up your bottle or let your pup have a drink at those!

If you are looking to spend a night or two near the Peneda-Gerês national park, I can recommend the apartment that I stayed at.

If you’re interested you can find more information on where to stay in Peneda-Gerês national park with your dog here. Just don’t lock yourself out on the terrace like I did!

HOW TO VISIT PENEDA-GERÊS NATIONAL PARK WITH YOUR DOG

In order to get to Peneda-Gerês national park with your dog, I would recommend a car.

There are a number of roads through the national park that you can take by car, but please do be careful: The roads tend to be narrow and often there is no protection that would prevent you from going off the cliff.

Drive mindfully and honk your horn before going around a bend if you can’t see the other side!

In and around the park, there are a number of Posto de Turismo (tourist information posts) where you can get a map as well as some pointers on how to move around the park. There are also some signposts in the park to help you with navigation. Please do be aware that in many areas of the Gerês national park you will not have any cellphone coverage. So do ensure that you have all the necessary information before you head out.

I have to admit that I went into this adventure a little blue eyed. I figured we would get there and then there must be some short and easy trails to do with my pup, right? Right? Well, not so much, to be honest.

While there are plenty of hiking trails, even the short ones denoted with PR (yellow/red route marks) often take 3-4 hours and go through difficult terrain. Not exactly ideal for my dog, and if I’m honest: Not really for me either. So in the end, we took a different approach!

TAKING A GUIDED TOUR IN PENEDA-GERÊS WITH YOUR DOG

After trying to explore Gerês by ourselves on day one and feeling a bit lost, I decided to go for a tour in a jeep on the second day. Hiring a guide or going on a guided tour is a good alternative to discovering the national park on your own.

I took a jeep tour with Gerês Rails and I can recommend it. Of course, my pup was welcome to join the tour as well.

There were many highlights that we loved during the tour. We saw the Tahiti waterfall first, followed by the village of Ermida.

There are actually a number of small villages in the Gerês national park. According to our guide, the inhabitants mostly live off farming and keeping animals. Products from the national park include sparkling wine, honey as well as herbal tea!

Next up was the waterfall of Arado, or “Cascata do Arado” in Portuguese.

As is often the case, the amount of water that is carried depends on the season. Our guide showed us a picture of this waterfall during winter and it was a big difference for sure.

After visiting the Arado waterfall, we made our way to the next viewpoint.

The following stop in the tour was called “Pedra Bela” which means beautiful stone in Portuguese.

I definitely understood the name once we got up there: The view from the top is gorgeous.

You can see the Cávado river in all its glory from this spot. The Cávado is one of multiple rivers that are located in Peneda-Gerês. Another river in the Gerês national park is the Homem, or “Man’s river”. Both of these rivers actually have dams that are used for energy generation.

Up next on the tour was the Cascata da Albergaria, another waterfall in the Gerês national park. This one was probably my dog’s favorite part, because it was very inviting to get in and enjoy the shallow water for a bit. She definitely enjoyed her bath in the pond. Of course, be mindful that you are near a waterfall, keep your dog leashed and proceed with caution!

My personal highlight of the tour was encountering some mountain goats on the approach to the final viewpoint. The goats are allowed to roam freely through the park and we came across a few groups of them, always accompanied by a dog. Imagine my surprise when a herd of goats was casually hanging out on the road! It was a great experience.

Overall, I do recommend taking this tour. While you will spend most of the time in the vehicle, the guide will take you to different viewpoints and waterfalls and give you plenty of information about the area. I definitely saw and learned more on the tour than I would have while trying to navigate on my own. Plus, I was able to enjoy the views from the backseat of the jeep rather than trying to drive the narrow roads on my own.

At some of the points in the tour, there was also a short walk or some stairs to take to lead up to a viewpoint or a point of interest, so you do get to stretch your legs and experience some of the park by foot as well.

A private 4hour tour costs 70 EUR, or 25 EUR if you are sharing with other people. To me, it was money well spent! Still, I have to be honest: There were plenty more places along the way where I would have loved to stop and get out of the car to explore a bit and take pictures. So perhaps taking the tour and then coming back for more time at some of your favorite spots is the best combination.

HOW LONG IT TAKES AND WHO IT’S FOR

You can spend as little or as much time as you want in the Peneda-Gerês national park. From just driving through it by car to taking multi-day hikes, it is all possible. The jeep tour that we took was around 4hours long, so that plus some time to enjoy the park on your own would make for a good day-trip.

If you are taking a tour or driving with your own car, you can park directly by some of the viewpoints so some of the park is truly accessible for anyone. If you want to do any hiking, you better come seriously prepared (I’m talking walking sticks and all!).

One thing I can definitely recommend is coming in the off-season. I visited in May and it was already starting to get quite hot during the day – I can’t imagine it in summer. I would suggest coming as early as March or April, especially if considering serious hikes.

THE BOTTOM LINE

This was a nice trip with some impressive views and my pup certainly enjoyed getting into the water. However, I honestly prefer to get to know places on foot rather than from the car, so it was not one of my all time favorite places.

Overall, I’d say it makes for a nice day-trip if you are nearby. However, unless both you and your furry companion love intense hikes it’s probably not the best place for a trip with your dog.