Parque das Serras do Porto

Beautiful location with long hiking trails and not too far away from the city of Porto. There are various paths to choose from and it can be done by bike or on foot though I think the people who built them were thinking more of runners. Down by the river you can find a lot of the indigenous species of trees, which are oak, chestnut and cork. The river Ferreira flows down the middle of the park and you can spot bee farms along the banks. Now why did I knock a star off? Well, on the weekends you get a lot of the off-road and dirt bike crowd, and we still don't have electric 4x4s and dirt bikes as everyday equipment so it can get a bit noisy, which isn't nice when you've got your kids with you. I mean no offence to them, off-roading is a lot of fun and it's no wonder people do it but it still has the downside of being too loud. Also the village of Couce isn't in great shape. On the plus side, if you want to see authentic Portugal, it doesn't get more authentic than this, you can be sure. What I find really disappointing are the overabundance of eucalyptus trees. They are the bane of Portugal's forests. And this place is full of these horrible things. Fire-prone, plant-poisoning, ugly, thirsty parasitic scourge I would like to see gone.

Lovely place for a hike among eucalyptus trees and the river in winter, though it's a little hard to get to without private transport. We walked from Valongo station (takes about 40 mins before you reach the start of the ecological corridor trail) and popped by the Lidl for supplies before the walk. Was wondering, though, what the deforestation on the mountains was about -- is this a protected area? A eucalyptus plantation? The nature sights were lovely but it was quite disheartening to witness the deforestation so close. Tip: Would avoid and walk past (instead of through) Couce village due to angry dogs.

Excellent to visit if you are looking for more than a city (Porto). You can visit the largest underground roman gold mining site of the world!

Still needs a little care, but an excellent park.

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