Autumn walks in the Alto Alentejo

After a long hot summer we will return to crisp autumn days and a landscape full of rich colours with more agreeable teperatures. It's time to get your walking boots out to discover the delights of this region.
Walk through cork oak forests and olive grooves, along roman roads past ancient dolmens and through historic towns and villages.
Casa do Brasao in the small village of Barretos is perfectly placed for you to find all that this wonderful area has to offer. This stylish self catering cottage near Marvao and Castelo de Vide is the ideal base for your walking holiday, providing walking maps and other useful information to make your stay more enjoyable.

CASA DO BRASAO

The cork oak trees at our self catering cottage near Marvao

Our cork oak bark has at last been harvested.
Ever since purchasing Casa do Brasao we have been wondering when it would happen as it is only harvested every nine years, leaving a beautiful rich red hue to the trunk.
Traditionally cork was a strong industry here with Portugal supplying 50% of the total world production. Over recent years we have seen the importance of this industry decline primarily due to the introduction of plastic corks in bottles. However this ecological material is making a come back in lots of different ways, e.g. roads, boats, tiles, insulation and lot of other products.
It would be good to think that our small contribution would go to the traditional bottle of wine like the locally produced Pedra Basta, a great red wine from the slopes of the Serra de Sao Mamede, named after the stone granite found in the vineyard.
And now our cottage has a rejuvenated look, blending in perfectly with it's natural surroundings.
A STYLISH SELF CATERING COTTAGE NEAR MARVAO