All sports
If you want to work off all that fine fare or just want other ways to get your sweat on then the hotel also has a full cycle centre offering rental of every sort of bike from full suspension to electric bikes, hybrids, road bikes and fat bikes. For the little ones, cycle seats and child trailers are also available. Every type of terrain is well catered for and the hotel even has a covered pump track to tear up on bike or skateboard. They also offer sales and service and you can even courier your own bike to the hotel if you wish. The staff can point you to local trails or organize group cycles and GPS units are available for hire to aid distant ventures. We opted for exploring the boardwalked trails around the beach, which made for a great start or end to the day. Cycling the ‘fat bikes’ on the beach is a unique experience I’d thoroughly recommend and the area also offers superb terrain for trail running or trekking in the hills also.If you want to keep it on the water there is a full range of surfboards and bodyboards to hire and the centre offers JP hard and inflatable SUP’s to rent as well as carbon and glass paddles. A great family / group option is the centre’s monster SUP’s that can carry everyone on one board with guaranteed hilarity. The area is famed for windsurfing and kitesurfing, with hire and instruction also available and they even offer sailboat and dinghy hire and instruction as well as cruises and yacht charter on the river through their parent company – www.feelDouro.com .
City culture
The city of Viana do Castelo is just a few kms away and a great option is exploring it using the hotel’s electric bikes or the hotel has a water taxi that can bring you into town – they will even carry the electric bikes onboard if you’re feeling extra lazy! The old narrow streets beg to be discovered and in an innovative move the local council offers incentives for people to live in the city so ensuring there’s life in the centre rather then deserted streets in the evenings. The range of architecture – Manueline, Renaissance, Baroque or Art Deco – is a rich visual feast but to really appreciate the beauty of the area take the funicular railway to the top of the hill that overlooks the city where you will be rewarded with amazing views and get to explore the ornate 20th-century Basilica of Santa Luzia, the Temple of the Sacred Heart of Jesus built on the western spur of the Santa Luzia mountain that dominates the city’s skyline.
