Monsaraz

Rising out of the Alentejo plains lies Monsaraz. It looks so much like a traditional Portuguese village that it could almost be fake. The winding streets are dotted with artisan shops and restaurants, cobblestones lie beneath your feet and a ruined castle sits proudly overhead. We camped at the foot of this village completely by chance, pulling into a reservoir park up in the early evening as we needed somewhere to rest. We’d heard about the picturesque town of Monsaraz on the grapevine, but didn’t realise how close we were until we checked on our phones the next morning. Only 5 minutes away! We enjoyed the quiet streets in the fresh morning air before the tour buses arrived, picking up some Ginja (Portuguese cherry liqueur) to take back home, plus a bottle for the van of course. Monsaraz is a really, really pretty village. One that seems to have stopped in time.

On our way to Monsaraz, we pulled up to one park up option…an abandoned cemetery! If it was a little further on we might have stayed the night…