Exploring the schist villages near Lousã

This section of central Portugal is home to a number of villages constructed from schist (like slate).  They date from the 12th and 13th centuries but were largely abandoned in modern times as populations shifted from rural to urban areas.  Since 2000 there has been a program supported by the government of Portugal and the EU to restore some of the villages, primarily for tourism.  Tourism is starting to take hold in a few of the villages, built primarily around hiking and mountain biking.  We based here for a few nights in order to hike and explore this area.

There are eight designated and marked routes near Lousä.  For yesterday's hike we picked the PR2, a loop about 6 km long with about 600 m of elevation gain that passes through three of the villages.  We started at a castle just outside of town and were immediately headed uphill, sometimes gently and more frequently very steeply.

All along the trail were orange markers for a series of ultra races that follow many of these trails.

Shortly before reaching the first village, Talasnal, I took a detour down this very steep and rough track to check out a waterfall.

Talasnal is the most restored of the villages we visited.  There is a small bar and maybe a dozen rooms available for tourist rental.  Renovation work is in progress at several additional buildings in the village.

A rare level stretch of trail, just outside the village.

The next village along our route, Chiqeiros, was smaller and laid out primarily along this steep lane.

We stopped for a lunch break by this scenic viewpoint of the town below.  Just as we starting to hike again, a goatherd and his flock came by.

Descending through Castal Novo, and on down the trail.  Steep going up; steep going down.

And back to our starting point at the castle.

For today's hike we picked a more mellow route, the PR7, which loops through high forests with only about 350 m of elevation.  As we started out we saw a vehicle near our trailhead shuttling mountain bikers up the mountain.

Hiking and mountain biking trails are separate.  At one point on our route there was this sign warning us of the mountain bike trails that would be crossing.  There were many downhill trails and most we saw were impressively gnarly.  The pics show a couple of the mellower-looking stretches crossing our path.

A view across to Talasnal.

Before driving back to town from our trailhead we stopped in Talasnal to walk around a little longer than we had while hiking up yesterday, and snapped a few more pics of the village.  With all the restoration activity going on I expect this place will look very different five years from now.