PR16Encostas do Tuela

Three villages and the slopes of the Tuela

This route connects three villages across the slopes of a river. It is not a riverside walk — it is a full circuit of the Tuela valley between Cidões, Brito de Baixo and Vilar de Peregrinos, from the river bed at under 400 metres altitude to the Baloiço Rural Castanea, above 800 metres. At nearly nineteen kilometres with around 700 metres of cumulative ascent, it is one of the most demanding walks in the network.

The reward lies in the contrasts: the quiet river, the villages that live off the land, and a viewpoint over Vinhais that few people know.

Cidões

The route is circular and begins and ends in Cidões, a small village with strong traditions: the Festa da Cabra e do Canhoto, on 31 October, opens the municipality's winter festivities with a giant bonfire in which the canhoto burns and with goat slow-cooked in iron pots for the communal meal. Outside the festival, Cidões is quiet, with stone houses overlooking the valley.

The banks of the Tuela

Between Cidões and Brito de Baixo, roughly six kilometres, the path follows the banks of the river Tuela, calm and gently graded. This is the lowest section of the route, and the coolest.

Brito de Baixo

Brito de Baixo sits beside the river, with a church and a fountain. Above the village stands the Capela de Nossa Senhora de Fátima, and between Brito and Vilar de Peregrinos the route follows a road — the most monotonous stretch of the circuit, save for the views that open out over the valley.

Vilar de Peregrinos

Vilar de Peregrinos, with the Igreja de São Salvador, is the highest village on the route. From there to the Baloiço Rural Castanea is around one kilometre.

The Baloiço Rural Castanea

The swing sits at the highest point of the route, at around 835 metres, and offers perhaps the finest vantage point over Vinhais. Between the swing and Cidões, the path descends more than 300 metres before rejoining the Tuela.

Two variants

Those who prefer a shorter circuit have two signposted alternatives from Cidões: the eastern variant, at eleven kilometres, which climbs to the Baloiço Rural Castanea without passing through Brito, and the western variant, at fifteen kilometres, which follows the river, Brito de Baixo and Vilar de Peregrinos without visiting the swing.