The best traffic-free bike rides around Fundão

At the top of Gardunha, almost 1,000 meters above sea level, stands the Castelo Velho site. From here, the view reaches the Castelo Branco plain and continues to the Tagus River, an endless horizon. Among balanced rocks, blocks sculpted by time, and curious granite forms, this place is a veritable open book of geology and a privileged viewpoint of the mountains.

In the heart of the Serra da Gardunha, the Historic Village of Castelo Novo rises from granite. The medieval village, marked by its Templar heritage and Manueline style, boasts a unique architectural heritage, from the castle to the Baroque fountains. The winding streets reveal stone houses, labyrinthine corners, and centuries-old memories. Between strolls and discoveries, there's no shortage of typical flavors: green eggs, toasted rice, tigelada, or chila pumpkin pastries. Here, your eyes and your stomach will feast.

Belmonte, one of the twelve Historic Villages of Portugal, is the home of Pedro Álvares Cabral and guardian of the country's largest Jewish community, a legacy that endured centuries of Inquisition. Between walls and memories, mystique and history abound, with the Serra da Estrela on one side and the Malcata Reserve on the other. The food completes the enchantment: Jewish flavors like fried offal coexist with broths, migas, esparregados, and traditional Beira sweets: rice pudding, papas de carolo, and filhós. Here, the landscape and the food merge into a delightful experience.

Classified as a National Monument, Belmonte Castle is an unavoidable symbol of the town's history. Built in the 13th century, it still preserves the imposing walls that form an open-air amphitheater, open to time and memory. In the 15th century, the fortress was transformed into a fortified manor house for the family of Pedro Álvares Cabral, the navigator who was born within these walls. A notable detail remains in the Manueline window of one of the facades: the family coat of arms carved into the granite, a true masterpiece from which you can see the Serra da Estrela mountain range.

Pedro Álvares Cabral, the man who gave Europe Brazil, was born high up in Cova da Beira, with the Serra da Estrela on the horizon. But the history of Belmonte begins much earlier: among dolmens, forts and the enigmatic Torre de Centum Cellas. A town of walls, synagogues and conquests, it was the scene of Romans, Jews and Portuguese heroes. Today, it continues to stand firm on a beautiful hill — true to its name and its legendary past.

Located just off the main road south of Guarda (which at 1,053 metres is the highest city in Portugal), it is one of twelve aldeias históricas (historic villages), a government-sponsored initiative to promote the immense heritage of the beautiful Beiras region. Belmonte’s most famous son is without doubt Pedro Álvares Cabral, a major figure of the Age of Discovery who was born in the village in 1467. As a young and very ambitious sea captain of just 32 years old, he commanded a fleet of thirteen ships with some 1,500 men that departed from the shores of Lisbon on the 9th of March, 1500. Six weeks later Cabral dropped anchor off the north-east coast of Brazil, becoming the first Portuguese navigator to reach South America. It was also the first known expedition to have touched all four continents of Europe, Africa, America and Asia. Built in the 13th century, Belmonte Castle (the village’s key attraction) became the birthplace of the young explorer in 1467 after his father received it as a loyalty payment from King Afonso V and adapted it as the Cabral family residence. One of the region’s most prominent landmarks, the castle offers today’s visitors fine views of the Estrela mountains and the surrounding Lower Beiras countryside from its towering keep, which stands proud at an altitude of 615 metres above sea level. Adjacent to the castle stands the church of São Tiago which is of the same period and has many interesting features, including a a painted 14th-century granite pietà and the pantheon of the Cabral family, although the navigator’s body now rests at the Convento da Graça in Santarém.

Except you cannot cross it by bicycle unless you lift it over concrete blocks at both ends.

Nice little lake, you can, but you don't have to see it