Quinta de Silvares 

Quinta de Silvares is a really lovely villa on a fruit farm in the beautiful Douro Valley. We were there for the first two weeks of September and the weather was fabulous - 26-30 degrees Celsius and not a drop of rain. The whole property is very well equipped, especially the kitchen which includes a dishwasher and a washing machine. Although the villa is not air conditioned, there are fans in each room and the thick stone walls keep the inside relatively cool. The two bedrooms both have double beds and the main bedroom in particular is simply but stylishly furnished. The bed linen was of a very high standard. The bathroom is small but has both a bath and a very efficient shower. The Wi-Fi reception is good. Outside there is a terrace with table, chairs and sun shades with lovely views. Then there is the pool! It ranges from 1 metre to 1.9 metres in depth. I believe it is a salt water pool (so no nasty chemicals) which is cleaned by the owners every 2 or 3 days. Visitors with children need to know that the pool is just out of sight of the villa. There are plenty of sun beds, sun shades and things to keep the children amused e.g. lilos and balls. The view from the pool is stunning. The nearest supermarket is in Armamar which is approximately 10 minutes away by car. It is small but we found it had most of the things we wanted. There is a larger Intermarche about 15 minutes away in the opposite direction in Moimenta da Beira. The owner of the villa is Maria but as she does not speak English your communication is likely to be with her son, Alberto. We found that prior to our trip, any email enquiries were responded to promptly. Maria was there to meet us and despite the difference in languages managed our introductory tour very well! She was very helpful and friendly. Alberto speaks excellent English and was a very good host - never intrusive but we knew he would be on the end of phone if we needed anything. The villa is very well situated for exploring the most beautiful parts of the Douro Valley. Peso da Regua was about 30 minutes away by car and Pinhao about 40 minutes - these are the best places to find boat trips. Lamego, with various attractions including an excellent museum, is also only about 35 minutes away. You are also very well situated for the Varosa Valley Tour which means as long as you have your own transport you can visit five religious sites (monasteries, a convent and a very old church) at a ridiculously low price. We two oldies paid 7 Euros between us for a passport which gave us access to all the sites. They are all fabulous and well supported by exhibitions. The drives to these sites also take you out into lovely countryside. Another highlight was Casa de Mateus which gave its name to the wine which adorned 1970s dinner tables in its curious bulb shaped bottles. Make sure you do the tour of the house - it is fabulous inside and the gardens are interesting too. As I think you will have gathered, we loved Quinta da Silvares and would recommend it without hesitation.