Arriving by Air?
The nearest International Airport to here is Porto and an alternative is Lisbon. British Airways fly from Heathrow and Gatwick. TAP (Air Portugal) flies out of Heathrow and Manchester. Ryanair and Easyjet have services from Stansted, Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool and Dublin to Porto. Portugalia also operates scheduled flights to Portugal from within Europe. Opodo (online bookings) is worth checking out for prices.
Directions
Important! In this part of Central Portugal some GPS navigation systems lead along a route in villages where you’d rather don’t want to be with a camper or caravan. Therefore we advise you strongly to follow the directions described below, especially during the last part of the trip.
From Lisbon: On leaving Lisbon, take the (toll) motorway A1 Norte–E80, heading north and continue until you reach turnoff 13 towards Coimbra.
From Porto: Take the (toll) motorway A1 Sul-E80 and follow the signs south for Lisbon (approx 95 km) until you reach turnoff 13 towards Coimbra.
After turnoff 13 take the IP3 in the direction of Viseu and Guarda. Follow the IP3 for approx 25 km. Here you also take the turnoff 13 and follow the IC6 towards Covilhá and Oliveira do Hospital. At the end of this IC-6 you turn right on a roundabout and follow the signs Covilhá and Oliveira do Hospital. After 400m you reach a second roundabout. Her you turn left on the N17 and follow the signs Oliveira do Hospital. Follow this road for a few kilometers and you will see on the left a sign indicating the direction of Covas. Ignore (!) this first sign and drive on into the village of Venda da Esperanca were you turn left on the CM 1308 and head in the direction of Covas. Follow this road for approx 3,5 km until the end were you come on a major junction. Here turn right in the direction of Vila Nova do Oliverinha. Follow this undulating road for about 600 metres until you cross over a bridge with green iron railings. About 200m further along make a sharp right hand turn and then turn right yet onto an unsurfaced road. After a further 50m cross over another road and here you will see the Quinta do Retiro lying in the valley below, on the right hand side. Campers and cars with caravans can be parked on the parking.
