Visiting the National Park Peneda – Geres is a must. The national park is located in northern Portugal and is famous for all of its nature trails. Hiking, biking, going by car, or horseback riding are some of the options to explore the park. We ended up going exploring the park for 90 minutes on horseback. And oh, what an adventure!

National Park Peneda – Geres

The park borders between northern Portugal and Spain and is a UNESCO biosphere reserve. The park was created in 1971 and today there are about 900 people living inside the park. A lot of them are involved in tourism and work within the business. Hotels, restaurants, and different offerings of hiking are a big thing here. We stayed at Parque Cerdeira while visiting the national park.

José, the owner of Parque Cerdeira ended up bringing us to meet Fernando. Fernando, the owner of Equicampo has seven horses and he takes people out horseback riding in the park. He has had this place for over 25 years and only takes smaller groups out horseback riding. We got to join Fernando for a tour and it was incredible. We went on roads, in terrain, and even on the mountain. Awesome at its best!

Getting our horses for the day

The beautiful horse that I got to spend some hours with was called Rodolfo. Mini got a beautiful one that was called Mr. Guapo which translates to pretty. After gearing up and getting up, it was time to visit the national park on horseback. Mini has not that big experience with horses and has only been riding several times. I used to have my own pony growing up and I was riding for about 9 years.

Now, I try to get back on the horse (pun intended) as often as I can. When we heard that we could go horseback riding inside the National Park Peneda – Geres. Rodolfo was filled with energy and didn’t mind trotting slowly behind Fernando. Mr. Guapo was super strong so Mini had his work cut out for him. We left the stable ready to explore the park and the environment.

Visit The Douro Valley in Northern Portugal during your trip!

A awesome tour with Equicampo

We went along roads, small streams, pastures, and mountains, all in 90 minutes. We even got to ride along the old Roman road. During the whole trip, we had a whistling Fernando in front of us. If there were to be a competition in whistling, he would win! I can’t say what kinds of songs he was whistling but, one thing for sure – it fitted perfectly with the riding tour. At first, I thought that he was whistling because his horse was a bit scared.

However, we soon noticed that this was something that was part of the riding. And it was soothing, to say the least. After walking for a while, we got to do some trotting too. It was so impressive to see how well Mini did on Mr. Guapos back. The only downside was that he wasn’t able to photograph during our excursion. He had his hands full on keeping the horse and, himself in line – and in the saddle 😉.

Thank you Fernando for taking some pictures of us to remember our trip!

Meditation on horseback

There is something special about horseback riding. We took it nice and easy. The only part where I feel that I kind of” missing out” was when Fernando said that we would be riding on the old Roman road. Apparently, it was an awesome stretch of road to gallop and feel the wind in your hair. Unfortunately, since Mini wasn’t that experienced – we ended up trotting a bit instead. In my mind, I was galloping my as off!

I was super proud of Mini and his riding skills. The only thing that is a bit sad is that he could not take a picture during the whole trip. He needed to focus on Mr. Guapo and couldn’t take photos at the same time. In the end, we did get some photos. I took some with my phone and Fernando was kind to take some too. But this moment was more about sitting on a horse, meditating, and listening to all the sounds of the National Park Peneda – Geres. And, of Fernando whistling of course.

A horse among goats

After walking and trotting, we headed up to the mountains. The horses were great at walking among rocks and the rocky terrain. And then we saw a flock of goats. I believe that this was the highlight of the tour. Getting to ride with so many goats that were heading out for their pasture. The horses didn’t mind the goats and just walked calmly past them.

An interesting thing was that there were some dogs watching the goats. The herders were inside cars. Now that’s, not what you expect right?! All in all, we had a great couple of hours with Fernando and his horses. After we got back, I got to cuddle with Rodolfo and boy did I enjoy that. There are several different options to choose from when going horseback riding. If you want, you can even ride through several days! When done with the horseback riding our tip is to go to the roman baths in Spain or explore Braga city in Portugal.

Information about Equicampo Geres

Address: Campo do Geres, 4840-030 Terras de Bouro.
Opening hours: According to reservation. Make sure to contact them before making arrangements.
Price: Depends on what kind of riding you want to do and how long you’ll be riding. A 90-minute tour costs 35 euros per adult.
Website of Equicampo in English.

Visit the unesco world heritage site bom jesus located outside of braga!