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The Arribes del Duero

Salamanca, Zamora and Portugal · Spain

The Duero stops being a gentle river and for a hundred kilometres enters the deepest canyon in the Iberian Peninsula, forming the border between Spain and Portugal. On one side the Arribes natural park, on the other the Douro Internacional: together one of the largest protected areas in Europe, with vultures and golden eagles nesting in the walls. Above, granite villages where wine is grown on impossible terraces. And in Miranda do Douro they speak Mirandese, the only language in Portugal besides Portuguese to be officially recognised.

3 days2 nights138 km6 stopsBest season: March to May: the Pozo de los Humos runs with water, the almond and cherry trees are in blossom and the heat has not yet arrived. Autumn works too. In July and August it is very hot and the waterfall is usually dry.

Day 1The thousand cellars and the canyon Day 2Across the border and onto the water Day 3The dam and the waterfall

Day 1 · The thousand cellars and the canyon

Fermoselle and its viewpoints · 15 km

Antramir — CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

Fermoselle

culture

The capital of the Arribes, set high and ringed by vines and olive groves, a listed historic ensemble. They call it the village of a thousand cellars because beneath the houses runs a maze of wine cellars hand-dug into the granite, some of them on several levels, where the wine was made and kept.

Tip

The underground cellars are visited with a guide and must be booked: you cannot wander in. Ask at the park centre or the tourist office as soon as you arrive.

5 min to the next stop · 1 km

FLAVIVSAETIVS — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

The Fermoselle viewpoints

viewpoints

The Castillo lookout, over the old town, and Las Escaleras, on the edge of town, which leans over the canyon with the walls dropping sheer. Here the river forms the border between Spain and Portugal, and the canyon is the deepest in the Iberian Peninsula.

Tip

These are among the few viewpoints you reach by car without walking at all. And with luck you will see griffon vultures and golden eagles: the whole canyon is a nesting area.

Day 2 · Across the border and onto the water

Miranda do Douro and the cruise · 95 km

BrunoRino — CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

Miranda do Douro

culture

A walled town above the canyon on the far side of the river, with a 16th-century Renaissance cathedral and a ruined castle. And something almost nobody knows: Mirandese is spoken here, the only language in Portugal besides Portuguese to be officially recognised, since 1999, and spoken only in this corner of the country by a few thousand people.

Tip

Practical note: Portugal is an hour behind Spain. If you have booked the boat trip, check it twice, because that is the classic mistake and people miss the boat.

5 min to the next stop · 2 km

Gerry Labrijn from London, UK — CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

The environmental cruise

nature

Between an hour and an hour and a half, depending on the boat, sailing along the bottom of the canyon, with the walls dropping vertically on both sides, and on the Miranda boat, staff from the Biological Station explain the wildlife. It is the best way to see the Arribes from below, and from the water you grasp the scale in a way no viewpoint achieves.

Tip

There are several jetties and different operators, among them Miranda do Douro, the Playa del Rostro at Aldeadávila, and Vilvestre. You must book, and in season they fill up: do not count on buying a ticket on arrival.

Day 3 · The dam and the waterfall

El Fraile viewpoint and the Pozo de los Humos · 28 km

AnaisGoepner — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

El Fraile viewpoint

viewpoints

Six kilometres from Aldeadávila with car access right to the top, which makes it the park's most visited lookout. From the balcony you see at once the Aldeadávila dam, wedged between granite walls, and the canyon opening downstream.

Tip

Very close by, after a short walk, is the Picón de Felipe, less known and with a different perspective. If El Fraile is crowded, go to the other.

35 min to the next stop · 14 km

Antonio Esteban — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

El Pozo de los Humos

nature

A double waterfall with a fifty-metre drop on the river Uces, just before it joins the Duero. The name comes from the cloud of spray it throws up on hitting the bottom, which from a distance looks like smoke.

Tip

Important: the flow decides. From November to May it comes down hard and is spectacular; by late summer it can be a trickle. There are two approaches: from Masueco, which reaches the footbridge over the falls, and from Pereña, along a narrow dirt track, which leaves you at the facing viewpoint.

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