Serra da Estrela: Portugal's Highest Mountain in Winter

People are always surprised that Portugal has snow. It does, up on the Serra da Estrela, where the country's highest ground sits above 1,900 metres and the winter arrives properly, with frost on the car and woodsmoke hanging in the villages. It is not the Alps and it never pretends to be. What it is, is a mountain range you can drive into after lunch and still be eating soup by a fire at seven.

The Torre is the obvious target, the top of mainland Portugal, marked by a stone tower and, on a clear day, a view that runs out toward Spain. On a bad day it is a whiteout and a queue of cars fitting chains, so check conditions before you commit. The small ski area up there is modest, a few runs and a lot of families sledging, and honestly it is more fun than it sounds.

The better half of a trip here is lower down. Manteigas sits in a glacial valley with walls that look sculpted, because they were. Linhares da Beira and Belmonte have castles, granite streets and almost nobody about in January. Loriga, tucked into its own valley, is the sort of place where an old man will explain the whole geology of the region to you without being asked.

Eat well, because the mountain food here is serious. Queijo Serra da Estrela is a raw sheep cheese so soft in winter that you cut the top off and spoon it out onto bread. Add smoked sausage, a bowl of bean stew, and a bottle of Dão red. Nobody in this region will let you leave a table hungry.

Drive carefully, the roads narrow and ice in shaded corners, and pack more warm clothes than feels reasonable for a country you associate with beaches. Then find a guesthouse with a fireplace and stay two nights instead of one.