Rock Art of Portugal & Spain

We make the most of our time in the lovely town of Porto this morning with a guided walk through the key parts of the city, which have helped to make the town into the UNESCO heritage site it is today. We might visit the cathedral, or the Casa do Infante. After an early lunch, we board a train on a scenic journey along the green and pleasant Douro river valley towards Foz Côa and Pocinho. From here we will transfer to our hotel in preparation of our fist rock art sites tomorrow morning.

We begin appropriately, at Canada do Inferno, where the first petroglyphs were discovered in 1991. The chronology of rock art here encompasses all phases of Paleolithic art and the tradition of engraving continued during the Neolithic period. This afternoon we visit Fariseu, a site so unique that for a long time its authenticity remained the subject of hot debate and later in the early evening, we will take a trip up to Penascosa. By visiting in the evening with artificial light, we are able to see details in the artwork that cannot easily be picked out during daylight.

We return to the Côa Valley again today, this time venturing further to the Ribeira de Piscos. Some of the best known of all the regions images are to be found here including the ‘Man of Piscos’, a rare human figure etched into the rocks. After lunch we visit the Foz Côa Museum, housed in a beautiful contemporary building with plenty of space and light to view the displays. The museum tells the story not only of the at itself, but also its discovery and the fight to preserve the heritage of the region. Afterwards, we return to the Penascosa site to view it in daylight.

We take another lovely drive through rolling countryside to Siega Verde where we will explore many of the rock art sites, some of which date back twenty millennia. The site boasts a menagerie of prehistoric wildlife, from goat to bison and reindeer to woolly rhinoceros. Before returning to our hotel we stop at Castelo Rodrigo, a fortified medieval town with a well-preserved Gothic castle.  We will have some time to explore its winding streets at leisure before we head back to Foz Côa.

Before our return to Porto this afternoon, we make one final visit to the Foz Côa Museum, where we can explore at our own pace. After lunch we will make our way back to the station and board our train for our second trip along the river valley back to Porto.

We transfer to the airport and travel back to London today.