Ponte de Lima's tourist office can provide information on half a dozen easy, illustrated walks, ranging from seven to 14 km. Almost everywhere around Ponte de Lima offers enticing walks through villages and cobbled lanes trellised with vines. Or visit Lagoas, 3km from Ponte de Lima on the road to Lanheses, for lovely walking in wetlands.
For some excellent longer walks and interesting drives for rainy days, there is a copy of Northern Portugal (Landscapes Countryside Guides S.) in the Mill.
The Peneda-Geres National Park is just a half-hour drive away from the mill. It is well worth a visit by anyone who loves mountain scenery: a drive to Lindoso will offer beautiful views, the chance to picnic by a castle and see the old “espiguieros” used to store grain off the ground and a gentle ramble through the hills if desired.
But walkers seeking something a bit more challenging in stunning scenery will be in their element. The park covers an area of 72,000 hectares with a diversity of flora and fauna. As tourism is still in its infancy here, walkers can really get away from it all in lush meadows and deciduous wooded valleys rising up to granite peaks of up to 1545 metres. The park is one of the last refuges of the wolf and golden eagle while it is also possible to see kites and woodland screech owls.