Amarante

Amarante is a beautiful city in Northern Portugal, and a popular pilgrimage destination. Amarante sits on a hill overlooking the bucolic river Tamega. In the distance stands the gorgeous mountain, serra do Marão.

Understand
Amarante (uh-muh-RUHN-t(ih), /ɐ.mɐ.ˈɾɐ̃.tɨ/) has a city population of over 11,000 (2011), with over 56,000 residents in the entire municipality. Since 2017, it has been a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network for music.

By plane
The most convenient airports for Amarante are (in order of distance):
 * Aerodrome of Vila Real - The small airfield in the neighbouring city of Vila Real receives some domestic flights.
 * Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport - Porto - Porto is served by Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport  - which receives frequent flights from major European cities, including London, Madrid, Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Brussels, as well as some destinations within the country, such as Lisbon and Madeira/Funchal. TAP also has a daily direct flight from São Paulo and another one from Rio de Janeiro.
 * Portela Airport - Lisbon, the largest Portuguese airport, has air connections with the main cities in Europe and some in North and South America, Africa and Asia.

By train
There is no train.

By bus
The bus station is about 3 minutes from the city centre. There are buses arriving from various destinations across the country and departing for as many.

Twice a day, every week, Rodo-norte operates a bus service between Lisbon and Amarante, one at 11:00 and the other at 18:00, for the price of €18. In addition to these buses, Rodonorte also has buses from Porto (5 times a day, at 07:00, 14:30, 16:30, 18:00 and 21:20; price: €6.40) and Viana do Castelo (Monday to Friday, at 08:30); price €10.80), among other destinations. See the website for more information.

By car
The best way to drive to Amarante is using the A4 motorway if you are coming from Porto or the IP4 Expressway if you are coming from the north or Spain. Just take any exit towards Amarante and you will be 5 min from the city centre. The city is about 1 hour from Porto and 5 hours from Lisbon.

On foot
Amarante is a small town and you can easily see all its monuments on foot - in addition, cars cannot enter most streets in the historic centre, and you can see the city much better on foot.

By car
Driving is a bad idea in Amarante. At some times of the year, Amarante is invaded by visitors, who fill the streets, creating an impossible traffic, and occupy the car parks, of which there are only a few. Nor is it necessary to take the car, as the city is so small that it can be covered entirely on foot.

Events

 * Romaria de São Gonçalo First weekend in June. The city's visiting card, it is celebrated in honour of São Gonçalo, a matchmaker saint whose cult is associated with fertility and who lived in Amarante. It is customary for single women to embrace the saint and ask him for a husband. At the same time, there is an annual fair, a folklore festival, a competition for drums, bullfights, livestock competitions, a festival and fireworks held simultaneously.

Activities

 * A beautiful view of the city. Cross the bridge to the south side (for reference, the monastery is on the north side) and go to the river bank. From here you have a great view of the bridge, the monastery and the houses that are on the river bank. If you prefer a more "aerial" view, go up the stairs to the Church of São Domingos, from where you enjoy a beautiful view of the monastery, the river and the opposite bank, and go along Rua Frei José Amarante until the Santa Clara square, from where he enjoys the best view of Amarante, seeing the south bank of the river, a good part of the north bank, and the entire monastery, including the cloisters, where the Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso Museum is installed.
 * Pedal boats: On the river bank (go down Alameda Teixeira de Pascoaes until you reach some pedestrian walks; go down until you reach a strange looking building, the market; go to the back of the market and go to the river bank) you can see a series of pedal boats that you can rent, and that offer a great view of the river and the bridge. It doesn't have a good view of the city, but you can still see some of its buildings, like the monastery. A good way to pass the time.
 * A beautiful view of the city. Cross the bridge to the south side (for reference, the monastery is on the north side) and go to the river bank. From here you have a great view of the bridge, the monastery and the houses that are on the river bank. If you prefer a more "aerial" view, go up the stairs to the Church of São Domingos, from where you enjoy a beautiful view of the monastery, the river and the opposite bank, and go along Rua Frei José Amarante until the Santa Clara square, from where he enjoys the best view of Amarante, seeing the south bank of the river, a good part of the north bank, and the entire monastery, including the cloisters, where the Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso Museum is installed.
 * Pedal boats: On the river bank (go down Alameda Teixeira de Pascoaes until you reach some pedestrian walks; go down until you reach a strange looking building, the market; go to the back of the market and go to the river bank) you can see a series of pedal boats that you can rent, and that offer a great view of the river and the bridge. It doesn't have a good view of the city, but you can still see some of its buildings, like the monastery. A good way to pass the time.

Buy
There are no shopping centres in Amarante. These are your options.


 * The historic centre of Amarante is full of shops, mainly in the area around the monastery. Throughout the centre you can find shops and traditional drugstores that are quickly disappearing in big cities.
 * Market Every Wednesdays and Saturdays. Here you can find a little bit of everything, mainly clothes, but also fabrics, food and all kinds of trinkets, depending on the day you go.
 * Rua do Capitão Augusto Casimiro. A beautiful modernist building, surrounded by trees, where you can find various types of food, but little else.

Eat
The geographical location of the city, between the Minho/Douro Litoral and the Trás-os-Montes (although officially belonging to the Douro Litoral) directly influenced the Amarantine gastronomy, which contains characteristics of all these provinces. Nowadays, the Amarantine cuisine is based on hypercaloric dishes (bad destination if you are making a fortune or if you are vegetarian) such as the mountain goat, the arouquesa and maronesa veal, the feijoada, the tripe, the Portuguese stew, the cod, etc.

Particularly famous is the codfish from Zé da Calçada and Custódia, which were once the two most important restaurants in the city, vying for customers and trying to present the best cod. (Custody cod is no longer known by that name). Also common is chicken rice, whose main ingredients are chicken, rice and chicken blood. Amarantine sweets are also famous, namely egg sweets, which combine very well with Douro wine, produced not far from the city. Throughout the city, you can see pastries filled with delicious sweets, such as the papos-de-Anjo, the rockets, the lilies and the breezes of Tâmega. Also on the edge of the monastery, on small stands you can find typical sweets from the region, including phallic sweets, which (supposedly) serve to encourage young people to seek love,

Drink
The city is full of cafes and pastries filled with delicious sweets typical of the region.


 * Spark, Avenida Alexandre Herculano, Amarante. Located in front of the Tâmega River, it has a young atmosphere, despite being frequented by people of several generations. Bar with background music, very well frequented.
 * Spázio Ciber Café, Rua Cândido dos Reis, Sao Gonçalo de Amarante. Good music in a bar with internet available to customers and great air with a great atmosphere.

Go next

 * Vila Real
 * Chaves
 * Douro valley
 * Lamego
 * Porto
 * Guimaraes
 * Braga.