The village of Cabreira

Cabreira is a lovely village in the valley of the Ceira, lying 7 km from Gois and 9 km from Colmeal. At this stage in its course the river is serpentine, and Cabreira is one of a handful of villages that lies along its banks.

In the village itself are two cafes and a restaurant, where you can sample the traditional dish of goat cooked in wine. The narrow lanes of the village are shaded by plane trees, and the scents of wild mint and walnut trees waft on the breeze.
Just down from the village is the old olive press, where people from miles around would gather with their olive harvest, to party and convert their crop to olive oil. Quirky little houses made from xisto (a slate-like stone) were built to house the visitors, and are still standing close to the beautiful Roman bridge that crosses the river to the press. Today the area is a popular swimming spot, where it is possible to swim upstream in crystalline water bordered by vines and olive trees.

Twisting tracks make their way up the steep sides of the valley, that are covered in pine and arbutus trees. This is a magical place to experience nature close at hand: a lizard basking on the wall in the sunshine, or a wild boar glimpsed by the road side at sunset. In the river are some of the finest brown trout in Europe, and fly-fishing is a popular sport.