Mirandela

It’s around 65km from Vila Real to MIRANDELA, a neat provincial town on the Tua River that’s been making an improbable name for itself in recent years as one of the world’s jet-ski hotspots, hosting national and European championships. Otherwise, the town’s most striking feature is its pedestrianized Roman bridge, stretching a good 200m across seventeen arches. The riverside gardens and lawns are pleasant places to lounge around, while up the hill in the (very) small old town the grandiose Câmara Municipal is housed in the Palácio dos Távoras, one of several flamboyant Baroque town houses associated with the Távora family, who controlled the town between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries. There’s also a proper, old-fashioned market building (walk up pedestrianized Rua da República; the market’s best on Thursdays), while grocery stores and delis throughout town sell Mirandela’s famed olive oil and olives (much of it biológico, or organically produced). The town is also known for its alheira sausages, draped across shop windows and served in every restaurant.