Reriz and The Paiva valley in Portugal

Reriz nestles in a deep valley high in the mountain province of the Beira Alta of northern Portugal. It is in the Paiva valley, which is more or less midway between Porto and Coimbra and about 40miles inland (if you could go directly). Porto is about an hour and half drive up the motorway, Lisbon about three hours' drive. Santander is 380 miles by road which is an easy day's run.
The valley floor on which the house stands grows the warm 'Mediterranean' crops of grapes, olives and oranges. The sides of the mountains which rise to around 4,500ft are clad in pine forest while at the top they are open moorland. The village is changing rapidly as the twentieth century impinges on rural life but the province must still be one of the least developed in Europe. Where northern Portugal differs from other southern countries is in its abundant streams that keep the valleys green and fertile all year round. The beautiful river Paiva has splendid safe swimming, rapids, deep pools and sandy 'beache...