Schist Villages in Central Portugal

I'm not familiar with that area, but ViaMichelin is usually suggested for planning driving routes. Folks who've used it tend to think the driving-time estimates are a bit optimistic, though.

I realize that you need names of villages before VM will be helpful. You may find coverage of that area of Portugal in the appropriate Rough or Lonely Planet guidebook.

Just google "Schist village Portugal" and you should see what your looking for.

Earlier this month, the Washington Post had an article1 on such villages. Check it out for some specific places that you might want to see.

Julie Dawn Fox is a British woman who lives in Portugal and writes about things to visit throughout the country. She has written about the schist villages in the last year. You might check out her website for her info.

Gondramaz is a nice one, located in Serra da Lousã. Talasnal, Pena, Aigra Nova, Aigra Velha, Candal, Chiqueiro, Cerdeira, Casal Novo are others also located at Serra da Lousã.

Piodão is not one of the 27th schist villages, but it is very worth a visit (80 km from Lousã).

We spent 3 nights in Lousa last September. We took one day trip to visit some of the Schist Villages. On one day we visited some of the sights in Lousa (the Castelo, Santuario de Nossa Senhora da Piedade, a stop at Miradouro de N.Sra. da Piedade), Cerdeira, Talasnal, and Casal Novo. We left around 11am and returned to Lousa around 4pm. There were also other villages not too far. Be aware that the roads are very narrow with lots of blind curves. We have driven in Ireland, Madeira, Sicily and many other countries but these were among the narrowest roads we have been on. On another day we visited Praia Fluvial das Canaveis and Gois, another interesting village. There were also other villages in that area. If you have any extra days you might want to look into Monsanto, which is unfortunately almost 3 hours from Lousa. It is a village built among boulders and really interesting to see. We spent 2 nights there although 1 night would have been enough to see the village, and many people go for the day only. We enjoyed our visits to these villages and discovered that the food in Lousa is among the best in Portugal. You might check out To dos Frangos which serves delicious cod fish and pork dishes as well as the grilled chicken and has some delicious desserts as well. I hope this information is helpful and that you enjoy your visits as much as we did!