From Lisbon: Private Tour To Queluz, Mafra And Ericeira

We start this romantic tour through the Palace of Queluz, we continue to Mafra where we will visit the Convent / Palace of Mafra, we pass through the miniature village of José Franco and end in the wonderful village of Ericiera.

The National Palace of Queluz is an 18th century palace. Its construction began in 1747, although it is much smaller, it is often called “the Portuguese Versailles”. The National Palace of Queluz, a royal residence that, from the eighteenth century until the present, was always linked to the Portuguese equestrian tradition . One of the last large rococo-style buildings erected in Europe.

One of the wings of the Queluz Palace, the Dona Maria Pavilion, built between 1785 and 1792, is now an exclusive guest room for foreign heads of state visiting Portugal.

When in Mafra, we will get to know the National Palace of Mafra. It is composed by a palace and monastery monumental in baroque style joanino, in the German slope. Its construction began in 1717, it consists of 1200 divisions, more than 4700 doors and windows, 156 staircases and 29 courtyards and lobbies. The largest treasure of Mafra is its library, with marble floor, rococo style bookcases and a collection of more than 36 000 books with gold-plated leather bindings.

Located at the bottom of the second floor is the star of the palace, rivaling in grandiosity with the Melk Abbey Library in Austria, is 88 meters long, 9.5 meters wide and 13 meters high. The magnificent floor is covered in pink, gray and white marble. The wooden shelves are rococo style, located in two lateral rows and separated by a balcony. The Mafra library is also known for hosting bats, which help preserve the works.

Also the José Franco Village-Museum, located in the small town of Sobreiro, between Ericeira and Mafra, where one of the most recognized museums in the country is located.
In addition to the exhibition of the figures, visitors will find human scale replicas of castles’ walls, windmills, a playground, a small wine cellar where they can taste the local wine or even the bakery where they can buy the famous bread with chorizo, among others. In the Village of José Franco you can find: fieldwork, carpentry, windmills, chapels, grocery stores, schools, wineries, peasants and even a reproduction of the fishing village of Ericeira.

Our last stop is Ericeira, a fishing village also known for the practice of surfing due to the waves of the area, which surfers say are different. Like in the beach of the Ribeira d ‘Islands (world surfing reserve), the beach of the Coxos in Ribamar, among many others. Fishing port – counts on traditional boats and regular movement of jagozes (fishermen typical of the village).

Being the only world surfing reserve in Europe and third in the world, the parish is known worldwide for the ideal conditions for surfing and bodyboarding, in particular on the beaches of Foz do Lizandro and Ribeira D’Ilhas. Then we’ll go back to Lisbon.