When you visit the Alentejo, the small town of Marvão has to be on your travel list. Especially for a daytrip, Marvão is the perfect place to go and to enjoy a day in this calm and authentic town in the Alentejo. With this small travel guide, we show you how we spent the perfect day in Marvão. Besides that, we give you some tips of where to eat and what to do in Marvão.
Discovering Marvão in the Alentejo like a local
After our arrival which guided us through some beautiful streets up to the hill of the town, we parked our car at one of the parking lots in front of the town walls. Especially during summer, it can become quite hot up there, so bring enough water and sun protection with you.
The first part of the day, we just walked through Marvão and discovered the small town without any specific target. We can highly recommend starting your daytrip to Marvão like this, because it gives you the opportunity to fully enjoy the authentic atmosphere. On top, you don’t need to put pressure on yourself that you will miss out any places. Like any other small town in the Alentejo, you will have enough time to discover everything throughout the day. What we can recommend is to walk until the beautiful garden of the castle. From here, you have wonderful views over the region and you can take a rest as well as enjoy the atmosphere.
Where to eat for lunch and what to do in Marvão
For lunchtime, we decided to head over to Hotel El Rei Dom Manuel where you can enjoy traditional Portuguese cuisine. As it was a hot summer day, we decided for fish and a soup which was quite good and not expensive at all. With a filled stomach, we continued our discovery and headed over to Porta de Marvão. From there, we enjoyed the view and discovered some unique art work at Lita Quiosque. Whenever the weather is good, she displays her handmade artwork for sale.
A few steps away from Lita Quiosque, we also went to Marvão Com Gosto where we bought some food products from the region. The owner is very nice and we talked a lot about Marvão and the Alentejo. After that, we decided to climb the hill again and to visit the Castle of Marvão. The entry fee is with 2,50€ very affordable and worth to pay. Inside the castle, you learn a lot about Marvão’s history and you will be rewarded with breathtaking views.
Best sunset in the Alentejo from Jardim do Castelo de Marvão
Approximately 90 minutes later, we went back to the garden of the Castle of Marvao where some regional producers also sold some local products. It’s probably the best place to buy honey from Marvão and to get in touch with the people of the Alentejo. However, always keep an eye on these market stands because their opening hours seem to be flexible.
To end your day, we can recommend you to stay until the sunset starts to set in. Therefore, the Jardim do Castelo de Marvão is the perfect place to enjoy the sunset in Marvão. The calm atmosphere even emphasizes the impression that this place in the Alentejo is really a special one. We will for sure come back and hope you will enjoy your stay just like we did.
Fun fact: There is a loud parrot in Marvão who can be heard through the entire town. Always keep your ears and eyes open, so that you will also find the parrot.
