The Village in Portugal With Six Secret Gardens, Two Hours From Porto - and No Tourist Buses

About two hours from Porto, in the Dão wine region, hides a Portuguese village few foreigners know - but which keeps some of the most beautiful terrace gardens in Europe. Santar doesn't sell itself loudly; that is precisely why it has been preserved.

The village is known for its many fountains, troughs and granite houses, but the real jewel is the centuries-old grand houses with their gardens. For a long time they were hidden behind walls - until in 2013 José Luís Vasconcelos e Sousa decided to open them to the public, removing the partitions and creating paths among the green spaces.

For the redesign he engaged the renowned landscape architect Fernando Caruncho, and so the „Santar Vila Jardim" route was born - six connected gardens, each with its own character.

There is a French rectangular garden with iron pergolas and water channels; a garden named after a 200-year-old magnolia, with a granite pond and a small vineyard; a vineyard planted in a large circle that follows the natural curves of the terrain, with wooden paths and a viewpoint. One garden of 8,500 square metres even includes local residents, who grow organic crops in their plots.

The oldest, Jardim da Misericórdia, leans against a church from 1637 and ends with a stone cross on a square base - a place for the view, not just for a stroll.

For those who want to stay overnight: the Valverde Santar hotel occupies a grand 17th-century house, originally given as a wedding gift, with 24 different luxury rooms, a spa and a pool. Santar is not a place for a quick tourist photo - it is a place for a slow stroll, which in today's world is almost an act of rebellion.