Casa dos Sonhos the House of Dreams

Exchange for the good life. This is a 150 year old former cart makers workshop and our holiday home (see website for details and reviews) its in the heart of the Sao Mamede natural park surrounded by nature including the cottages 220 olive trees and over 50 different fruit and nut trees and its organic help yourself to vegetable garden.

The cottage has a private swimming pool and plenty of space for relaxing on outdoor furniture and hammocks, we have a wendy house, trampoline, boxing bag and gloves in the cottage grounds to play with.

Large superking size bedroom the bed is 2 meter x 2 meter and small bunk bed room with adult sized bunk beds.

Open plan kitchen living room and dining room, lots of space inside and out for relaxing with an organic all you can eat help yourself to vegetable garden and fig tree dripping with fresh figs!

We have friendly animals (none of which are allowed into your guesthouse) you can help to feed the donkey, sheep, chickens and collect their eggs, stroke the outdoor cat and dog and see the peacock and his peahen and our pot bellied pig. You can feed, brush and pet although no animals are allowed into the exchange house. We DO NOT expect you to take care of any of our animals, but if you wish to walk the donkeys, or brush them, or walk the sheep, or cuddle the rabbits, or collect the chickens eggs, feed the pig your food scraps and so on you are more than welcome and we will teach you how to take care of them. Because of our animals we only accept non simultaneous exchanges so that we will be on site in our separate cottage to take care of the animals. Depending on the time of year there will be baby lambs, chicks and baby rabbits as well as baby peacocks.

The house is non allergenic (despite the animals) it does not have carpets having slate stone floors and we do not use air fresheners or toxic chemicals, none of the animals are allowed into the guest house and we do not accept any pets, sorry!

Our swimming pool although only small is very inviting during the hot long summer and we also have a foot bath and outdoor shower by the pool.

We have an inflatable kayak (2 adult) with pump for you to use on the nearby rivers and lakes.
We have a full size basketball hoop with movable stand and balls.
We have many bicycles in different sizes for you to borrow.
There’s a boxing punch bag and gloves, go cart (up to 50kg) and trampoline (up to 250jg) so plenty for the young and young at heart!!

We also have our handmade yurt in the cottage grounds which sleeps an additional 2 people in our antique double bed, watch the stars though the clear domed skylight and hear nature all around you!

We have exchanged for many years and the outdoor space is only for your use during the exchange you won’t see us unless you want to!

Free wifi with Netflix and YouTube smart tv (no other channels).
We provide a detailed folder of activities and a walking route map which is also suitable for mountain bikes and we also have a number of bicyles available for your use and an inflatable kayak and go kart and full size basketball net with balls.

About the location

We provide rustic accommodation in a distinctive part of Portugal`s Alentejo. Hide away and detach from the busy world and listen to the sounds of nature, birdsong and distant goat bells. This is a truly unspoilt natural environment and an ideal holiday destination. To get away from it all, come here.The Alto Alentejo is an exceptional part of unspoilt Portugal its full of character, barely touched by tourism and steeped in history. From the many roman and megalithic sites, to the cobbled lanes that wind through cork oak woods and over panoramic rocky ridges giving views that stretch for miles.In Spring the wildflowers carpet the hillsides and olive groves and the land surrounding the cottage, and eagles, vultures and storks flying high overhead are a common sight. Visit nearby castle villages including Marvao or walk or cycle to Alegrete with its castle walls and viewing platforms, or simply relax by your own private swimming pool, cook a BBQ and sleep it off on a sunbed or hammock.

Our cottage is a peaceful rural retreat surrounded by the Sao mamede natural park. The 44km long park was created in 1989 with the aim of protecting wildlife and unusual plants and preserving local traditional life. The park contrasts with the rolling plains of grain and oak that typify the Alentejo because it comprises a higher area provided by granite, quartzite and schist more characteristic of the Iberian plateau that covers the northern parts of Spain. Within this protected region the mountain range known as the Serra de Sao Mamede at 1025 metres overlooks the vast plains of the Alentejo and into Extremadura in Spain.

Getting to my home
The nearest International Airport is Lisbon which is 2 hours drive along very easy empty roads with great scenery to keep passengers occupied. There’s also an airport at Badajoz in spain which is 40 minutes away and has flights from Barcelona and Madrid .
Portalegre has great bus connections throughout Portugal the buses are quite luxury with reclining seats and wifi but no toilets however the bus drivers will stop enroute for toilet breaks the bus from Lisbon takes 2 1/2 hours and Portalegre is 30 minutes from the cottage.

Getting around
Village deliveries to the cottage gates and shops 10 minutes drive away. The Parque Natural da Serra de Sao Mamede in which the cottage sits is a protected nature reserve of some 31000 hectares in the north eastern tip of Alentejo on the border of Portugal and Spain. Much overlooked but easy to reach from the new Lisbon to Madrid highway.

Conditions of exchange

Facilities

Nearby