The weather cooperated for a special hike on our last Coimbra day. We drove half an hour into the hills to Lousã, passing through beautiful rural scenery on the way.

In many ways, rural Portugal reminds us of Albania. The topography is similarly wrinkled, and the small towns here feel about the same size as many we drove through in Albania. Portugal and Albania are at a similar latitude, so some of the plant life and plenty of the weather overlaps. Both small countries contain everything from snow-capped mountains to sandy beaches. But where Albanian architecture seems blocky and utilitarian (and ugly), rural Portuguese towns are almost universally charming with their neutral and whitewashed buildings and terracotta tiled roofs. Albanian towns rest under a layer of scattered trash, and the Portuguese prefer to keep their small towns tidy with even construction debris piled very neatly. Portugal has invested money into road engineering that eliminates some of the curves the land could demand, whereas Albania just pours asphalt in a line along the hillsides, daring all to defy carsickness.

We hoped to reach at least one schist village on our hike. These tiny villages high in the hills of rural Portugal are built from schist, a local stone. The houses fade into the landscape seamlessly, and you could easily miss seeing a village if you aren’t looking for it. Many of the villages were mostly abandoned at some point in the 1900s, and efforts to restore the villages and bring tourism their way have made obvious progress.

Our hike began a mile early due to road construction. After admiring Lousã’s pretty little ancient castle, we set off on the trail through a deep gorge and up, up, up to the village of Talasnal.

The three big kids are champion hikers. We logged over four miles and at least 1100 feet of elevation gain. These kids tend to set off at a jog and would be quickly out of sight if we let them. We rarely hear complaints while hiking, and I’m not even feeding them candy or snacks to get that result! They just love a good trail, and I love that about them!

Walking into Talasnal truly did feel like walking back in time. Although you can drive to this village, it’s a place you wouldn’t imagine seeing cars. And anyone who does drive here has to park in a little area outside of town, since you can only walk on the narrow pathways between houses. I kept thinking I’d see an old man riding his donkey, or hear the bells of a flock of sheep, like in Albania. But in the off-season and on a weekday, Talasnal was almost completely deserted (and very decked out for Christmas).

Having added on the extra mileage at the beginning, we didn’t want to push it and visit another village – next time! There are several nearby villages that make for a nice hiking loop (if you think gaining a bunch of elevation is nice 😊). So we ate our lunch in Talasnal and headed down, down, down.

Rain threatened, but we made it back to the car dry. We had a small world moment when some Helena people parked by us and asked questions about the road construction and trail. The guy’s daughter even went to high school in Polson!

All in all, the day was an easy win for the Hendrychs family. We’re happy to know we have loads of good hiking waiting for us at home, but we are definitely enjoying the unique hikes we have experienced on our trip.