If you are a nature lover, a horse whisperer, a foodie and wine lover or just someone who seeks the autumn sun and loves outdoors, I suggest to spend a weekend at São Lourenço do Barrocalin the Alentejo, Portugal. It is a two-hour drive from Lisbon, but its worth it as you’ll find a different world, so close to nature with all the comfort you need for golden autumn days, never a dull moment as there are so many things to do.
In between olive groves you can do horseback riding to the big lake Alqueva or go for a walk on a trail in the vineyards.
Get closer to nature and start watching birdlife in Barrocal and get to know the beauty of aSong thrush, a Nightingale or an Iberian imperial eagle. Take an outdoor photography class and learn how to photograph in shelter vs. approach to subject.
Spend the afternoon being creative outdoors, painting with natural materials, like rudimentary utensils like stones, sticks, feathers, wool, natural dyes (mineral and vegetable) and see how natural materials make you more creative.
Learn how to cook in a prehistorical manner, using only produce foraged in the Barrocal estate, like natural and healthy ingredients to make salads, teas, and sweets. Create your own pottery with clay collected in the soils of the estate.
And by the end of a busy day visit the Susanne Kaufmann Spa Barrocal, a place of beauty, relaxation and holistic comfort, offering a wide range of spa treatments and organic treats perfectly tailored to the needs of the face and body, providing you with a sensorial experience and natural care. Skin competence and various highly effective treatments, plant ingredients, traditional applications and massage techniques, complement each other and are combined here into intensive, lasting experiences.
