The best running trails around Santiago Da Guarda

Ansião is a Portuguese municipality of about 13,000 inhabitants located in the district of Leiria, in the historical region of Centro. This charming village is renowned for its strategic location along the Portuguese Way of Santiago de Compostela and for being immersed in the natural landscape of the Sicó limestone massif.

Known as Serra da Portela or Serra do Anjo da Guarda, this is a natural viewpoint overlooking the Pousaflores Valley, where the landscape is filled with life and aromas. Wild orchids, rupicolous plants, "cucas" (a type of gourd), wormwood, and the fresh scent of thyme, which wafts away with every step, flourish among the limestone rocks. Here, atop Monte da Ovelha, human presence has left its mark: traditional windmills, a small chapel dedicated to the Guardian Angel, the Stations of the Cross for Good Friday, and initiatives celebrating bread and cornbread. It's also a place made for lingering: sitting at a table, lighting a grill, or simply gazing out.

Calm yet vigorous, the Nabão River originates here, in the enigmatic Olhos d’Água de Ansião, where the water bursts from the rock and sees the light for the first time. In the heart of the Sicó Massif, the landscape here reveals itself shaped by water and limestone: gentle valleys, small floodplains, and an underground world of hidden galleries that reappear on the surface in seasonal springs.

At the entrance to Ansião, the Ponte da Cal bridge crosses the serene Nabão River. Built in the 17th century, it formed part of the old road axis between Coimbra and Lisbon and reveals, beneath its two perfect arches, curious marks sculpted by time. Popular memory links it to the passage of Queen Saint Isabel, inspiration for the old bathing tanks next to the bridge (one for women, the other for men). Legend says that the waters became miraculous after the queen refreshed herself here, giving rise to the famous "holy baths". The small chapel was built to mark this devotion.

The Santiago da Guarda Monumental Complex is an unmissable stop, where history unfolds in layers. Classified as a National Monument, it stands out for its Manueline elegance, its 14th-century manor tower, and the impressive Roman mosaics that reveal an ancient villa from the 4th and 5th centuries. The old road between Tomar and Coimbra passed through here, later used by pilgrims on their way to Santiago. Surrounded by the limestone landscape and oak groves of the Serra de Sicó, the place invites you to slow down and take a deep breath. Take the opportunity to chat with the hospitable people.

In the hills of the Serra de Sicó, the windmills of Outeiro dot the landscape like echoes of a time when homemade bread sustained local life. Rotating, made of wood and set in stone circles, they turned with the wind, an invention of Afghan origin. Reconstructed to preserve the memory, today they also offer a privileged viewpoint over valleys and mountains.

Between Alvorge and Junqueira stretches a forest that seems straight out of a green fairy tale. At the entrance to Junqueira there is a picnic table, but it is as you venture through the dense vegetation that the magic happens: in a few steps, the human world is left behind and everything is reduced to silence, shade and pure air. It's a brief but intense immersion in nature, one of those that renews your breath before returning, almost without realizing it, to your usual rhythm.

Cabeço de Trás-de-Figueiró is one of those places where the view is everything: the valley opens up in a wide expanse, perfect for photographs, contemplation… and unforgettable sunsets, whenever the sky decides to cooperate. At the top, a swing invites you to enjoy the landscape with that playful touch that makes any moment seem longer.