The best running trails around Pousaflores

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.

A charming historic bridge located in the municipality of Ansião, in the district of Leiria, Portugal. Probably built in the 17th century, this arched structure consists of two full arches and a gently sloping trestle deck. Beneath one of the arches is a stone basin, which, according to local tradition, was used by Queen Saint Isabel to bathe during her visits to the region.

Ansião is a Portuguese town in the Leiria District, in the former province of Beira Litoral and part of the Leiria Region in Central Portugal, with approximately 2,700 inhabitants. It is the seat of the Municipality of Ansião, which has an area of 176.09 km² and 11,632 inhabitants, subdivided into six parishes.

Santiago da Guarda offers an interesting monumental complex that includes a medieval tower from the 15th century (which has an older matrix); a late Roman villa (dating from the 4th-5th century), discovered in 2002, with a magnificent collection of Roman mosaics; and finally the Paço dos Vasconcelos, or Palace of the Counts of Castelo Melhor, a 16th-century stately home built around the tower.