On the Municipal Campsite at Serpa we became acquainted with an English couple who have been coming to Southern Portugal for years and they recommended that next we should stop at a place called Monsaraz. It isn’t somewhere I had identified from our guide books, but we’re glad we took their advice.

Part of the journey from Serpa to Monsaraz is marked in my map book as being particularly attractive. It was a hilly and twisty drive but I wouldn’t have bothered marking it if it were my map book!

As we approached Monsaraz we had to cross several bridges over a massive and sprawling reservoir that seems to be on both sides of the Spanish/Portuguese border. We understood why Monsaraz was nick named “The Eagle’s Nest” because it’s walls and castle stand on a ridge that rises precipitously from the flat plains.

We parked Basil on an area designated for motorhomes which had the most magnificent views over the surrounding countryside and reservoir (38.4423422, -7.3799958 free but no services). Unfortunately there was a slight mist but we hope we may get a better view tomorrow.

Monsaraz is probably the prettiest town we have visited this trip. It is very small consisting of two main roads that run for perhaps 300 metres along a ridge top, surrounded by complete walls and dominated by a castle at one end.

For once this castle had no Roman or Islamic origin, but was built from scratch as a border defence against Spain.

The whole, small town, was really well maintained with the obligatory whitewashed houses and a couple of churches. It did not take particularly long to explore but the dogs were once again allowed to view the interior of the castle, free, but this time I stayed with them in the courtyard while Sarah explored the vertigo inducing walls.

So anyone ever in this area, Monsaraz will not take you long to explore, but I thoroughly recommend a visit.