The town of Lousã, which has several supermarkets, restaurants and one of Portugal's best beauty spots (at Arouce Castle), is less than 10 mins by car, in the Serra da Lousã. The medieval university city of Coimbra is barely half an hour. Also within easy reach are the vast golden beaches of the Silver Coast, gorgeous mountain scenery, warm rivers and lakes (far warmer and safer than the ocean).

OTHER THINGS TO DO

*Kayaks on the river;

*Lovely walks and drives through the hills and the 'lost' mountain villages;

*'Portugal Pequinitos' - a fantasy model village with Portugal's great buildings in miniature, but still large enough to walk through, plus humbler houses accessible only to children;

*Conimbriga - the ancient Roman capital with some of the best mosaics in Europe;

* World Heritage Tomar, a lovely old town with Knights Templar castle and convent;

*The vast golden beaches at Figueira da Foz, the west coast's largest seaside resort.

*Horse-riding;

*Open-air zoo plus farm zoo;

*Gondola rides on the canals of Aveiro;

*The Holy Shrine at Fatima and nearby beautifully lit caves;

*The medieval university city of Coimbra with its big shopping malls;

*Tree adventure park;

*Strange limestone caves at Casmilo;

*Nazaré seaside resort with celebrated seafood restaurant and cable car to 'hidden' town above.

The infrastructure is excellent, English widely spoken and restaurants amazingly cheap. This is the real Portugal, not a tourist ghetto rip-off.