I'll have a week before work starts in Lisbon to do some traveling, and this year we've decided to head to the Minho. Two nights in Viana do Castelo, two nights in Moncao, two nights somewhere near the national park of Peneda Geres.

From Viana, we're going to do some walking on the coast (there is a coastal path all the way up to Spain from there, part of the Camino de Santiago), visit Caminha, what else near there?

From Moncao, the area of interest is the Minho to the east, any ideas?

Then, finally, the area near Geres, visiting some Romanesque churches, visiting Ponte de Barca (?), Arcos de Valdevez (?) on the way from Moncao.

For the Geres area, has anyone stayed in the Santa Maria do Bouro pousada? I have some Portuguese friends who didn't have a good experience there, and didn't particularly like it, but it looks very nice to me. They recommended Quinta de Pais, http://quintadepais.com/, which is nearby. Any opinions on that?

We've done some hiking in the park and enjoyed it a lot, but if there are other great things to do up there, we're flexible.

I have been to this area a number of times (except for the Minho from Valenca to the east). So we are not going to go to Braga, Guimaraes, Vila Nova de Cerveira, Valenca, Ponte de Lima (though I may have to make an exception because I love that town), etc. We'll spend our time north of Braga.

Thanks everyone