Hello'
We are planing to visit Minho in August - for sure Viano do Castelo, Barcelos and Braga) for 2 weeks. Do you have any hotel recommendations for this area ?
Thanks

Of course---the Pousada there is to die for--I hope you can afford it. Do not miss the Thurs. market in Barcelos--a cultural phenom.

Remember that "posada" is a general term and is also applied to hotels other than the "official" posadas. I booked us into the Posada Melvo Alvim in Viana do Castelo thinking it was the posada everyone raves about. It was a very elegant place to stay in the center of the city but not the posada I was aiming for. We did go out to "the" posada high above the city and that would have been a better place to stay for us.

We also want to visit the "Romaria de Nossa Senhora d’Agonia" in Viano do Castelo...
again any recommendation on Hotel in the area ?!

Let me try again---THE POUSADA !

http://www.pousadasportugal.com/pous...adocastelo.asp

Ashi. How much moving around do you want to do?

Hi,
We want to find a place for 3-4 nights in Braga and then move to Viano do Castelo for the festival on August 18
THE POUSADA looks great but realy out of our budget (Around 50 euro per night usualy - we know we pay more in the festival)
Thnaks
Ashi

Will you have a car and do you want to stay in Braga proper?

We stayed in an apartment in Frades but they also have a B&B. But Frades is an ancient hamlet outside of Braga and it would require a car.

The Pousada de Santa Luzia, located uphill from the Monastery is where you want to stay if in Viana Do Castelo. I was there in May 1998 and while I didn't stay at the Pousada, we had the opportunity to check the ocean view from its grounds and the Roman Ruins right behind the Pousada. The views are breathtaking.

We drove in from Santiago de Compostela and headed out to the Office of Tourism. There we were sent over to a fully furnished apartment, 300 meters from the ocean at $30/night. A great deal. Viana Do Castelo remains in my memories as one of the most enchanting places I've ever been to.

Ashi-- ooops! I forgot to include the info on the place we stayed:

Apartamentos Turisticas Sandy Mar
J. Reis Vieira Rua F
Praia do Cabedelo.

I googled them and came up with: http://www.portimar.pt/hotel.php?lan...amp;file=sandy for the dates you want the price goes up to $50/night. IF (big if...) they still have availability, I highly recommend them.

Hello,
It looks like we are not doing to rent a car (Unless we feel we must)
We contacted we hope to hear from them soon !!
Thnaks
Ashi

More within your price range is the Hotel Viana Sol, very well located. It is a little thread-bare, has no AC, but it was clean. It presumably has a swimmng pool, but it was out of order when we were there in June. It has not been upgraded since it was built (late70s or so), and looks it. The hallways had a slight odor of mildew, but not the rooms nor the front area. I would stay there again.

Hi'
It looks like the city is fully booked. Any good place to stay out of town and will have buss going to Viano do Castelo ?
Thnaks again !
Ashi

Good luck! The clerk at the hotel told us that she even has problems bicycling in during the summer months because of the corwds.

Viajero2,
Apartamentos Sandy Mar have some avilability !!
Are they walking distence from Viano do Castelo ? If not is there any buses around
Thnaks for your help,
Ashi

There are buses into Viana, not too far from the apartments. We had a car, but I recalled a bus stop by the bakery I used to go get my coffee and pastry every morning.

The place also have a barbeque grill. There is a really (really!) nice supermarket in Viana we went to buy fresh veggies, meat, fish, and wine (I remarked on this because it is to this day one of the biggest and nicest supermarkets I've even been to while traveling in Europe; kind of unexpected for Viana in 1998). Happy travels!

Ashi-- ask Sandy Mar for more updated details on the bus into town!!

Guys,
Thnaks for your help we will be staying at the Sandy Mar appartments on the "Romaria de Nossa Senhora d’Agonia" !!
We are very excited !
Thank you for your great help
Ashi

Ashi.
We aim to please.

Also, please post a trip report when you return. We would appreciate it.

I know I always like to hear about nice budget accomodations.

We were at the festival 3 years ago (got a room at the very cheap but nice though mildewy Residencial Jardim on short notice; it's right on the water). The festival was kind of fun, except for the fact that the same 3 measures of a song by Amalia Rodrigues were blasted from loudspeakers lining the streets day and night. The hotel said they would ask the town officials to turn them down if the music bothered us. We visited the famous pousda -- not convenient to town if you don't have a car; a stunning setting but disappointingly corporate in feel, as many high-end places probably are.