Trás-Os-Montes Overview

The country’s roughest and most isolated region, Trás-Os-Montes (“beyond the mountains”) is a land of extremes, with rugged, bewitching, landscapes and radical seasonal weather. Distinctive cultural identities have sprung up in these isolated hamlets, amongst vast expanses of wilderness, lush vegetation, rocky cliffs, and arid expanses. Trás-Os-Montes has long been home to Portugal’s political and religious exiles. During the Inquisition, a sizable community of Jews chose to take shelter in these mountains. They created the area’s famous vegetarian sausages, abstaining from the region’s meat products in order to keep kosher. Transportation today is sparse and distances between villages can be vast; expect to spend hours on rickety buses. The difficulty in traveling through the region is not without its benefits, however, as Trás-Os-Montes remains one of the last outposts of traditional Portugal.

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