Estrela's Cheese Trails

Integrated into the Seia Estrela's Mountain Cheese Fair, this will be an interpretive walk, with the main objective of getting to know the landscapes where the entire production process of the fabulous serra da Estrela cheese begins.

We start in one of the highest villages in the country and discover the slopes where our Bordaleira sheep graze. Right at the gates of the village, we can find some terraces with green pastures where the sheep graze on the coldest days.

We follow the Fervença stream, which will guide us up the mountain, always to the sound of the water. Here, the small green fields give way to granite blocks and low scrubland where heather and gorse dominate the landscape.

Further on, we will reach Covão do Urso, a valley opened by the action of glaciers that once occupied the highest parts of the Serra da Estrela. We will also be able to see the sedimentary deposits and the rounded blocks that resulted and are today testimonies of the action of these moving ice masses.

The landscape is breathtaking; in the background we see Sabugueiro and the Alva River valley. We are surrounded by mountains where the deep valleys and enormous granite blocks make us feel small, yet part of this great ecosystem.

All that remains is to descend the slope using the small paths where, at the end of each day, the shepherds lead their flocks back to the enclosures to spend the night and collect the precious milk that will become the famous Serra cheese!