Explore Portugal’s Historic Hilltop Hamlets With Free Electric Vehicle Rentals

Saturday, July 26, 2025

In nan serene hills of Beira Interior, a landmark inaugural is transforming recreation to Portugal’s historical villages. The “Sustainable Urban Mobility” project, launched successful 2022, offers free electrical conveyance (EV) rentals to tourists, residents, and professionals, making nan medieval hamlets much accessible and thereby promoting eco-friendly tourism. The task provides an environtment-friendly, quieter measurement to research these far-away, but culturally rich | regions, allowing visitors to soak themselves successful nan splendour and history of these villages done sustainable practices.

A Green Gateway to nan Aldeias Históricas

The Aldeias Históricas de Portugal, a web of 12 ancient villages, are located successful nan districts of Guarda and Castelo Branco. These villages, including Castelo Novo, Trancoso, Belmonte, Linhares da Beira, Marialva, Castelo Rodrigo, Sortelha, Idanha-a-Velha, Piódão, Monsanto, and Almeida, are renowned for their rich | past and preserved architecture. Reaching them, however, has been a situation owed to constricted proscription options, which has rendered them little accessible to tourists.

To reside this, nan Aldeias Históricas de Portugal relation collaborated pinch Renault Portugal and nan Municipality of Fundão to present a fleet of 5 electrical vehicles. These vehicles, including models for illustration nan Renault Twizy, Twingo Electric, ZOE, and Kangoo Z.E., are disposable for free rental astatine nan Castelo Novo Tourist Office. Reservations tin beryllium made online aliases successful person, pinch options for multi-day rentals to research aggregate villages. This inaugural makes it easier for visitors to entree nan region, contributing to nan section system while minimizing biology impact.

Sustainable and Community-Focused Mobility

Castelo Novo stands retired arsenic nan first colony successful mainland Portugal to execute 100% sustainable mobility, free from CO₂ emissions and noise. The village, nestled connected nan slopes of Serra da Gardunha, is an illustration of really communities tin use from greenish initiatives. The EVs are not only disposable for visitors but besides play a captious domiciled successful nan regular lives of residents. These vehicles thief carrier aged locals to markets, present meals, and support different basal services, making nan task integral to some tourism and nan section community. This community-oriented attack ensures that nan benefits of nan EV programme widen beyond visitors and supply existent worth to nan group who unrecorded location year-round.

Exploring nan Historic Villages

With nan convenience of an EV, visitors tin effortlessly circuit nan historical villages. Each colony offers unsocial attractions:

• Castelo Novo: Perched connected nan slopes of Serra da Gardunha, this colony boasts a medieval castle and panoramic views. It is an fantabulous starting constituent for exploring nan region’s earthy beauty and rich | history.
• Linhares da Beira: Known for its castle nestled among elephantine granite boulders, Linhares is located wrong nan Serra da Estrela Natural Park. It offers visitors stunning views of nan Mondego Valley and nan highest peaks of mainland Portugal.
• Trancoso: A municipality pinch turreted walls and cobblestone streets, Trancoso is simply a humanities gem that dates backmost to nan Middle Ages. Its well-preserved architecture and scenic ambiance make it 1 of nan region’s astir tranquil destinations.
• Marialva: Marialva’s castle, perched atop a rocky outcrop, offers sweeping views of nan surrounding countryside. The colony is simply a serene retreat for those looking to acquisition nan tranquility of agrarian Portugal.
• Castelo Rodrigo: Known for its prehistoric stone art, Castelo Rodrigo is located adjacent Faia Brava, Portugal’s first backstage quality reserve. The colony offers an opportunity to immerse oneself successful some earthy and taste history.
• Sortelha: One of nan best-preserved medieval villages successful Portugal, Sortelha’s chromatic houses and towering castle evoke a consciousness of timelessness. Visitors tin stroll on constrictive streets and observe nan charm of this hidden gem.

These villages are not only humanities landmarks but besides vibrant communities wherever contented and invention coexist. Visitors tin research ancient castles, stroll done medieval streets, and immerse themselves successful nan customs that person shaped nan region for centuries.

Where to Stay

Accommodations successful nan region scope from boutique stays to historical guesthouses, providing visitors pinch plentifulness of options for remainder and relaxation:

• Pedra Nova: A beautifully renovated boutique B&B successful Castelo Novo, offering a serene retreat pinch modern amenities and spectacular views of nan surrounding landscape.
• Casa da Cisterna: Located successful Castelo Rodrigo, this guesthouse offers a cozy ambiance pinch entree to nan adjacent quality reserve. It’s a cleanable guidelines for those looking to research some nan history and quality of nan region.
• Solar Sampaio e Melo: A 17th-century guesthouse successful Trancoso, featuring an honesty barroom and a excavation shaded by turrets. This charming spot provides a serene flight for those seeking to unwind successful a humanities setting.

Getting There

Reaching nan Beira Interior region is convenient via train from Lisbon aliases Porto to Fundão, followed by a short transportation to Castelo Novo. For those arriving by train, nan EV rental work offers shuttle transfers from nan train stations of Castelo Novo, Alpedrinha, and Fundão, ensuring a seamless travel into nan bosom of Portugal’s historical villages. The EVs are disposable to rent for some short trips and extended stays, allowing visitors to research nan full region astatine their ain pace.

A Model for Sustainable Tourism

The “Sustainable Urban Mobility” task exemplifies really tourism tin beryllium some eco-friendly and community-oriented. By providing free EV rentals, nan inaugural reduces c emissions and sound pollution, aligning pinch Portugal’s broader biology goals. It besides empowers section communities by integrating them into nan tourism experience, ensuring that nan benefits of accrued visitation are shared equitably. This sustainable tourism exemplary allows Portugal to equilibrium nan request for economical maturation pinch nan preservation of its earthy and taste heritage.

Plan Your Visit

To acquisition nan magic of Portugal’s historical villages and utilise nan free EV rental program, sojourn nan charismatic website of Aldeias Históricas de Portugal. Here, you tin make reservations, research accommodation choices, and scheme your itinerary to observe nan rich | practice and earthy beauty of nan Beira Interior region. Whether you’re a history buff, a quality lover, aliases simply seeking a serene getaway, nan Aldeias Históricas connection a genuinely unparalled experience.

Final Thoughts

The inaugural successful Castelo Novo is not simply a proscription solution but a blueprint for sustainable tourism. It preserves taste practice connected 1 hand, while fostering organization improvement connected nan other. By embracing innovative mobility solutions, Portugal is mounting a very imaginative and affirmative precedence connected really agrarian tourism tin thrive harmoniously pinch nan situation and section populations. The occurrence of this task underscores nan imaginable for sustainable tourism initiatives to create affirmative alteration successful some agrarian communities and nan wider tourism industry. It ensures that nan timeless beauty of Portugal’s historical villages remains intact for generations to come.