Monsanto - Portugal little village

Guys,

Will be heading for Portugal by early August for around 10 days and other than the big draw cards like Porto, Lisbon... I am particularly interested in the little villages of Portugal.

One of it is Monsanto.

However, I found it difficult to arrive by public transportation.

I am planning to take train from Porto all the way to Castelo Branco. Then... what can I do? How much does it cost and how long does it take from Castelo Branco to Monsanto?

Any advices are greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much
Franky

You are looking at a 5hr train or bus trip from Porto to Castelo Branco, and then connecting to Monsanto. With only 10 days you will loose a day getting there from Porto and a day going to Lisbon.

I would suggest picking a town near either Porto (say Amarante) or Lisbon (say Sintra) where the travel time is a lot less.

Edited by: Stav_ros

Hi Stav_ros,

Thanks for the note. Yes, I also noticed that it's around 5-hour train from Porto to Castelo Branco.

But Monsanto has its own attraction which I would like to go, if possible.

So, do you know the the way from Castelo Branco to Monsanto? I meant taxi if public bus is not available. If so, around how long is the distance?

Thanks again
Franky

Never been to Castelo Branco or Monsanto but to me Portugal has always seemed to me to have a well developed inexpensive rail and bus system. In the suburbs of Lisbon go to Sintra and Belem. While traveling by rail between Lisbon and Porto stop for a day or two in Coimbra, possibly with bus excursions to one or more of the following small towns: Fatima, Nazare, and/or Alcobaca. For details and photos of our visit to central Portrugal last Sepstember see the "Portugal" section of Our Travel Journals: http://www.evcal.org .

I am going to be in Portugal in July. I had looked at visiting Monsanto, but I wasn't planning on hiring a car, and the public transport is limited. Both the LP guide and the Rough Guide indicate that the only bus out of Monsanto leaves at 6:15am (ouch!). On Sundays it leaves in the afternoon, and leaving on a Sunday did not fit into my plans. If you have only got 10 days, unless a Sunday is in the middle, then I would suggest that Monsanto is out of reach.

Monsanto is about 50km from Castelo Branco, so a cab may be expensive

Here is the Rough Guide link to the bus info. The Rough Guide website has a lot more info available online than LP.

[http://www.roughguides.com/website/travel/destination/content/default.aspx?titleid=112&xid=idh559091296_0314]

Edited by: Stav_ros

Monsanto is very pretty and diferent.
Information http://monsanto.homestead.com/Bustimetable.html
Castelo Branco / Monsanto
11:40 Sundays (or Mondays if a holiday)
12:25 All working days (except Sundays and holidays)
17:25 Working days (except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays)
Monsanto / Castelo Branco
07:15 All working days (except Sundays and holidays)
14:22 Sundays (or Mondays if a holiday)
Map
http://monsanto.homestead.com/Howtofindus.html
Tourism office number Monsanto
(tel. 800 265 265/277 314 642)
I live in Portugal and you are free to contact if you need help
diana@portugal-linha.pt

That's really useful.

Thank you so much.

The good thing is that I am planning of going to Monsanto on Saturday for overnight, which means I can take the afternoon bus out on Sunday.

However, I don't know how I can get into Monsanto from Castelo Branco on the Saturday (the 1225 bus seems not suitable for me as I don't think I can arrive Castelo Branco from Porto by that time)... I believe taxi would cost me at least Euro40-50, right?

Diana, I will contact you separately for further help.

Franky