Discover Villa Enia, a 17th-century farmhouse in Portugal's stunning Minho region. Enjoy spacious living areas, enchanting bedrooms, and a beautiful garden with a private pool.
Nestled in the heart of the breath-taking Minho region of northern Portugal, Villa Enia is a charming, lovingly restored 17th-century farmhouse perfect for groups of family or friends looking for a rural retreat.
As you enter the home, you are welcomed with an embrace from the spacious living room. This is indeed the heart of the house, with a cosy seating area and direct access to the delightful garden beyond – throw open the doors and allow the fresh air to breathe life into the room as you enjoy a glass of wine or some local snacks over a good conversation.
The dining area, at the far end of the room, even has an open fireplace, ensuring that you can enjoy a refreshing and enjoyable meal at the dining table on the colder nights, with only the sounds of the crackling fire and the gentle scent of smouldering firewood.
A second, more casual living room also has an open fireplace by the TV so you can curl up in the warmth in front of a film after a long day exploring. The modern, fitted kitchen offers a spacious area for several cooks to get involved in meal preparation, and this too has direct access to the garden.
With five spectacular bedrooms, four double and one twin, Villa Enia is an excellent choice for an active group of friends who enjoy the outdoors and enchanting countryside to spend a week or more enveloped in nature.
Elegant four posters and rustic stone interior walls create a classic charm. All five rooms enjoy fantastic ensuite facilities and are bright and airy. Four of the places, including the twin room, are on the first floor, while the fifth room enjoys the entire second floor to itself!
The grounds are as enchanting as they are scenic, with beautifully landscaped lawns, flowerbeds and water features, preserving many of the original architectural details.
Private tennis courts offer the chance for a little healthy competition to spark among the group, while the surrounding forests of oak and chestnut trees create the perfect environment for sharing special moments with friends and family, among the rich, stimulating natural landscape.
At 7.6km from the nearest town, you’re indeed in the heart of the country, able to enjoy the total peace and calm of nature! For the ultimate relaxation, lounge by the idyllic infinity pool in one of the comfortable beds sipping a glass of the local wine. With a changing room, WC and shower alongside, the pool has everything you need for an afternoon of bliss!
What Oliver loves...
The sublime dining area on the lawn is the ideal place for a late afternoon alfresco meal, while the casual seating area is a great place to retire with a glass of wine to watch the sunset in the distance, surrounded by picturesque fruit and olive trees
The traditional architecture complements the intricate modern décor with elegant style
The quaint village of Calheiros is just a short walk away and hosts a small shop, a café and a restaurant, so you’ll never find yourself without supplies
The simultaneously cosy and spacious bedrooms echo the fusion of the traditional charm and modern comforts embodied in the contemporary restoration of the home
What you should know
While there is central heating, there is no air conditioning available – but the pool offers an excellent opportunity to cool off!
The terraced grounds and infinity pool mean that very young children may need supervision
Naturally, the villa is relatively remote, which is very popular with those seeking to escape the hectic action of modern life but might not suit those who like to be in the thick of it, with the nearest town 8km away
This home is a part of our Great Value Collection!
Our great value homes:
may be traditionally styled for a laid back feeling
may have some simple amenities and features
mean that you can enjoy top holiday destinations for less!
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The Local Area
About the surrounding area of Villa Enia
<1hr to Airport
Rural Location
Outstanding Landscapes
Enveloped in vineyards and rolling hills of green, Villa Enia is located in the beautiful Minho region, in the foothills of Serra da Arga mountains. Ten minutes’ drive from one of Portugal’s oldest and most historic towns, Ponte de Lima.
With a delightful range of shops, bars and restaurants among the coloured squares and cobbled alleyways, you are ideally located to enjoy the traditional culture, quaint communities and the slow pace of life of rural Portugal. The town of Braga, the capital of the district, is about 40 minutes away and hosts many relics of the region’s diverse history.
The thriving town of Porto is about an hour’s drive away and is a UNESCO World Heritage city, built along the hills overlooking the Douro river estuary, with a busy historical and commercial centre.
Porto is, of course, famous for its eponymous Port wine, a 40% sweet, fortified wine, and you can enjoy many a port tour, and we would highly recommend a visit to the various wine caves, both of which are thoroughly affordable and excellent value.
Minho is a fantastic, mostly rural region on the northernmost Atlantic tip of Portugal, bordering the Spanish region of Galiza, with which it shares many attributes. Minho is perhaps most famous as the home of the Vinho Verde, a crisp, dry white wine (although as the name suggests, it is, in fact, green!) best enjoyed with a local fish dish.
Minho is particularly special as it features the country's only National Park, the Parque Nacional da Peneda-Gerês, which is less than half an hour from Villa Enia, with around 72,000 ha of land. It is a mountainous nature reserve that includes prehistoric remains, walking trails, rugged hills as well as deer, wolves and golden eagles!
Portugal itself is a small, fascinating country at the most Western point of mainland Europe. The capital, Lisbon, is known for its lively nightlife, with endless bars and clubs full of fun-loving locals and tourists alike, but also has plenty of fascinating history (check out Belém, jam-packed with monuments!) and undulating terrain, famously termed the ‘city of the seven hills’.
From Lisbon, it is very quick to travel by the domestic high-speed train line to the city of Braga, which will connect you reasonably quickly to Villa Enia.
With a vast coastline with the mighty Atlantic Ocean, Portugal is a real paradise for the keen surfer, or indeed even those looking to try it for the first time. And for those less keen on surfing, the beaches of Portugal are still well worth a visit for their beautifully clear waters and beautiful sands.
The Region
Please be aware that the location tab shown on the website is not based on the property's exact location; therefore, all location amenities are an approx of facilities, restaurants, and villages/towns you might find around the property. The property's exact location will be provided to you before arrival and might come along with some recommendations about the area and what to visit.
ABOUT MINHO
The areas of Minho extend from the Spanish border in the north, south to Porto and east to the mountains of Vila Real. It is a green and fertile area of rolling hills encompassing the great rivers Minho, Lima and Douro, and the National Park of Peneda Geres. The countryside of the region is typified by long, sandy beaches bordered by pine woods, picturesque villages nestling among vine-covered hills, and historic towns such as Amarante, Guimaraes, Barcelos, Ponte de Lima, and Viana do Castelo.
The area encompasses a range of postcard-worthy landscapes and features that could almost be Portugal in microcosm: dreamy river scenes, high mountains, rolling vineyards, beautiful historic towns, dramatic Atlantic beaches, ancient religious foundations and mysterious archaeological sites.
Then there's the bold, sharp and fruity Vinho Verde to consider. This young wine is fashioned from the fruit of kilometres of vineyards that wind along rivers, over foothills and into Minho mountain villages.
But while you're enjoying one of our fantastic villas in Minho, you may well want to take some time out from all that sun worship to explore everything else the region has to offer – so we've put together this handy travel guide to give you a little help and inspiration!
