2 Best Sights in Coimbra and Central Portugal, Portugal

Above the village of Sortelha are the ruins of a small yet imposing castle. The present configuration dates back mainly to a late-12th-century reconstruction, done on Moorish foundations; further alterations were made in the 16th century. Note the Manueline coat of arms at the entrance. Wear sturdy shoes so that you can walk along the walls, taking in views of Spain to the east and the Serra da Estrela mountains to the west. The three holes in the balcony projecting over the main entrance were used to pour boiling pitch on intruders. Just to the right of the north gate are two linear indentations in the stone wall. One is exactly a meter (roughly a yard) long, and the shorter of the two is a côvado (66 centimeters, or 26 inches). In the Middle Ages, traveling cloth merchants used these markings to ensure an honest measure.

The 50,000-acre park along the Spanish border between Penamacor and Sabugal was created to protect the natural habitat of the Iberian lynx, which was threatened with extinction. Although this isn't a place of rugged beauty, it's nevertheless an attractive, quiet region of heavily wooded, low mountains with few traces of human habitation. Although you won't see the lynxes, the park also shelters wildcats, wild boars, wolves, and foxes. The northern boundary begins about 10 km (6 miles) southeast of Sabugal.