Quinta de São Vicente

Dogs dozing in the shade set the tone; this is a flower-filled oasis, full of farm sounds and birdsong. Gentle Luis and chatty Teresa are a lovely pair and welcome you to their traditional Minho farmhouse. It’s an enchanting place: relaxed, solidly comfortable, unostentatious. An enormous drawing room feels more like a conservatory with high windows opening on two sides, family photos, wood-burner and plenty of sofa space. The dining room, with its large collection of old porcelain to admire, is off to one end; dinners are served with vinho verde, produced from their own grapes down the road. In warmer weather you eat out under the orange trees with views of the hills and the farm’s kiwi vines. Big bedrooms are filled with unusual antiques: note the beribboned religious artworks strung between Cor de Rosa’s very high beds. Amarelo is perfect for families, as is the lovely new self-catering cottage just down the road. Ask to be shown the unusual paintings in the Quinta’s chapel (1623), spin off on their bikes, find time to visit the diminutive castle of nearby Póvoa do Lanhoso.