Serra da Estrela Mountain Villages Line Up Chestnut Festivals, Mushroom Walks and a Medronho Fair Through November

The Aldeias de Montanha (Mountain Villages) network, a group of villages on the slopes of the Serra da Estrela and the Serra da Gardunha run by the ADIRAM association from Seia, has published its autumn calendar. Between 30 October and 22 November the villages hold chestnut festivals, a medronho (strawberry tree fruit) fair, a wild mushroom festival and a month of beech forest walks. The network's events page filters by nine municipalities: Celorico da Beira, Covilhã, Fornos de Algodres, Fundão, Gouveia, Guarda, Manteigas, Oliveira do Hospital and Seia.

The dates

• 30 October to 1 November, Folgosinho (Gouveia): the Festa dos Sabores de Montanha (Mountain Flavours Festival). According to the full programme from Gouveia council, it opens at 19:00 on Friday. Saturday has a 09:00 walk around the village's religious heritage, a 4x4 tour at 09:30 (booking required), a planting of chestnut and strawberry trees at 15:00 and a bread-oven demonstration at 16:30. On Sunday there is a wild mushroom identification workshop at 08:30, for which you must register, a community lunch at 12:00 and a magusto (chestnut roast) with chestnut soup from 17:00.
• 30 and 31 October, São Gião (Oliveira do Hospital): the third Medronho Festival. The network lists it but has not yet published a programme.
• 31 October, Lapa dos Dinheiros (Seia): a chestnut festival running from 10:00. It starts with a guided walk through the chestnut groves, and the autumn market opens at 11:00. The community lunch at 12:30 needs registration. The day ends with a cooking demonstration, a concert in the chapel and a community magusto at 17:00.
• 30 October to 29 November, Manteigas: Faias, the council's autumn programme around the São Lourenço beech forest, with guided walks (registration on the Faias site) and an autumn market in the municipal pavilion. Entry to the market is free, and entry to its concerts depends on space.
• 7 November, Sabugueiro (Seia): the Noite das Caçoilas, an evening from 19:00 at the community oven, built around meat slow-cooked in clay pots. You register for the community dinner through the parish council.
• 7 and 8 November: chestnut festivals in Prados (Celorico da Beira) and in Famalicão da Serra (Guarda), where the fifteenth edition pairs chestnuts with jeropiga, a sweet fortified wine.
• 14 and 15 November, Verdelhos (Covilhã): Agasalhos no Frio (Warm Clothes for the Cold), with nature activities, workshops, crafts and local food.
• November, Alcaide (Fundão): Míscaros, the mushroom festival in the Serra da Gardunha. The network lists it for 18 to 22 November. The festival's own site says it is held on the third weekend of November and that the 2026 programme, including 10 guided mushroom walks, is still being prepared.

What it means for you

Where the organisers ask you to book, it is for the community meals, the mushroom workshop, the 4x4 tour in Folgosinho and the Manteigas guided walks. Several programmes are still incomplete, so check the organiser's page before you set off.

Most of these villages are easiest to reach by car. There are two public transport options. Alcaide has a CP regional train station, and Fundão is served by Intercidades trains and Rede Expressos coaches. Manteigas runs MobiFlex, a demand-responsive taxi service that connects with Belmonte's bus stop and railway station. You book it by 15:00 on the previous working day on the free number 800 222 804, and the fare is the same as the ordinary bus fare for the distance. Weather on the Serra da Estrela changes quickly in November, so pack warm layers for the higher villages.