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By
- July 27, 2020
- Insects/Wildlife Leisure & recreation Leisure Zone Nature Portugal River Beach Tourist attraction
AN AFTERNOON TRIP TO VALEIRO DO BARCO
Portugal has over 200 river beaches and I am keen to explore as many as I can. Some river beaches are also leisure zones (Zona de Lazer). We stumbled across Valeiro do Barco on our drive home from a local river beach and I said to hubby, we must return here. It is situated in Sarzedo, Arganil, right on the bank of the river Alva and only a 20 min drive from our home. It’s a beautiful river beach with a huge grassy bank and has a swimming pool, bar/cafe/restaurant with music, tennis court, volley ball and BBQ area. There is a campsite nearby so I was very surprised at how empty it was for a weekend which made it very peaceful. I am also surprised that It’s not exclusive use for campsite members only. It’s all free and there is no cost for entrance to pool or parking. The car park was empty when we arrived but full when we left. I think this river beach/leisure zone does not open until 1pm and the swimming pool opened at 2pm and has a lifeguard.
I just about managed to squeeze my chunky body into my size 12 shorts and bikini even though I’m much bigger now. So that was a sign: Game on! I swam in the river for the first time ever and it was epic! The only other time I have done something similar to this was when I was 18 and backpacking around the world and we embarked on a group tour in New Zealand and visited a natural hot thermal spring. So I can now say I have officially swam at a river beach! Something to tick off my bucket list. The water was pleasantly warm although it was a bit of a challenge entering and exiting the river over an area with sharp stones. There is a ladder further up by the water wheel which I probably should have used. I swam right out to the water fountain, around it and back again. I did think I might get eaten by a crocodile but apparently there are no crocodiles here in Portugal, thank god!
I love the landscaped greenery and stunning trees (willows, alders and cork oaks). We spent a fantastic afternoon on the beautiful banks of the river Alva with a spectacular view of the bridge. I love to people watch and there were families canoeing down the river which was fun to watch. I also like the fact that it was tranquil and not too busy. We spent a lovely afternoon by the river with a picnic, there will always be a picnic followed by an ice cream and a coke (ha ha). I really liked the grass instead of sand bank and the only annoyance was a few ants in my pants!
There is a huge bridge and some brave youngsters were jumping off of the bridge into the refreshing river below, not me, I value my life. I really enjoyed watching a group of young men back flip off of the diving platform and even managed to snap this photo of one man mid air!
There is a lovely cafe and they have a quirky plant feature: plants in old jeans ha ha. There was also a lovely display of knitting/crocheting. We used to have a crazy knitting lady in Bristol, U.K who liked to knit squares then sew them to lamp posts. The council kept removing them all and she would just make more. Maybe she followed me to Portugal!
I am so excited to view more local attractions. I have googled all the river beaches and leisure zones close to us and there are so many to choose from. I like the ones that are not so popular and touristy. We are trying to visit as many as possible and starting with the ones which are very close to home, only a 20-30 min drive.
Photos
THE SHORTS ARE ON, MIGHT TAKE 3 PEOPLE TO GET THEM OFF! HA HA 
4 Comments
Bollinger
4 years agoLooks excellent. If that was in the UK, Health & Safety would have removed the diving board!
Very jealous. I’m in Scotland and it hasn’t stopped raining today
Best,
B
Helen
4 years agoHi B,
If you think the diving boards were bad you should have seen the youngsters jumping off of the road bridge with traffic going by. I nearly pooped my pants watching them. I did see families letting their children go off up to the diving board alone and they were only about 10 years old. Frightened me so much but then I had multiple bad experiences with both my children and water. My children can swim but are not strong swimmers. My son nearly drowned in a Malta swimming pool when he was 3. He was only in a kids pool and water was only upto his knees but he lost his footing and slipped under the water. I was watching but a lady got to him first thank god, she jumped in fully clothed. Then my daughter went to a pool party when she was about 6 and I told the mum of the birthday kid that she couldn’t swim and the parent promissed to stay with her then sent her down the bloody water shute into deep water. I was watching from waiting viewing area and ran like hell and managed to get to pool side as there was a queue for the slide so I shouted up to send her down but they sent this little blonde girl down instead! She shot out the bottom of the slide like a rocket and the lifeguard had to jump in and save her then shouted at me!
Then again we visited a leisure swimming pool complex in Swindon when she was about 9 and she disappeared off to the slide but went down the wrong one so I was waiting at the bottom of the wrong slide in shallow water. I saw her again shoot out the bottom into really deep water and both myself and her stepdad swam over and dragged her up but she kept pushing me under the water in a panic. The lifeguard did not see us and I literally thought I’m going to die, so bloody frightening. Anyway don’t let me take anybodies children to the pool, I’m a liability (ha ha).
On a more positive note, we are making our way around all the local river beaches and I am having so much fun.
Thanks,
Helen.
Bollinger
4 years agoYep, anything involving water and kids is scary. Not on a par with your scary events, but on arriving in Greece one year my then 6 year old jumped into the pool and started to struggle (she wasnt under water!!). My wife alerted me to it as i was closest to the pool(by about 5ft!). As i struggled to get my new watch off(!), my wife jumped in and pulled our daughter to the side. As you can imagine, 13 years of jokes have followed about Dad valuing his new watch over his kids. My defence was that some parents teach their kids to swim that way!! Lessons followed and she is a very competent swimmer now 🙂
Best,
B
Helen
4 years agoHi B,
That is scary but hilarious! I hope it was a Rolex and not a Casio ha ha.
I said to hubby that we need to buy inflatable lilos for the river beaches so we can float along as hubby can’t float on his back he just sinks. I don’t know why! I can imagine closing my eyes, floating down the tranquil river, falling asleep and ending up in Spain ha ha. Most annoying think is I had 2 epic lilos in the U.K with beer holders! I gave them to a charity shop along with 90% of our stuff when we relocated. I think a trip to Decathlon is in order to buy a couple of decent camping air beds.
Thanks,
Helen.