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The hike to Drave
Route: PR14 Arouca
Distance: 4kms (8kms return)
Time: Roughly three hours return, but allow extra time to explore and enjoy the village.
Difficulty: Medium
Track: A well marked track over uneven terrain. Some steep slopes and lots of loose stones.
Highlights: The abandoned village of Drave and the incredible views along the way.
Tips: There is no phone reception around Drave or Regoufe (the starting point), so be sure to download any maps before you arrive.
What is Drave?
Tucked into the Serra da Frieta within the Arouca Geopark, Drave is an abandoned village of stone buildings, a bit less than 2 hours drive south east of Porto. Without paved roads, modern utilities, postal service or telephone lines, the last inhabitant left in 2009. These days, while no one lives there, you can hike to Drave following the PR14 Aldeia Magica (Magical Village) route.
How to hike to Drave
The 8 km round hike to Drave begins from the tiny town of Regoufe. The car journey to Regoufe itself is a mini adventure, travelling along narrow winding streets through villages perched on the mountain side.
Once you arrive, besides the wifi sign in the window of the café, there is little sign that the modern world has reached Regoufe. Chickens and turkeys roam the narrow village streets while farmers tend to their veggie patches in the sun. After the hike, while we were enjoying a beer outside at the café, several horned cows wandered past us down the main street. No one was guiding them, I guess they just knew it was time to go home. Yes, we looked like crazy city tourists taking photos of cows as they meandered home. But to us this was an odd sight to see and something we didn’t know still happened in 2021.
To start the hike to Drave, walk down the street with the café and follow the signs to Drave. This will take you through the narrow streets of Regoufe before you cross a small stream and start heading uphill. From there you just need to follow the path. There are a few signs along the way, but mostly it’s just one path hugging the side of the mountain.
While easy to follow, the path can be steep in some places with large and small loose stones. There is no shade covering, so set out early, wear sun protection and bring plenty of water. It can be tough in the heat but once you round that first corner on the hill from Regoufe, the only signs of civilisation are the wind turbines on the distant horizon. All around are amazing views of the craggy hill and valley below.
After a while, you will turn a corner and Drave will come into view in the distance. It’s still quite a walk until you arrive but this is a nice spot to get some photos of the village nestled into the mountain.
Keep following the path around and you will arrive at the first ruins at the northern end of the village. From here you can explore the remnants of the village, enjoy a swim in the freshwater stream or just find a relaxing spot to chill out in the shade.
To get back to Regoufe, simply follow the same path back. Be careful on the walk back, especially the last hill back to Regoufe where the path is particularly uneven and difficult if you are tired. Enjoy a well-deserved beer at Café Montanha once you arrive back in Regoufe!
What's at Drave?
Once you arrive at Drave, you can explore inside many of the small stone houses in various states of disrepair. Some have trees growing right through the centre, an encouraging sign that nature will prevail without human intervention. Some are boarded up and off limits, so please respect the private property of the owners. It’s also the home of Scout Centres of Excellence for Nature and Environment.
As you continue deeper into the village, you will arrive at a creek that once powered the mill. There are a couple of pleasant shady spots here where you can relax and a nice pool perfect for cooling off after the hike. Be warned – the water is cold!
Having thoroughly explored the village, we continued to follow the creek to some quiet grassy areas where we chilled out with our books. Here we were alone and felt completely immersed in the environment. We saw frogs, lizards and fish in the creek while in the tree canopies, birds were calling to each other in singsong. It was utterly delightful!
Tips for visiting Drave
1. Bring plenty of food and water
Once you leave Regoufe, there are no shops or places to buy refreshments. Regoufe has a small cafe where they do toasted sandwiches and sell drinks. But I recommend bringing your own anyway, as there really isn’t much around if this cafe is closed when you go.
2. Set off early
And wear sun protection. There is no shade on the path to Drave, so set out before it gets too hot. Sunscreen and a hat are essential and again, bring heaps of water.
3. Wear hiking shoes
While we both did the hike in trainers, there are a lot of loose stones and some extra ankle protection will serve you well.
4. Download any maps before you leave home
While the path is easy to follow and we didn’t end up using a map, there is no phone or internet reception around Regoufe or Drave. Any guide you want to use will need to be available offline. Cafe Montanha advertised wifi, but we didn’t use it so I can’t vouch for it’s speed. Download everything before you go just to be sure.
5. Bring your swimming gear
After the hot hike to get there, swimming in the cold waters of the stream was a treat!
6. Check out the other attractions nearby
Close to Regoufe, there are also some abandoned tungsten mines you can discover. Unfortunately, we didn’t leave enough time to explore these but we did drive along the Portal do Inferno (Gateway to Hell), a scenic but incredibly precipitous winding road.
Wikiloc Map
As I mentioned, there is no phone range in Regoufe or Drave, so download the map to your phone before you go. Unfortunately, we didn’t do this on our trip (rookies!), but thankfully there are plenty of people more organised than us that have recorded their hike. The path is clear and you don’t really need a map, but if you want to feel certain, click the link below for the Wikiloc map.
Was Drave worth visting?
Absolutely! Both Antonio and I agreed that this was our favourite thing we did while in Arouca, and possibly since we have been in Portugal. We met only a few other people throughout the day, so it felt like we had the place to ourselves. The scenery all around was amazing, but the village added an extra level of interest. When we finished off the day with a beer in Regoufe as the cows came home, it was the end to a perfect day.
Have you visited Drave or know of any other abandoned villages in Portugal? Let me know in the comments below!