The Alvão Nature Reserve, a protected area covering some 7,220 hectares. It has all the geological, biological, scenic, ecologic and human features to make it particularly attractive for enjoying nature.

The villages located within its perimeter preserve traditional architecture. One such example is Ermelo, with its shale houses and slate roofs, and Lamas de Olo, with its granite houses and thatch roofs. Another place of interest within the Reserve is the spectacular waterfall on the Olo River known as “Fisgas de Ermelo”, where the river drops several hundred metres. The Olo River, and excellent place for trout fishing and where you can sometimes come across a watermill using rudimentary but efficient technology, offers glimpses of an unforgettable, rustic beauty.

The agricultural and rural lifestyle, which uses the environment without harming or disfiguring it, achieving a perfectly integrated agrosystem, is another important attraction, just as the products of human activity, completely authentic, such as the handcrafted linens and smoked sausages.

In the northernmost region of the Alvão Moutains, there is a intriguing and well-preserved “Fojo do Lobo”, a trap used to capture and Kill wolves, which once posed a threat to the rural economy. The Portuguese novelist, Camilo Castelo Branco, refers to them in one of his short stories from the collection, Novelas do Minho. It is definitely worth a visit and two minutes of thought about the various hardships that Man had to face in his evolution from the dawn of time and about the ingenuity with which he succeeded in overcoming them.