Casa do Pinheiro Manso - Country House in Vila Praia de Âncora, Viana do Castelo

Quinta Trás o Rio is a large house, set in the hills outside the coastal town of Viia Praia de Âncora. It has six bedrooms, a swimming pool, large garden and ample parking. Its location in the hills ensures cooling breezes for a comfortable temperature in Summer. Porto airport is 50 minutes away. The house itself is stone built and rather rambling once inside. There are numerous stairs both inside and out. My ten year old grandson christened it : The House of Stairs. Families with toddlers should take care. The house is fully furnished in a rather old fashioned style. And could do with a refresh. The kitchen is small (we were 10 adults, plus five children) and large families will find this awkward at mealtimes. The owner and his assistant were helpful in fixing one or two issues that arose during our stay. Overall, my extended family really enjoyed our two week stay at the house. Two major points though. Firstly, the pool is not heated and hence quite cold, despite our mid-July stay. Houses at this price point should have pool heating, and other owners who do have this charge a weekly Eu 200/ week or so for this. Which most visitors are very willing to pay. Secondly, the Wi-Fi is virtually non-existent. The mini router in the house has a range of 5 metres, and the speed of an old modem. This is not acceptable for a house of this quality. Finally, the VRBO listing shows air conditioning under the facilites offered at the house. There isn’t!

This villa provided us with excellent, spacious family accommodation, ideal for children who love to explore.. The pool was a good size and thoroughly enjoyed by all. We would definitely recommend this property for large family groups.

The grounds are unbelievably beautiful and well maintained. The owner greeted us on the first day and provided some vinho verde. The house was spacious and perfect for the size of our group. The kids loved it, too. We had lovely meals in the backyard while hearing the chimes from the nearby church and the bells from the adorable goats next door. I would stay here again. It is worth knowing that the pool is not heated and some of the amenities are dated. All worth it to stay here. This place was a dream!

We (5 families) spent wonderful and relaxing holidays in this beautiful property. The house and the surrounding park are great and well-maintained, the view is amazing. As heavy users of the kitchen we miss a little more professional equipment, the WiFi is weak sometimes, the washing machine a little eccentric ;-) but we enjoyed very much the time at Tras-O-Rio and the service from Maria and the whole team. I'm sure we will come back.