Valença Fortress

Valença sits on the south bank of the Minho with the Spanish town of Tui directly opposite, and its fortress is the most complete Vauban-style work in Portugal: two connected polygonal enceintes with bastions, ravelins, ditches and covered ways, built in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to hold this crossing against Spain, enclosing a whole town of streets, churches and houses within the walls. The wall walk can be followed round most of the circuit, with the river, the iron bridge Eiffel's company built in 1885 and Tui's cathedral opposite. The other half of the reality is commercial: since the border opened, Spanish shoppers have come across in numbers and the streets inside the walls are lined almost end to end with shops selling towels, linen, ceramics and clothing, so the fortress functions as a shopping town. Pilgrims on the Camino Português pass through.

What you actually see

• The double enceinte - the most complete Vauban-style fortress in Portugal.
• The walled town - streets, churches and houses inside the fortifications.
• The wall walk - most of the circuit walkable, with Spain across the river.
• The shops - the interior given over almost entirely to retail for Spanish visitors.

When to go

April to October. Two to four hours. Weekdays are quieter; Spanish holiday weekends fill it completely.

Honest expectations

The shopping dominates the interior and disappoints people expecting a preserved fortress town. Very busy with coaches and Spanish day-trippers. Wall walks have uneven stone and some unprotected sections. Parking outside the walls fills.

Nearby

Tui is across the bridge in Spain; Monção and the Minho valley are east.