Guimarães

Mumadona's castle, Rua de Santa Maria and a ride up Penha

Start at the top. Walk the castle walls, raised in the 10th century by Countess Mumadona Dias against raiders, then cross the lawn to the Palace of the Dukes of Braganza, built in the 1420s, with its forest of brick chimneys and cavernous banqueting hall. The small chapel of São Miguel between them is where Afonso Henriques is said to have been baptised.

Head down Rua de Santa Maria, the old main street, past granite houses with wooden balconies and iron lanterns, to Largo da Oliveira. Its Gothic Padrão do Salado commemorates a 14th-century victory, and the church behind it gives the square its name. Have lunch around neighbouring Praça de Santiago, where the café tables spill out under the arcades.

In the afternoon, walk to the lower station of the Teleférico da Penha and ride up the mountain for the view and a wander among the moss-covered boulders. Come back down for dinner in the squares, which are at their best once the day-trippers have caught their trains home.

Toucinho do céu, tortas and other convent sweets

Guimarães has a sweet tooth inherited from its convents. Toucinho do céu, a dense almond and egg-yolk cake whose name means bacon from heaven, is the town's signature; the original recipe came from the nuns of Santa Clara. Tortas de Guimarães are crescent-shaped pastries filled with candied squash and almond. Look for both in the old pastry shops around Largo do Toural.

Savoury cooking is Minho country food: caldo verde, rojões (fried chunks of marinated pork), roast kid and salt cod, washed down with the local vinho verde. Simple tascas around the old town serve these at lunch.

The town also eats at the top end. A Cozinha, on Largo do Serralho in the historic centre, holds a Michelin star for modern cooking with traditional roots and closes on Sundays and Mondays, while Templo da Gula on Avenida São Gonçalo changes its menu with the seasons. Book either ahead. For an evening drink, the cafés of Largo da Oliveira set out tables beneath the church tower.

Why Guimarães calls itself the birthplace of Portugal

Guimarães calls itself the birthplace of Portugal because Afonso Henriques, the first king, grew up in its castle and won the Battle of São Mamede nearby in 1128. A slogan on an old tower of the city wall near Largo do Toural reads "Aqui nasceu Portugal". The castle was founded by Mumadona Dias about two centuries earlier.

A slogan on an old tower of the city wall, near Largo do Toural, reads 'Aqui nasceu Portugal', here Portugal was born. The claim rests on Afonso Henriques, the first king, who grew up in the castle and, according to tradition, was born here. In 1128 he defeated his mother's forces at the Battle of São Mamede nearby, the event Portuguese schoolchildren learn as the start of the kingdom, and from Guimarães he began the long campaign south against the Moors.

The castle he knew had been founded about two centuries earlier by Mumadona Dias, and its first name was São Mamede castle. It is now one of the seven national wonders chosen by public vote, and the historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The town wears its history lightly. It was European Capital of Culture in 2012, and on the first weekend of August the Gualterianas fill the streets with music, fireworks and a drumming procession around the old centre. Vitória SC, the local football club, plays in the top division at the stadium named after Afonso Henriques, just north of the centre, and home matches fill the bars.