Palace Hotel do Bussaco: My hotel in North Portugal

The Bussaco Palace has all the features of the dreamer’s “romantic palace” – set in the heart of the glorious Bussaco National Park, high on a hill, and resplendent in its decorative Manueline-Gothic architecture, this legendary Palace was built for the last King of Portugal in 1885, converted into a deluxe hotel in 1917, and is nowadays one of the most beautiful and historic hotels in the world. You see another similar palace in Sintra (same architect).

 

Here you will enjoy the unique experience of staying in a veritable royal palace surrounded by formal gardens in the center of the magnificent woods, formed by 250 acres of centuries old walled ‘Bos Sacrum ´planted by the ecologically minded Order of the Barefoot Carmelites in the 17th century , as a holy hermitage dedicated to withdrawal and uplift.

Book Palace Hotel do Bussaco

The Palace Hotel do Bussaco is an excellent example of Gothic-Manueline architecture. Its corridors are sumptuously decorated with period furniture, large paintings and traditional Portuguese tiles.

The restaurant
The restaurant

ROOMS

The rooms are individually decorated in a classic style and feature satellite TV and period furniture, from 18th-century to Art Nouveau pieces. Some rooms offer views of the hotel’s large gardens. All 60 rooms and suites with turn-of-the-century Art Nouveau or Art Déco, or classical Portuguese D. Maria or D. José furnishings.

For being a historical rather than a deluxe experience, enhancing the extraordinary beauty, charm and magic of this very special place, not all the rooms are renovated to modern comforts, nor are they all designed to be. Comfort travelers should be forewarned that some of the rooms are preserved in their historic state, so, while some compromises are made, much of the current amenities and features are of an earlier time. But do not let this distract you from the extraordinary beauty, charm and magic of Bussaco.

Breakfast
Breakfast

FACILITIES

The Palace Hotel do Bussaco’s restaurant also offers classic French cuisine and traditional Portuguese dishes. It is decorated with paintings by João Vaz, Moorish ceilings and exotic wood floors. A glass of the exceptional Vintage Port can be enjoyed at the bar.

Adjacent to the main salon, with its monumental fireplace, with the statue of a minstrel standing between two lions on the mantelpiece, its amazing ceiling of cedar wood and its theatrical mural of a medieval scene.

 

Bar
Bar

AROUND THE HOTEL

This 5-star hotel occupies a hunting palace of the last Portuguese kings, located in the Bussaco National Forest. It houses an elegant restaurant that features a wide variety of exclusive Bussaco wines.

The Bussaco Forest is renowned by arborists worldwide for its incredible array of exotic trees and species of rare flora collected all over the world by Portuguese Navigators. The Monastery of the Holy Cross, dating from 1630, the diversity of chapels, hermitages and belvederes in the forest, and the walking paths through the Stations-of-The-Cross, as well as all the landscape architecture introduced in the middle of the 19th century by Queen Maria Pia of Savoy, fore last Queen of Portugal, and daughter of Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, with the creation of the Valley of the Ferns and the construction of the Cold Fountain, still exemplify the rarefied atmosphere of serenity and peace of this very special place. The strong aromas of conifers, hedges and flora, combined in the early morning, make the air in Bussaco just incredible and unforgettable. If you can find peace and romantic tranquility there, then you may never find it anywhere…

The Palace Hotel do Bussaco is located in the center of the Serra do Bussaco and about 29 km from Coimbra.

 

Hotel
Hotel

CONCLUSION:

Location: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Price: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Comfort: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Facilities: ⭐⭐⭐
Cleanliness: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Breakfast: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Restaurant: ⭐⭐⭐

 

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