a beach at the bottom of the valley, a village around it
You reach Pomares and the river is heard before it's seen. The village is small, built in schist like almost everything around here, and the river beach fits into the Alva valley with a naturalness that seems deliberate. There's nothing artificial about it: it's the river, the rocks and the trees.
Praia Fluvial de Pomares benefits from sitting in a real village, not in a leisure space detached from any context. There are houses right beside it, there are local people who've known the spot since childhood, and that changes the atmosphere. You feel you're in an inhabited place, not an enclosure.
The Arganil area has several river beaches, but Pomares stands out for its geographic fit: the valley closes in well, the schist village frames the bank, and the Serra do Açor is right up there. It's that whole that's worth the trip, more than any square metre of sand.
what you'll find
- a schist village integrated into the beach's landscape
- the Alva valley closed in, with a strong presence of the serra
- a local feel, little tourism
- access by mountain roads that are already part of the experience
