Photograph to comeCortijada Los Gázquez
Almería · Sleeps 1 or more
A wholly off-grid farmhouse retreat in the Sierra María-Los Vélez natural park, run on sun, wind and wood.
€
- Off-grid
- Solar-powered
- Dark skies
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Photographs by Quinta do Barranco da Estrada, used with permission.
Quinta do Barranco da Estrada
Santa Clara-a-Velha, Alentejo
A lakeside lodge in the lower Alentejo running entirely on solar, with rare birds on the water.
Why we love it
Santa Clara-a-Velha is on the border between the Alentejo and the Algarve, and the Quinta sits on the shore of a large warm freshwater lake that most visitors to Portugal have never heard of. The whole place runs on solar — not a partial arrangement, the lot.
Ten rooms in total, terraces and gardens down to the water, and enough birdlife that people come specifically for it. The lodge describes itself as unpretentious, which is unusual and, by all accounts, accurate.
Best for: swimming in fresh water in a country everyone visits for the sea
Worth knowing
- The last four kilometres in are, in the Quinta's own words, challenging if you arrive after dark, and it warns that some sat navs do not work near here.
- Two nights minimum, rising to four in August, and the deposit is forfeited if you cancel or change dates.
- There is no air conditioning anywhere — the Quinta is built with thick walls and deep eaves instead.
The practicalities
- Check in
- Before 2pm or between 4.30pm and 10pm in high season, 9pm the rest of the year; reception is closed 2pm–4.30pm and rooms may not be ready until 4.30pm
- Check out
- 12.00, though you are welcome to stay the day and use the boats
- Wifi
- Good
- Included
- A continental breakfast
- Hi-speed wifi anywhere on the premises
- Free use of the Quinta's canoes and SUPs
- Free use of the Yoga Shala
- Extras
- Extra bed — €45
- Lunch — €27 an adult, €16 for children 13 or younger
- Dinner — €37 an adult, €27 for children 13 or younger
- Transfer to or from Santa Clara-Sabóia station — €50 for up to 4, €65 for 5–8
- Transfer to or from Faro airport — €185 for up to 4, €250 for 5–8
Getting there
- Nearest station
- Santa Clara-Sabóia
- Without a car
- Possible
- what3words
- ///helicopter.superpower.presently
Two or three trains a day from Faro or Lisbon reach Santa Clara-Sabóia, and the Quinta runs a paid collection service from the station or from Faro, Beja or Lisbon airports. Print its own driving directions: Google Maps often routes guests along an extra fifty kilometres of slow road. The bus drops at Ourique, forty-five kilometres away.
What is around it
Towns
- Santa Clara-a-Velha · 8.1 miles — The nearest restaurants.
- Sabóia · 9.9 miles — Restaurants, and the railway station is named for it.
- Nave Redonda · 18.6 miles — Restaurants.
- Ourique · 28 miles — Where the long-distance bus from Faro or Lisbon drops off.
- Boavista dos Pinheiros · 28 miles — Restaurants.
Who runs it
Daniela and Frank
Thirty-five years of work by its present owners, Daniela and Frank. Frank McClintock is one of Portugal's foremost nature and birdwatching guides, and the Quinta was started as a business in an area of isolated beauty that could employ local people — it now sustains five families in the region.
Where it is
Checked August 2026 · We re-verify prices and opening every quarter.
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