"Just when we thought life couldn’t get any mellower for travelers in Portugal, here comes Quinta da Palmeira – Country House Retreat, an airy eight-room country house in the quiet hills between Porto and Lisbon. Surrounded by orange trees and olive groves, with the peaks of the Serra do Açor just beyond, Quinta da Palmeira makes its home in a region famous for gastronomy and open-air parties known as <em>arraiais</em>, with song and dance as the main activities. For many travelers it will likely be just a stopover between Portugal’s main coastal cities, which is a shame, for it takes a couple days to settle into the laid-back countryside lifestyle." - Tablet Hotels