Better Together Make lasting memories in these wonderfully welcoming, family-friendly places
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PHOTOS: PEXELS
CRAVEIRAL, Alentejo, Portugal
‘Alentejo will soon be the place to be,’ says Pedro Franca Pinto, the Lisboan lawyer for whom the birth of his two boys 12 years ago prompted a complete change of direction – and the realisation of his childhood dream to become a farmer. He would live according to his values of giving back and leaving things in a better state than he found them. How? By building a regenerative farm that would not only employ locals (as far as possible) and have a positive impact on the land and its people but one that would also offer guests a truly authentic ‘back to nature’ hospitality experience (he’s aware of the buzziness of his words, but in his case he means them). And so, the concept of Craveiral was born. In 2010, he bought 22 acres of protected land in the Alentejo region, which, because of its relative inaccessibility (in comparison with the over-manicured Algarve and the now extortionately priced Comporta), has remained far more wild and unkempt, with little amounts of dense construction, and – in Pedro’s words – the best coastline in Western Europe. Nine years later he opened to guests, before, you guessed it, our friend Covid showed up. However, thanks to the pandemic, he believes that Craveiral is just the kind of restorative place that people are seeking out. And it is extraordinarily laidback, with pine trees dotted around the scrubby landscape, a host of animals on site (pigs, goats, sheep, horses and donkeys, plus a friendly beagle called Charlie and lots of cats), vegetable gardens, wooden walkways built above ground so as not to damage the vegetation, along which guests cycle from their white-washed cottages to the central hub for homemade kombucha, excellent local wine, organic artisan pizzas and extraordinary dishes, conceived by acclaimed chef Alexandre Silva, and mostly cooked on an open fire. Pedro is determined that Craveiral walks the walk, July/August 2022 | COUNTRYANDTOWNHOUSE.COM | 153
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30/06/2022 20:22