Penhas da Saúde is a village in the municipality of Covilhã

Covilhã

Covilhã is a city in Covilha Municipality in Centro region, Portugal. The city proper has 36,723 inhabitants, and the municipality has an area of 555.6 km² with a total population of 53,501, being composed of 31 parishes. It is located in the Cova da Beira subregion, in the district of...

, Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

. This mountain village sits right in the heart of Serra da Estrela, nestled within the scenic mountain range, at an altitude of 1,500 metres. It is primarily a winter resort.

Winter resort

The tourism facilities in Penhas da Saúde consists of the Serra da Estrela Hotel, a youth hostel and the Mountain Chalets, 10 minutes away from the Vodafone Ski Resort

Vodafone Ski Resort

Vodafone Ski Resort is a ski resort located in a mountain range named Serra da Estrela, in the municipality of Seia, parish of Loriga, Portugal.-Description:...

. Slightly below the village, overlooking Cova da Beira

Cova da Beira

Cova da Beira is a NUTS3 subregion of Portugal integrated in the NUTS2 Centro region. It lies in the fertile valley between the Serra da Estrela and Gardunha mountains. It covers an area of 1,373 km², with a population of 92,460 inhabitants for a density of 67 hab/km². The major cities are Covilhã ...

, sits the typical Estalagem Varanda dos Carqueijais.
The Vodafone Ski Resort is located at Torre

Torre (Serra da Estrela)

Torre is a monument that marks the highest point of Mainland Portugal, and the second most elevated of the Portuguese Republic . This point is not a distinctive mountain summit, but rather the highest point in a mountain range...

 (highest point in mainland Portugal), in Seia

Seia

Seia Municipality is located in Guarda District in Portugal. It has a total area of 435.7 km² and a total population of 27,574 inhabitants. Its urban population is about 7,000...

, right in the centre of the nature reserve, at an altitude of 2,000 metres. Covered in snow from December to April, thanks to an artificial snow-producing process, the ski resort houses the support infrastructures for the practice of winter sports and provides facilities such as mechanical lifts and a pass identification system for the lifts. That ski resort

Ski resort

A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing and other winter sports. In Europe a ski resort is a town or village in a ski area - a mountainous area, where there are ski trails and supporting services such as hotels and other accommodation, restaurants, equipment rental and a ski lift system...

 is a destination in Portugal for winter sports and entertainment.

Activities include mushing

Mushing

Mushing is a general term for a sport or transport method powered by dogs, and includes carting, pulka, scootering, sled dog racing, skijoring, freighting, and weight pulling. More specifically, it implies the use of one or more dogs to pull a sled on snow or a rig on dry land...

 (dog sledding), sleigh rides and snow motorcycles. A range of equipment, such as alpine skis and snowboards can be rented locally.

Sources

Câmara Municipal da Covilhã (Covilhã City Hall)