Dark Sky Alqueva

Who they are

Dark Sky Alqueva is the brand of the dark-sky destination surrounding the great Alqueva lake, in the Alentejo, and the Associação Dark Sky is the body that manages it. The destination is certified by the Starlight Foundation, the initiative born from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias with the support of UNESCO and the World Tourism Organization, and presents itself as the world's first Starlight Tourism Destination and the first cross-border one: it covers about 10,000 km² in eleven Portuguese municipalities (Alandroal, Barrancos, Estremoz, Moura, Mourão, Redondo, Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portel, Évora, Mértola and Serpa) and in neighbouring Spanish municipalities. Its headquarters and observatory are in the village of Cumeada, in Reguengos de Monsaraz, and its guides are astronomers, accredited technicians and internationally recognised astrophotographers.

What they do

The main activity is night observation: a guided session of around 1 h 15 min with telescopes, which begins with an explanation of that night's sky and continues with constellations, nebulae, clusters, galaxies and the planets visible at that time of year. It runs from Tuesday to Saturday; each night there is one session in Portuguese and another in English, at alternating times, and it starts roughly an hour after sunset. It costs €30 from May to September and €25 from October to April; ages 8 to 12, €10, and up to 7, free. There is no strict minimum age: they recommend from age 6 or 7, and for the youngest, Moon nights.

They also offer solar observation by day, to see the photosphere and chromosphere; the Sunset Sharish, which combines the setting Sun with a glass of gin; a night canoe trip of about two and a half hours from the Moura Nautical Station, at €48 per adult and €24 up to age 12, with a maximum of 120 kg per person; private astrophotography workshops and activities for hotels and events with portable telescopes.

Bookings and bad weather

Everything is booked beforehand, using the form on their website: they ask for name, country, desired date, language, number of people and ages. The date is not guaranteed until they confirm it; if you say which month interests you, they suggest the best nights. If the weather looks threatening, they let you know and offer a presentation in the auditorium or a change of day; if they do not write to you, the forecast is good. The canoe always depends on conditions. They do not publish a general cancellation policy: ask when you book.