Monsaraz, the white town above Lake Alqueva.

Monsaraz is an hour and a half from Badajoz, on the other side of Lake Alqueva, and from its walls you see Spain across the water. It is a single walled hill with two cobbled streets of white houses running from the gate to the castle. It is covered in a couple of hours, so Sunday has room for more: a medieval fresco on the main street, a menhir enclosure saved from the reservoir at the foot of the hill and São Pedro do Corval, Portugal's largest pottery centre, a few minutes away. From Mérida it is about two hours.

The day, hour by hour

Stop times are Portuguese time, one hour behind Spain.

9:00 (Spanish time) · Leave. About 90 km from Badajoz. When you cross the border the clock goes back an hour: you arrive around 9:30 Portuguese time. Park outside the town gate: inside the wall only residents may enter.

9:45 · The town and the castle. Walk up the two streets to the castle, at the end of the hill. From its walls you see the lake, the plain and Spain. The town changed hands several times in the 12th century and became Portuguese in 1232, under Sancho II and the Templars. First thing on Sunday it is almost empty. Free.

11:00 · Fresco Museum. In the former Paços de Audiência, on the main street, a medieval fresco pits the just judge against the corrupt one. A short stop, next to the parish church and the pelourinho.

12:15 · Xerez cromlech. At the foot of the hill, next to the Orada convent: 55 granite monoliths in an almost square layout around a 3.6 m menhir. They stood at Herdade do Xerez, on land Alqueva was going to flood, and in 1998 they were excavated again and moved here. Open air and free.

13:30 · Lunch at Sabores de Monsaraz. Go back up to the town: this small eatery, on Largo de São Bartolomeu, inside the wall, cooks home-style Alentejo dishes with views of the lake. The house roast lamb, migas gatas with cod or grilled Iberian pork plumas. On Sunday it opens for lunch from 12:30 to 15:30 and the dining room is small: book by phone and ask for a table with a view.

15:30 · The potters of São Pedro do Corval. More than twenty workshops in operation. Go in to see the potter at the wheel and buy hand-painted plates and jugs from the person who makes them. Each workshop has its own hours: on Sunday afternoon not all are open, so go knowing you may find some closed.

17:00 · Return. You reach Badajoz around half past seven in the evening, Spanish time.

In summer

From June to September, the river beach at the Nautical Centre, at the former Moinho do Gato, at the foot of the hill, changes the day: the first beach on Lake Alqueva, with a Blue Flag, lifeguards, adapted access, showers, a children's area and a picnic area. Do the town first thing, go down to the water at midday and climb back up to the wall an hour before sunset.

With children and with a dog

The town is short, car-free and has walls: children like it. The Xerez menhirs and the potters at the wheel work very well with them. With a dog, the town, the castle and the cromlech, yes; at the museum, ask at the door.