A Sunday in Guimarães: where Portugal was born, and the city from the Penha.

Guimarães is the city of Afonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal, and one of its walls still says so in big letters: "Aqui nasceu Portugal" (Portugal was born here). From Pontevedra it is an hour and three quarters by the Valença and Braga motorway. The medieval centre is a World Heritage Site and is covered on foot in a morning, with the dukes' palace and the castle on the heights. You eat on Praça da Oliveira and in the afternoon take the cable car up the Penha mountain.

The day, hour by hour

9:00 · Leave. From Pontevedra, the AP-9 to Vigo and the A-55 to Tui; crossing to Valença, the A3 towards Braga and the A11 to Guimarães. Portuguese motorways have electronic tolls: register your number plate or carry a Via-T device. Set the clock back an hour. For parking, the paid car park at Largo Condessa Mumadona is 400 metres from the palace.

10:00 · The historic centre. Start at Toural, go up Praça da Oliveira, with the church of Nossa Senhora da Oliveira and its Gothic padrão, continue along Praça de Santiago and end on Rua de Santa Maria, the oldest street in the city. An hour and a half, unhurried.

11:30 · Palace of the Dukes of Bragança. A 15th-century palace with brick chimneys, with rooms of tapestries and furniture. It is open every day from 10:00 to 18:00. The combined ticket with the castle costs €13 and is bought at the palace ticket office.

13:00 · Castle and São Miguel. The walls are walked along the top and next to them is the small Romanesque church where, according to tradition, Afonso Henriques was baptised.

14:00 · Lunch at HOOL. The restaurant of the Hotel da Oliveira is under the arcades of the square, with a sunny terrace. It is open every day, Sunday too, when others in the centre close. Book on its website or by phone.

16:00 · Cable car to the Penha. From the centre to the summit by cabin, with the city at your feet; at the top there is forest, rocks and a sanctuary. €10 return, €5 for ages 6 to 11. In bad weather, it does not run.

17:45 · Return. In Pontevedra around half past eight, Spanish time.

Where to eat on Sunday

HOOL is chef-led cooking with Portuguese roots, with a menu at lunchtime and a tasting menu only in the evening. If you prefer something lighter, Cor de Tangerina, next to the castle, is vegetarian and open Friday to Sunday at lunchtime, from 12:00 to 15:00. The city's Michelin-starred restaurant, A Cozinha, is closed on Sundays: leave it for another trip.

With rain, with children or with more time

With rain, the palace and the castle are done anyway and the cable car is left for another day: swap the afternoon for the Bom Jesus do Monte sanctuary, in Braga, half an hour away, with its zigzag Baroque staircase and the oldest water-counterbalance funicular still in service. With children, the cable car is the part they remember; at the top there is room to run.