Sunrise Escape

Built in granite and wood, this four-bedroom villa in Carreço sits close to the Atlantic, its rooms bright and open to the outdoors. The primary suite has an adjoining room suited to families, and there are 2.5 bathrooms for up to nine guests. A wooden deck frames the private pool, with a lawn garden and terrace looking out to the sea, and an indoor fireplace for cooler evenings.

Carreço is a quiet, residential pocket of Viana do Castelo, in Portugal's Minho region, where coastal trails begin just minutes from the door. The northern light here has its own quality, and the surrounding green hills make for easy walking at sunrise or late afternoon.

Mornings might start on the terrace with coffee and that ocean view, before a walk along the nearby trails while the light is still soft. Afternoons settle into the pool and garden, board games or a book for the children, and evenings gather round the fireplace as the Atlantic breeze picks up.