Alentejo Cork Country by Jeep

The montado is one of Europe's most unusual landscapes: a woodland shaped by people over centuries, where the cork oak is stripped without being felled and the land stays alive precisely because of it.

This route takes you into an Alentejo estate by 4x4, along the dirt tracks the tractors use. You stop where it matters — beside freshly stripped trees, in clearings, at high points looking out over the plain.

You will learn how cork is taken off by hand every nine years, why that does not kill the tree, and what that economy supports locally. And about the wildlife that lives here: birds of prey, wild boar, deer.

Two hours that work equally well for anyone after an adventure and for anyone who simply wants to know where the cork in their wine bottle came from. Drive yourself or ride with a guide.