International Garden Festival — Attraction in Ponte de Lima

Really nice park and gardening exhibition that was a pleasant surprise during our visit to Ponte de Lima. It is a green oasis full of wine, fruits, flowers and greenery, just a very well-kept, tranquil and peaceful place. There is also a competition about the design of small plots with international contributions, along with short explanations about the creators and the ideas behind the garden. Visitors can cast their vote which plot they liked best. The whole place is not that big (if you are from Germany, do not expect something like "Landesgartenschau", this is much smaller) but charming and we enjoyed our...

Lovely experience. Beautiful gardens, with interesting back stories and great variety of designs. The staff were welcoming and enthusiastic and we will definitely return next year, perhaps a little earlier in the year. It was fascinating to see how last year's winning garden had developed so it feels a pity that some of the others have less time to develop but it has to be dynamic. It is a thoroughly recommended experience. We came to Ponte de Lima especially to visit the Gardens and were not disappointed at all. However, we were not expecting PdL to be so beautiful in...

I found the gardens very disappointing. There is almost no shade, which makes it uncomfortable to walk around, especially on a hot day. The layout and activities felt boring compared to other gardens in the region, without much to engage visitors. What bothered me most, however, was the presence of a political exhibition related to the Gaza Strip. This felt completely out of place in a public garden and came across as biased political propaganda. I expected a relaxing cultural experience, not political messaging. Overall, I wouldn’t...