The Experience
A Week of Words in the Douro
Here is the revised text with a clearer sense of who this is for, woven in naturally at the start.
A week at Casa da Granja
This week is for people who love writing and want time to focus on it. You might be working on a project or just starting out. You want to spend time with a poet, learn from the experience, and improve your craft. You also want to slow down and enjoy the region.
The retreat takes place at Casa da Granja, a 17th‑century manor in the Douro Valley. Giacomo Boffi, a poet based in Lisbon, leads the week.
You arrive and settle in. Some people head straight to the gardens. Others find a spot by the pool or on the balcony with a notebook. There is no rush to start. The house has quiet rooms if you prefer to write alone. There is also a long table where the group gathers to work side by side. You hear pens scratching paper. Someone crosses out a line and starts again.
We take time to see the region. River tours and visits to local quintas are part of the week. You taste the food and wine. You let the place enter your poems.
Between these activities there is space. You can rest. You can think. You can talk with others or keep to yourself.
You do not need to call yourself a poet. This is not a workshop with grades or tests. There are a few prompts and some shared reading, but most of the week is open for your own work. You are invited, not required, to share. What you write stays yours. On the last night, anyone who wants to can read to the group.
You leave with new pages. You also leave with the sense that your voice matters. You carry the memory of a week where you could slow down and pay attention. That is often enough to begin.
Poetry is a way of paying attention.
The Timetable
Dates & Duration
- Dates — 28 March to 3 April 2027
- Season — early spring
- Duration — 7 Days / 6 Nights
- Group Size — 7 guests
- Status — Booking open
The Creation
What You’ll Carry Home
By Saturday you will have a small body of work. A handful of poems, some finished, some not. You will have revised a few of them with Giacomo’s help and, if you want, bound them into a handmade booklet to take home. More than the poems, you take home a way of looking. You start to notice what a place does to you, and you have words for it.
- Daily workshops with Giacomo, kept short and simple
- Selected poems to read together, chosen for the week
- Writing prompts you can keep using after the retreat
- A small personal selection of your poems, revised, and a handmade booklet if you choose to make one
A note on sharing. Reading your work aloud is always optional. Nobody is asked to share a poem they would rather keep.
The Sanctuary
Where You’ll Stay
Casa da Granja sits in the Douro Valley, among the terraced vineyards of the north. Every room is en suite, and you can keep one to yourself or share it with a friend. There is a quiet, naturally lit room for the workshops and for writing, and enough space around the house to be alone when you want to be. All meals are included.
- Region — Douro Valley, Northern Portugal
- Rooms — eight en suite rooms for a group of up to seven, yours alone or shared with a friend
- Dining — breakfast, lunch and dinner, with dietary requirements catered for
- Getting there — Porto is the nearest airport
Guided by People Who Care
Giacomo Boffi — Poet
Giacomo is a poet based in Lisbon. He founded Home of Poetry, a platform that brings people together around poems and the conversations they start. For him poetry is a way to belong somewhere and to say what is hard to say. It is also a way to get through a life. His own writing moves between the small and the very large. It looks at time and memory, and at how tender people can be.
He is also a professional educator and a professor of economics. In his teaching he uses the flipped classroom and problem-based learning, which is to say he prefers that you do the thing rather than listen to someone explain it. The workshops run the same way.
Hosted by TerraGo. Our retreats are fully curated with dedicated concierge hosts on site, taking care of all scheduling details, food setups, and translation support.
Inclusions
What the poetry retreat in Portugal includes
Included
- Six nights at Casa da Granja, in a shared or private en suite room
- All workshops and readings with Giacomo throughout the week
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Guided walks in the surrounding landscape
- Notebook and pen, and the materials for your booklet
- Dedicated TerraGo concierge support
Not included
- Airfare to and from Portugal
- Transfers between Porto and the Douro Valley
- Comprehensive personal travel insurance
- Any optional activities outside the specified itinerary
The Journey
The Rhythm of The Week
The exact schedule may change slightly. Each day has the same shape: a reading and a short workshop in the morning, time to write, a walk or some other way to clear your head, and an optional sharing before dinner. This is not a full day in a classroom. It is closer to a small creative residency.
The days are quiet and they repeat. Giacomo teaches in the morning, a reading and then writing of your own, with prompts if you want them. The afternoons are for walking the terraces, resting, and writing at your own pace. Most evenings end with dinner and an optional sharing before the table is cleared.
You arrive on the Sunday, settle into your room and meet the group over dinner. The week builds slowly, from attention to place to voice, and on the last evening anyone who wants to reads aloud. Nothing is compulsory, the reading least of all.
- Mornings — A workshop with Giacomo, reading and writing together, about three hours.
- Afternoons — Walking, resting, or writing alone. The house is quiet on purpose.
- Evenings — Dinner together, and a reading before dinner for anyone who wants one.
The detailed schedule reaches you a few days before the retreat starts.
Pricing
Pricing & Payment
- Price — from €2,250 per person for a shared room, available only to friends booking together, or €2,850 for a private room. Both include the room, meals and teaching
- Deposit — a deposit holds your place, with the balance due closer to the date
- Places — up to seven guests, so the week fills quickly
- Final balance — payable 90 days before the retreat start date
Further Reading
Before You Come
- Portugal for Makers, a Complete Travel Guide. How to get here and what a week in Portugal really costs.
- Craft Retreats in Europe in 2027 for Makers Traveling from the US. What the trip looks like if you are flying in from the US.
- What Actually Happens at a Knitting Retreat. The rhythm of a TerraGo week, told through our knitting retreats.
Other Retreats
- Colourwork Knitting Retreat in the Algarve. A week of colour by the Atlantic at Carrapateira, May 2027.
- Knit the Landscape. A week of colour in the dunes outside Bergen, September 2027.
Before You Book
What to Know First
This retreat is built for beginners. You do not need to have written a poem before, and you do not need to call yourself a poet.
- Experience — None needed. Come curious. If you already write, the week still gives you time and company.
- What you make — A handful of poems, and a way of paying attention you can take home.
- Language — The retreat runs in English.
- On your feet — Optional walks through the vineyards and the village, on slopes and uneven ground. Everything else happens at the house.
- Getting there — Porto is the nearest airport. We run a group transfer and confirm the meeting point closer to the date.
- Rooms — Eight en suite rooms for a group of up to seven, yours alone or shared with a friend.
Not sure it is for you? Write to us and tell us what you want from the week.
