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Host rating
90 %
Last replied
16 Oct 2025
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Details
Description
Dear community,
We’re a young couple who chose to take a different path. One rooted in simplicity, sustainability, and connection.
In the quiet hills of northern Portugal, we’ve found a home that we’re transforming from the ground up using natural building techniques. Our vision is to create a circular living system that weaves together permaculture, co-living, and co-creation.
This is the adventure of a lifetime for us, and one we can only bring to life with the support, knowledge, and energy of a global community. If you feel called to be part of this journey, we’d love to hear from you.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Help around the house
Interests
Architecture
Vegetarian or vegan
Sustainability
Pets
Farming
Plant care
Music
Drawing & painting
Gardening
DIY & crafts
Cooking & food
Carpentry
Animals
Yoga / Wellness
Water sports
Sailing / Boating
Outdoor activities
Nature
Mountain
Hiking
Fitness
Dancing
Camping
Adventure sports
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
As a Workawayer with us, you'll be part of a hands-on environment where learning, creativity, and cultural exchange is available upon you initiative. You can gain practical experience in natural building techniques, permaculture gardening, sourdough baking, fermenting, and vegetarian / vegan cooking with organic ingredients.
During the week, Jannis and I work regular hours at our desk jobs, which means you’ll have a good mix of guided tasks you can explore independently / together with the other workawayer present. On weekends, we come together for our “big do-time”, working as a team on ongoing projects.
We love sharing our journey: from following a classic career-oriented path to choosing a more minimalist and sustainable lifestyle, using what we have and what we know to build something meaningful. If you're curious, we’re happy to share knowledge in areas like natural building, permaculture design, yoga, and surfing. We also welcome you into our daily life, from local events and regional trips to casual evenings.
What you take from your time here depends not only on the projects happening during your stay but also on your own curiosity and proactivity. There's always something to learn for those who are open, present, and ready to get involved.
OUR DAILY SCHEDULE
09.00 - 12.00 morning session
12.00 - 13.30 Lunch break
13.30 - 15:30 afternoon session
Our helping schedule can vary depending on the weather and the type of tasks at hand. In general, we ask for 5 hours of help per day, not including your participation in regular household chores, which we all share as part of living together. You'll have 2 days off during the week, usually flexible depending on the flow of the week.
If this rhythm doesn’t work for you, we’re happy to talk and explore alternative setups that might better suit your needs while keeping the exchange fair and balanced for everyone.
Help
More info on events, availabilities, and ongoing projects below ⬇️
GENERAL AVAILABILITY
We currently have openings starting November and then again from March onwards. We strongly prefer Workawayers with prior experience in handcrafts, natural building, or agroforestry. That said, if you're motivated, love animals, and don't mind getting your hands dirty, feel free to reach out anyway! Passion and a proactive attitude go a long way.
We prefer stays of 1 to 3 months, and invite people who enjoy living closely with others and becoming part of a temporary co-living.
OPEN SLOTS & FOCUS
November
→ Only for experienced handypeople
→ You’ll be staying in our cozy, heated, and insulated tiny house
March
→ Focus on Permaculture
→ Multiple spots available
PROJECT AREAS
ECO-CONSTRUCTION
We're currently building with wood, straw, and clay. Experience in related crafts is very welcome. For those with solid skills in craftsmanship, we’re open to offering a small financial compensation.
PERMACULTURE
We’re developing a 1000 m² homestead agroforest with edible trees, berries, and medicinal plants. The design is still unfolding. There’s always work to do — from weeding and grass cutting to planting and experimenting. If you are a trained Permaculture Designer, we’d love to hear from you! 👋🏻
CARE & HOUSEHOLD SUPPORT
We always appreciate people who love caring: for animals, the home, and the people around them. A good heart and presence are as valuable as strong hands.
ARRIVAL INFO
Please try to arrive on Friday evening or Saturday morning. We use the weekend to get you settled in, introduce you to the space and rhythms, and make sure you feel at home before diving into the week.
Important:
Please do not bring your own animals — we already share our home with quite a few 😊
Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
French: Intermediate
Portuguese: Beginner
Accommodation
YOUR TENT
Summer: You have a spacious "glamping" tent (3x3m in size), high enough to stand in. The tent is equipped with a bed and a real mattress.
Autumn: You'll have a space in the house, which is currently a loft without separate rooms.
SANITATION
We have an outdoor shower, which is the only warm water source and an indoor composting toilet. As it came to a surprise to one or the other: anyone staying with us might also be involved in emptying and cleaning the composting toilet. If you use it - you also take care of it :)
WATER
We have well and are connected to the tap water (not drinkable). There is a river with water from the mountains next to the property. We collect drinking water from nearby natural springs.
ELECTRICITY & WIFI
Provided + super speedy glass fibre internet. It's the best.
NUTRITION
We provide all meals always. We are living mostly vegan and sugar reduced - so will be our food. We are still developing the habits around it, and it’s very difficult if we’re continuously surrounded by other types of food. Therefore, if you need sweets to survive, I’d ask you to keep these things out of the “main” areas - otherwise the munchies are hitting and we’ll go back to spooning Nutella 😂
LAUNDRY
There will be a washing machine available for use and a communal washing line, cost is 1 EUR per wash (including organic washing liquid). You can also share this with other guests.
What else ...
HOW TO GET AROUND
The place is 15 mins by car from amazing surf spots and 10 mins driving to Vila nova de Cerveira. You’re close to mountains for hiking and mountain biking.
If you don’t have a car, be prepared to cycle or walk. You can get anywere by bike, and the rides are very beautiful. Beach is 30 mins by bicycle. The next train station (seixas) is 30 - 40 mins walking. You’ll find trains to all beaches and bigger cities. We have a bicycles you can lend from us that will be a great help in reaching beaches and mountains.
We have surf boards & wetsuits for beginners and rent them out for 10€/ day. Initially we didn’t take any money for sharing our boards, but beginners luck includes that damages on the board come quickly. In order to repair / replace the boards from time to time, we decided to take a little fee.
TRAVEL INSTRUCTIONS
Big sorry beforehand: We don't pick-up workawayers from train stations. Most of the time, your arrival times are somewhat within our working hours and with the flow of workawayers in and out of this house, we can’t handle it. But there are ways to get here even without our help, and many have done it before you ;)
> Generally, Seixas is the clostes train station. If you don't find trains to Seixas, try Caminha.
> Take the Autna Bus from Porto Airport to Vila Nova de Cerveira. Take a train from Vila Nova de Cerveira to Seixas.
> Take the train from Porto to Seixas. Walk from Seixas.
> Sometimes there are Blablacars around, too.
> A taxi from Caminha to Vilar de Mouros should be around 10 - 15 €.
Trains and Buses in Portugal are super cheap - so don't hesitate to try them out.
THINGS YOU SHOULD BRING (SUMMER EDITION)
- A mosquito net to throw over your bed
- Working gloves (we have some you can use, but some people prefer their own)
- A hat
- Mandatory: Biodegradable Sunscreen (mineral based), 100% Biodegradable toothpaste and soap (our water directly flows out watering our plants. If you don't find suitable products, you can buy homemade soap and shampoo (each 5€) and toothpaste from us.)
- Yoga mat and games if you like :)
THINGS YOU SHOULD BRING (WINTER EDITION)
Same as in summer, and:
- A warm hat, warm socks, and warm clothes in general. It gets really chilly during the night and in the mornings.
DONATIONS
Do you know how many trees you have chopped down for use for toilet paper, cardboard packaging, paper etc? How much carbon are you responsible for due to buying food, cars ad flying. If you would like to offset your carbon footprint you can help us by purchasing trees for the nursery. Please ask us when you get here and we can pick these up from the market. You can then plant them and make your own sign to go with them in your name or for a friend.
If you want to bring us anything we need that would be amazing. We always need arts and crafts, books, paint brushes, paint, seeds, old clothes for working, essential oils, musical instruments, mugs, crockery and art.
HOUSE RULES
These may seem obvious to you, but we have a few issues with every group, so I would like to put them here so everything is clear.:
- No smoking and drinking around the house and land anytime. Only off property. No smoking in summer in anywhere outside concrete (fire risk).
- Upon arrival: Please do not pet, talk or interact in any ways with our dogs, as it it impacts their training.
- Do not chase or frighten our animals. We have free ranging chicken. They are friendly. Behave calm and friendly around any animal you encounter. When you are stressed, they are stressed.
- Do not remove anything from our land, such as rocks, flowers, plants etc.
- Give people their own space when they need it.
- Remove shoes when accessing the house.
- If you break something due to incompetence or maltreatment, please offer to pay for it.
- If you move something, put it back. If you borrow something, then please put it back.
- Only use organic soap and shampoo (we have these for sale if you need them), as all used water goes to our organic
gardens.
- Don't pull a weed out or take a plant unless you know what it is and have been asked to do so. We have lost so many lovely plants due to people being unaware that the grass was onions. Also, this is a good learning exercise for you.
- Do not use a tool or garden machinery unless you have been shown how to use it.
- If something is broken, please let us know so we can fix it.
- Sharpen all tools before you use them.
- Clean and return all tools to where they should be before finishing work.
- If a tool doesn't feel like it is working right, or maybe it isn't the right tool for the job, stop using it and check.
- Attend all morning work meetings and weekly community meetings.
In case of repeated ignorance of our house rules and unsuccesful trials of communication, we will ask you to leave the property within one day notice. In case the workaway arrangement doesn't work for you, we would ask you to give us also a one day notice before your departure. In severe cases, we ask you to leave the house within a shorter timeframe.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We have Fibre glass super high quality internet and one room with a desk.
Space for parking camper vans
You can park either on a public parking space close to a nearby chapel or on a piece of land next to our property. The access to the land is very steep and requires you to drive carefully. Very deep vans might have difficulties.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
My animals / pets
Babbitty Rabbitty & Cottontail
Chicken & Ducks
Benjen
Totoro
Cat
Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host
Feedback (19)
I had an amazing and transformative time in Vilhar de Mouros! I really enjoyed the work, which was purposeful and varied. I felt welcomed and appreciated from the moment I arrived,… read more
Our tasks were very diverse, from creating bricks from clay and straw, cutting glass bottles, building the walls and adding the last touch of clay plaster. It was hard work that paid off as we saw one of the buildings almost to completion. Another project was the permaculture garden, where… read more
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Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host
Feedback
These are extra optional ratings when members leave feedback. The average rating left for each option is displayed.
Accuracy of profile:
(4.6)
Cultural exchange:
(4.3)
Communication:
(4.5)
I had an amazing and transformative time in Vilhar de Mouros! I really enjoyed the work, which was purposeful and varied. I felt welcomed and appreciated from the moment I arrived,… read more
Our tasks were very diverse, from creating bricks from clay and straw, cutting glass bottles, building the walls and adding the last touch of clay plaster. It was hard work that paid off as we saw one of the buildings almost to completion. Another project was the permaculture garden, where… read more
I really admire the way Emma and Jannis… read more
I wish you good luck in the future!✨️
Emma and Jannis are wonderful and inspiring young people who have chosen to live… read more
Katarina isn't just good; she's the kind of person who makes everything better. She's this wonderful mix of gentle yet hardcore, proactive, and adaptable. No matter the situation, she's a rockstar, taking care of herself while spreading happiness all… read more
He also brought a lot of joy and ease into the group. Everybody enjoyed his music and got to their limits with small workouts he… read more
My time was spent learning natural building techniques, enjoying the amazing places of Portugal and meeting so many amazing people.
We had a lot of fun working as a group of workawayers and Emma and Jannis on the tiny house… read more
Amongst the fun and the easy going vibe they are really dedicated to their work, and serious about their project - approaching every little bit with great professionalism. This combination is so great to work in and work with. The tasks were set… read more
The little family brought a lot of warmth… read more
Emma and Jannis are lovely chilled and fun people and inspiring to see how they live their lives in such a sustainable way. Their home is so lovely and it felt like 'home' straight… read more
Emma and Jannis are very… read more
