Portugal 
In numbers.
Nov–Feb
Best months
700m
Elevation
The water at Laja Waterfall, month by month
It roars from November to March.
The fullest months: from November to March. The thinnest: from June to September.
- 100%Jan
- 77%Feb
- 77%Mar
- 62%Apr
- 42%May
- 22%Jun
- 9%Jul
- 7%Aug
- 12%Sep
- 63%Oct
- 90%Nov
- 98%Dec
Best months to go, with plenty of water and pleasant days: from November to February.
Estimate from rain, snowmelt and evaporation month by month (NASA POWER, 1991–2020) around the falls. Dams upstream can change the real flow.
Waterfall in Terras de Bouro, Portugal
Laja Waterfall is a waterfall in Portugal.
Getting there.
- Vieira do Minhonearest town · 14 km in a straight line
- Parking 1,460 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Vila Real Airport (VRL)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 64 km in a straight lineCar hire at VGO airport (Vigo)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- From November to Februarybest months to go (estimate)
Plan your visit
Stay, explore and get there
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
Seen from the sky.
8 × 8 km of cloud-free satellite image, with what OpenStreetMap knows around the falls.
N
2 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 8 × 8 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
The line follows the river as mapped in OpenStreetMap; heights from the 30 m Copernicus model, which smooths narrow drops — the published height of the falls is the one above.
Around the falls the river drops 441 m in 1.5 km. Here the river runs about 54 m below the lower rim of its valley.
What is around.
- 3viewpointsMiradouro da Preguiça, Pé de Cabril, Miradouro Junceda
- 7waymarked walking routesTrilho da Preguiça, Trilho dos Prados da Messe, PE de Cabril and 4 more
- 5car parks
- —swimming spots
- 4picnic sites
- 2toilets
- 1information boards and visitor centres
- —bus stops within 1 km
- 3other named waterfalls within 4 kmCascata do Arado, Cascata de Leonte, Cascata do Zanganho
- —caves
- 5campsitesParque de Campismo do Vidoeiro, Ermida Gerês Camping, Parque de Campismo de Cerdeira and 2 more
- 40hotels, B&Bs and huts within 6 kmHI Gerês – Pousada da Juventude, Residencial Bela Vista, Pensão do Rio and 37 more
- 8restaurants and cafés within 3 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, up to 2 km around the falls (unless noted). A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Vieira do Minho14 km in a straight line
- Terras de Bouro14 km in a straight line
- Lobios14 km in a straight line
- Entrimo20 km in a straight line
- Sande21 km in a straight line
- Caldelas21 km in a straight line
- Amares22 km in a straight line
- Póvoa de Lanhoso22 km in a straight line
Weather
The weather, month by month.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon °C | 9 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 19 | 23 | 27 | 27 | 24 | 18 | 12 | 9 |
| Night °C | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 2 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 143 | 95 | 122 | 95 | 68 | 44 | 25 | 33 | 46 | 152 | 144 | 138 |
| Wet days | 14 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 15 | 15 |
| Sun h/day | 3.0 | 4.7 | 5.7 | 7.2 | 8.5 | 9.5 | 10.3 | 9.6 | 8.1 | 5.2 | 3.6 | 3.1 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Long-term averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, with temperatures carried to the height of the falls (700 m) at −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Not a forecast.
Recent years
Wet years and dry years
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A wet season above 100 % usually means a fuller waterfall.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 76% | 37% | 103% | 184% | 97% | 62% | 29% | 202% | 143% | 97% | 102% | 205% |
| 2021 | 107% | 226% | 48% | 93% | 115% | 178% | 48% | 56% | 129% | 64% | 14% | 94% |
| 2022 | 21% | 22% | 69% | 60% | 34% | 136% | 57% | 39% | 136% | 121% | 157% | 163% |
| 2023 | 131% | 12% | 60% | 41% | 81% | 197% | 39% | 37% | 204% | 150% | 128% | 91% |
| 2024 | 78% | 179% | 143% | 78% | 132% | 120% | 89% | 14% | 176% | 104% | 44% | 32% |
| 2025 | 161% | 70% | 79% | 135% | 108% | 20% | 33% | 30% | 75% | 69% | 151% | 108% |
130% wetter than usual 70% drier than usual
Compare with the waterfalls nearby.
Laja Waterfall
Portugal
- —Height
- —Average flow
- Nov–FebBest months
About these numbers
| Names, height, width, river | Wikidata (Q9701169) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Relief, river profile, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Paths, viewpoints, parking | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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