Cooks and knife sharpeners get there first, so reserve a Wednesday market day in Amarante

Six hours in the order they happen

Collection is at eight, and the first hour goes to the top of the town where the pens stand: hens, ducks and rabbits in wooden crates, sold live and by weight and argued over properly. From there the street drops. Seed and dried beans come next, open in sacks rolled down at the shoulder so a hand goes in. Then ironmongery: billhooks, pruning saws, scythe blades and the men who sharpen them while you wait. Clothing and shoes fill the lower square and the food end sits by the water. By noon the buying is done and the selling turns lazy, which is the hour to eat. Stalls are packed away from about half past one.

Cobbles, a slope and no seats

The town is built on a slope and the market runs down it. That means roughly two miles of walking across six hours, all of it on cobbles and granite setts, some of it wet where the fish and vegetable stalls have been hosed down. There are no seats along the way apart from cafe chairs, which you are welcome to use. Crowds are thickest between ten and noon and the street narrows in two places to about the width of three people. Anyone using a stick or a frame will find the upper half hard going; say so when you enquire and the day is run in reverse, from the water up, with the hill taken by car.

What $132 holds and what it does not

From $132 per person. That figure holds return road transport from the city, six hours with someone who knows the stallholders by name and can tell you what a fair figure looks like, and a sit down lunch of the ordinary kind near the water. It does not hold anything you buy, and people do buy: a knife, a kilo of beans, a wooden spoon. It does not hold drinks beyond what comes with the meal. The company running the day sends the bill under its own name. Nothing about your card is seen here and no money reaches this office from a traveller at any stage.

Awkward things people ask about this day

Can we avoid the live animal pens?

Yes, and say so at the start rather than halfway up the hill. Birds and rabbits are sold live from wooden crates at the top of the town, which some people find matter of fact and others find hard to watch. The day can start at the water instead and you will miss nothing else. Nobody is walked through that end for effect, and the guide will not linger there.

What is the market like in bad weather?

Smaller. Perhaps a third of the stallholders do not set up on a wet Wednesday in January, the ironmongery end thins out first, and the covered arcade near the water takes the overflow. The market itself has never failed to happen, so the day runs. If half the street is missing on the morning, you are told before you leave the city and offered another Wednesday at no charge.

Will you buy something for us and send it on?

No. This office arranges the day and nothing else: it buys nothing for you, ships nothing, and holds no card details for any purpose. If you want a knife or a set of pruning shears, you buy it yourself in cash at the stall, and the guide will tell you what the going figure looks like before you open your purse. Getting it home is your own arrangement.