Age of Discovery

Spurred by Prince Henry the Navigator (1394-1460), the Portuguese discovered precisely what Columbus was seeking – the fabled Indies. They also charted new sea routes halfway around the world to destinations as far as Japan.

Purpose-built for traversing the oceans, the wide-hulled caravel (caravela in Portuguese) was arguably Portugal’s most significant contribution to maritime history and an integral part of Prince Henry the Navigator’s ambitious plan for extensive sea exploration in the 15th century.

The history of Portugal’s ground-breaking association with the seas spanned a hundred years from 1415-1515. Widely labelled as the Age of Discovery, this epoch-making period saw Portuguese navigators sail across uncharted seas to break out of the confines of Europe and … Read more

The undisputed queen of Portugal’s many first-rate cheeses is queijo da serra (serra cheese), made from the milk of ewes leisurely grazing in elevated pastures full of wild vegetation throughout the Estrela mountain region of central Portugal.

Perched high on a line of hills near the Serra da Estrela mountains of central Portugal, Belmonte is a medieval village of considerable charm commanded by an imposing 13th-century granite castle.

Synonymous with the town of Tomar in the heart of the Ribatejo region, the legendary Knights Templar played a very important role in the reconquest of Portugal in the 12th century.



Nestling at the heart of a wide bay on the eastern edge of Madeira, just a short drive from the island’s international airport, Machico is a pretty fishing town with plenty of tourist appeal and some of the most spectacular … Read more

None of Portugal’s kings was as forward-thinking and gifted as Dinis (1261-1325), who wrote dozens of poems of a romantic nature, including many about his wife, Elizabeth of Aragon.

One of the most picturesque seaside towns in Portugal, Nazaré is a bustling resort with a large crescent-shaped stretch of golden, sandy beach on the west coast of central Portugal.

Portugal’s national gallery is the magnificent Ancient Art Museum where visitors to Lisbon can view an outstanding collection of paintings, sculptures and decorative arts spanning more than 700 years.

Devastated by a succession of earthquakes over the centuries, Setúbal is rich in relics of the past and nowadays is one of the busiest ports on Lisbon‘s southern shoreline.

The largest place in the archipelago and capital of both São Miguel Island and the Azores since 1522, Ponta Delgada is a charming city stretched out along a wide bay on the island’s south coast.

When visitors arrive in Lisbon‘s historic centre of Belém, the first building they see is the imposing Jerónimos Monastery, impressive for its sheer size and without doubt one of the most spectacular monuments in the whole of Europe.

Looking upwards on a clear night, it’s difficult not to wonder how the heavens guided Portugal’s great discoverers towards new horizons in the late Middle Ages.

Along with the imposing Castle of São Jorge, Lisbon’s strikingly eye-catching Tower of Belém is one of the city’s most iconic edifices.

Portugal’s most celebrated poet, Luís Vaz de Camões (c 1524-1580), lived an extraordinarily eventful life by any stretch of the imagination.

One epic achievement still much talked about and celebrated the world over is that of Ferdinand Magellan, the intrepid Portuguese navigator who led the first fleet of vessels to successfully circumnavigate the globe in the early 16th century.

Portugal is a land of pageants, processions, lively country fairs and other joyful folklore-based festivities where tourists who happen upon them by accident can expect the unexpected.

Although Portuguese architecture is said to have officially commenced with the start of the monarchy, there was already a large scattering of ancient buildings in existence all over the country, most notably the Visigoth temple of Balsemão, the Mozarab church of … Read more

One of the most decisive conflicts in the history of Portugal – the famous Battle of Aljubarrota – took place on an isolated plain in the centre of the country well over six centuries ago.

Grand Master of the Order of Avis, King João I was king of Portugal from the 6th of April 1385 until his death on the 14th of August 1433 aged 76.

Full of history and rustic traditions, Celorico da Beira is a small town nestling on the edge of the Serra da Estrela mountains approximately 50 kilometres east of Viseu in the heart of central Portugal.

One of the most legendary and influential figures of Portugal’s long and chequered history is Afonso Henriques, the country’s first king.

The magnificent Convento de Cristo (Convent of Christ) in the historic town of Tomar in central Portugal is one of the most impressive religious complexes in the whole of southern Europe.

In 1572, Luís Vaz de Camões published his long-awaited poem, Os Lusíadas (The Lusiads), based on the hardships and adventures experienced by the great explorer, Vasco da Gama.

Sitting comfortably between the Lima Estuary and the rolling hills of Portugal‘s enchanting Minho region, Viana do Castelo boasts an extended history with vestiges of human habitation dating back as far as the Stone Age.

One of the greatest treats for people visiting the historic village of Sintra is the chance to ride on an old tram through vast swathes of verdant countryside to the glorious beach town of Praia das Maças.

Located in the heart of Belém, a bustling tourist centre in the western suburbs of Lisbon, the excellent Museu de Marinha (Maritime Museum) is a top attraction for anyone interested in learning all about Portugal’s many seafaring achievements over the … Read more

The flurry of Portuguese maritime activity orchestrated by Prince Henry the Navigator in the 14th and 15th centuries culminated in the Holy Grail of seafaring achievements when an unknown sea captain bravely steered his wooden caravel around one of the … Read more

The longest of all Portugal’s rivers, the Tagus (Tejo in Portuguese) meanders across the Iberian Peninsula for just over 1,000 kilometres before spilling out into the Atlantic Ocean in Lisbon, right at the point where Portuguese caravels set sail on … Read more

One of the most idyllically-situated towns in the whole of Portugal is Vila Baleira, an ocean-side paradise and capital of Porto Santo Island in the Atlantic archipelago of Madeira.

A man of rare taste and exceptional vision, good King Manuel I of Portugal ruled over the Portuguese Empire during the halcyon days of his country’s great Age of Discovery.

Surrounded by one of the oldest state forests in the world, the lovely old city of Leiria was once the southernmost outpost of the early Portuguese kingdom at a time when Lisbon was still under Moorish occupation.