Roughly rectangular in shape and with a population of around ten million people, Portugal has much to offer the modern visitor – young and old alike.
The green and pleasant north of Portugal is a place of traditional merry-making where annual festivals are ablaze with colourful costumes, lively processions and frenetic folk-dancing followed by a feast of fireworks.
History has shaped the Portuguese capital with a succession of architectural influences over the centuries, most notably the Moors who occupied the city for more than four hundred years.
The age-old custom of hurtling visitors downhill at breakneck speed in something resembling an over-sized laundry basket is thankfully very much alive on the Atlantic island of Madeira.
Synonymous with the city’s long and chequered history, Lisbon’s imposing Castle of São Jorge stands proud on the highest hill of the Tagus estuary and was once the nucleus of the Portuguese capital. Evidence suggests that an Iron Age castro, or … Read more
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.
To get close to Lisbon and its residents there’s nothing better than a nostalgic roller-coaster ride in an elétrico, one of the capital’s old streetcars, which are constantly rumbling through the city’s narrow streets passing old, weather-beaten façades in one of Europe’s most dignified … Read more
Crying out to be traversed and fully explored, the Minho region in the north-western corner of Portugal is the oldest and arguably the most characteristic part of the country.
For independent visitors travelling under their own steam, there are several routes to the Portuguese capital from the Spanish frontier and other outlying areas of the country, each offering a wide variety of sightseeing opportunities along the way.
Taking a stroll down Lisbon‘s memory lane, through the historic square mile of Belém, the place from which Portugal‘s fearless adventurers set sail for unknown lands in the 15th and 16th centuries, is one of the highlights of any person’s visit to the capital.