Portugal in Profile
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.
Desert Island Daydreams
A couple of miles off the Faro coast in the Algarve lies one of the most enchanting and singularly beautiful beach destinations in the whole of southern Portugal, an unoccupied spit of sand officially […]
Madeira’s Ancient Laurisilva Forest
Sweeping across much of the northern and central parts of Madeira island in the Atlantic, the world’s largest remaining expanse of primeval laurel forest not only dates back to the […]
Steep Thrills
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. Two men control […]
The Final Frontier
There’s no place in Portugal quite as remote as Corvo, a single volcanic crater island set bold as brass in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Barely more than four […]
The Capelinhos Moonscape
The Azores are volcanic in origin and reminders of this are all around – the black sand beaches, the lava flows that line many coastal areas and the many craters […]
The Prince of Tides
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 […]
The Berlengas Islands
The Berlengas form an archipelago of extraordinary red rock formations located twelve kilometres off the coast of Peniche in central Portugal.
The Timeless Taste of Madeira
When William Shakespeare mentioned Madeira wine in his late sixteenth century play ‘Henry IV, Part 1’, it seems he was already very well aware of its intoxicating virtues.
Floral Splendour
With its tilting terrain and subtropical climate, Madeira’s flower power ranges from orchids tottering on three-foot-long stems and bougainvillea in bursting shades of red and purple. Delve deeper and you’ll […]