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.
One of the most legendary and influential figures of Portugal’s long and chequered history is Afonso Henriques, the country’s first king.
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.
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.
One of Portugal’s lesser-known but much-savoured wines is vinho verde, so called because the grapes are picked young and the wine is mostly drunk just a year or two after bottling.
Bordering the south-western edge of the Iberian Peninsula, with around half of its periphery surrounded by water, Portugal’s shoreline has been a source of attraction as well as a gateway to the rest of the world for hundreds of years.
Spread out along the River Lima in the heart of northern Portugal, the pretty town of Ponte da Barca is the perfect base from which to explore the enchanting Minho region.
Dazzling in the theatricality of both its location and conception, Bom Jesus is a place of pilgrimage like no other – a Jacob’s ladder of religious symbols topped by an imposing church.
Situated on the River Leça just north of the city of Porto, Matosinhos is a bustling beach town mostly famous for its large port and high-quality fish and seafood restaurants.
With all the wonder of a tale from the Arabian Nights, Portugal’s long and chequered history is today still greatly evident from the many humble objects associated with the simple daily existence of the past.
Besides enjoying Portugal’s enchanting landscape, fine wines, sandy beaches and warm year-round sunshine, the best moments for many visitors are served up in the country’s eateries, with the dining experience further enhanced by the choice of soups and other starters … Read more
There’s a feeling in some parts of Portugal that bread is sacred – ‘pão é sagrado’, they say – and that it sustains life like the wafer taken at Communion.
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.
Latin but not Mediterranean, cosmopolitan but not crowded, Portugal is a country where a fair portion of the population still lives as people have always lived – in peaceful places far away from the hustle and bustle of modern life.
The Portuguese have a very strong attachment to their beliefs, customs and capabilities, which thankfully means that Portugal’s traditional art of handicrafts hasn’t been discarded as a result of the country’s rapid modernisation since the 1974 revolution.
Approached through attractive wooded hills in the lush, green Minho region of northern Portugal, Citânia de Briteiros is one of the most impressive archaeological sites in Portugal and by far the largest and most thrilling fortified Celto-Iberian settlement in the … Read more