museum

Put a note in your diary, June is the month of the Festas de Lisboa when the city explodes into life with merrymaking in the streets and sardines sizzling on every corner.

Known as the Venice of Portugal, Aveiro is surrounded by salt-flats, beaches and lagoons and dominated by the Central Canal running through the centre of town.

Perched high above the River Guadiana close to the frontier with Spain, the tiny medieval walled village of Monsaraz to the east of Évora is one of the most atmospheric places in the entire Alentejo region.

With its picturesque beaches and quaint fishing boat-bobbing waters, Cascais is far removed from the hustle and bustle of nearby Lisbon.

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.

Faro, the sunshine capital of the Algarve, has metamorphosed into a major tourism hub in recent years, and not just in the high season.

A maze of narrow, winding streets, Lisbon‘s Alfama quarter is the oldest and most historical part of the Portuguese capital, having survived the great earthquake and subsequent fires and tidal waves of 1755 almost intact.

Portuguese painting first came to prominence in the 15th century. In 1428, when Jan van Eyck visited Portugal for the marriage of King João I’s daughter Isabella to Philip the Good, the Duke of Burgundy, it marked the beginning of a long and close … Read more

This grey roofless edifice is all that remains of the once magnificent Gothic-style Carmo Church, which ponders silently from its privileged vantage point overlooking Rossio Square and the rest of Lisbon‘s downtown Baixa district.

Situated in a large and beautiful valley on the banks of the River Nabão in central Portugal, Tomar is very closely linked to the Knights Templar and one of the most important chapters of Portugal’s history.

Situated 56 km east of Porto, the pretty town of Amarante is set immaculately along the banks of the River Tâmega.

Surrounded by vineyards, orchards and pine-forests, the charming city of Viseu has been a major crossroads since the time of the Romans who chose its site for a military camp, one of the largest in the Iberian Peninsula.

Famous for its creamy cheeses, Serpa is a peaceful agricultural hilltop town of lovely white houses huddled around an ancient castle in the south-eastern corner of the Alentejo.

Situated high on a plateau near Portugal’s north-eastern frontier with Spain, the ancient city of Bragança was once the seat of the Dukes of Bragança, the country’s fourth and final dynasty, which ruled the country from 1640 to 1910.

Well sited above the River Tagus and always of strategic importance over the centuries, Abrantes provides an excellent base from which to explore the lower central regions of Portugal.

Faial’s capital, Horta, is a major seafaring centre and a regular meeting point for yachts and other vessels crossing the Atlantic, having played host to streams of caravels, clippers and catamarans over the centuries.

Generally regarded as the cradle of the Portuguese nation, Guimarães played an important role in many of the events that led to the country’s hard-fought independence. It also witnessed the birth of Afonso Henriques, Portugal’s first king.

Ideally situated on the southern shoreline of São Miguel Island in the Azores, Vila Franca do Campo is a natural stopover for people en route between the capital Ponta Delgada and the thermal spa town of Furnas in the north-east.

With its broad avenues, large squares and a pleasant air of prosperity, Castelo Branco is an attractive town of parks and gardens and a very good base from which to explore the border region of central Portugal.

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