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. It’s a land of fine wine, fairy-tale castles and palaces and long sandy beaches … Read more
Comprising a palace, monastery and church, the vast royal edifice of Mafra is one of the largest historical buildings in Europe and a must-see monument for people visiting the Greater Lisbon area.
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.
With its colourful vistas, wide-open roads and dazzling whitewashed villages, the great expanse of the Alentejo is perhaps the most vivid of Portugal’s landscapes.
Rich from centuries of trade, the ancient city of Porto is as much a cosmopolitan centre as it is a place steeped in the historical events of the past.
Set on a great granite escarpment with sweeping views across the vast plains of the Alentejo region, the walled village of Marvão is one of the prettiest places in the whole of southern Europe.
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.
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.
Founded in 1272, Vila Real (which means ‘royal town’) is a thriving agricultural centre ideally situated on an upland plateau ringed with mountains.
The construction of Lisbon’s imposing cathedral began in the middle of the 12th century, during Afonso Henriques’ siege and capture of the city from the Moors.
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.
Over the centuries, Chaves (a vibrant town in northern Portugal) has been fought over by the Romans, the French during the Peninsular War and repeated Spanish invaders.
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.
Located on a 1,075-metre-high plateau on the north-east flank of the Estrela mountains in central Portugal, Guarda is a city of great historic interest and the highest place in the country.
Sitting comfortably on the north bank of the River Ave at the point where it gushes out into the Atlantic, Vila do Conde is an old ship-building town of high nobility still blessed with much of its former aristocratic charm.
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.
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.