portugal travel guide

Benfica’s magnificent Stadium of Light is a modern version of the one built in the early 1950s, which began life as a large open bowl before floodlights were added four years later.

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.

The year 1942 was a very turbulent one but it did spawn one of the world’s most iconic and popular table wines.

Lying at the east end of a rocky range of mountains just 26 km west of Lisbon, the fairy-tale setting of Sintra is one of the oldest and most charming places in southern Europe.

The Iberian wolf might be an endangered species but several of them can be seen roaming free at the Centro de Recuperação do Lobo Ibérico (CRLI) near Mafra in central Portugal.

Located on a hill above the River Cavado, Barcelos is one of the prettiest places in the north of Portugal.

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.

Portugal’s most celebrated poet, Luís Vaz de Camões (c 1524-1580), lived an extraordinarily eventful life by any stretch of the imagination.

One of the jewels in Portugal’s tourism crown is the rocky, windswept headland called Cabo da Roca, mainland Europe’s most westerly point.

Built into the side of a thickly wooded hill on the outskirts of Lisbon, Portugal’s Estádio Nacional is one of the more intriguing football stadiums in Europe.

The world’s most original and attractive elevator tower is a filigree-style metal construction looming over downtown Lisbon.

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.

One of the most memorable times to be visiting Portugal is late winter/early spring when the country explodes into a frenzy of song and dance as the annual carnival season gets underway.

With their striking plumage, there’s no better creature to grace the saline wetlands of the Algarve than the flamingo, one of the most iconic birds spotted in Portugal.

It’s easy to see why the Algarve has become such a popular holiday destination over the past 30 years or so. Mile upon mile of superb golden beaches stretch along Portugal’s southern tip – and they really are golden, powdered down … Read more

One epic achievement still much talked about and celebrated the world over is that of Ferdinand Magellan, the intrepid Portuguese navigator who led the first fleet of vessels to successfully circumnavigate the globe in the early 16th century.

A short drive to the north-east of Fátima lies Ourém, a loftily-perched medieval town clustered around an ancient, well-preserved castle.

Visible from most parts of Lisbon and beyond, the imposing statue of Christ the King (Cristo Rei) stands a striking 82 metres (270 feet) high on its angular pedestal overlooking the south bank of the River Tagus.

The great Dominican monastery of Santa Maria da Vitória in the small town of Batalha, central Portugal, isn’t just a national shrine but one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in Europe.

Blessed with a prime location on Europe’s south-west coast, Portugal offers visitors a great variety of leisure options with a wide range of sports activities to match, not to mention a temperate climate with plenty of year-round sunshine.

When King Manuel II sailed off into the sunset on the 5th of October 1910, it marked the end of the Portuguese monarchy.

Laid out flat between the Atlantic and the Alentejo like a vast patched picnic blanket, the Estremadura region is one of the most varied in the whole of Portugal.

Nestling on the northern slopes of the Serra de Borba mountains, the pretty town of Borba rises neatly above the vast plains in the heart of Portugal’s enchanting Alentejo region.

Set in sprawling gardens in the Sete Rios district of Lisbon, the Jardim Zoológico (Lisbon Zoo) has been operating for over a hundred years.

Portugal is a land of pageants, processions, lively country fairs and other joyful folklore-based festivities where tourists who happen upon them by accident can expect the unexpected.

The beating heart of Sintra is without doubt its magnificent royal palace, the Paço Real, located on the town’s main square.

Since the 1970s, the picturesque fishing town of Albufeira in the central coastal region has been the undisputed tourist capital of the Algarve, in winter as well as summer.

One of the best travel books about Portugal was written by the English author Rose Macaulay just after World War II.

The attractive little town of Luso on the north-west slope of the Serra do Buçaco lies just 3 km from the northern tip of Buçaco Forest, one of the jewels in the central Portugal‘s tourism crown.

Named after St Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary, Santana is a village of hedgerows and flowers on the north coast of Madeira Island.

Although Portuguese architecture is said to have officially commenced with the start of the monarchy, there was already a large scattering of ancient buildings in existence all over the country, most notably the Visigoth temple of Balsemão, the Mozarab church of … Read more

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.

One of the highest sea cliffs in the world is Cabo Girão, a rugged headland that looms menacingly over Madeira’s southern shoreline, just 15 km west of the island’s capital, Funchal.

Once a rich and powerful city, Silves today is a sleepy town lying in the foothills of the Serra de Monchique mountains in the western Algarve.

Famous for its port wine lodges, the ancient town of Vila Nova de Gaia lies directly opposite the great city of Porto on the steep south bank of the River Douro in northern Portugal.

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.

The ancient city of Braga in northern Portugal has always been an important centre for culture, commerce and religion. The Romans dedicated it to their Emperor and called it Bracara Augusta, making it their Galician head-quarters in 216 BC.

Overlooked by one of Portugal‘s most important shrines, Lamego is an ancient episcopal centre lying within the Upper Douro’s demarcated port wine area.

One of the most decisive conflicts in the history of Portugal – the famous Battle of Aljubarrota – took place on an isolated plain in the centre of the country well over six centuries ago.

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.

Distilled from the fruit of the arbutus tree (also known as the strawberry tree) which grows abundantly in the Monchique and Caldeirão mountains, aguardente de medronho – or simply medronho – is the firewater of choice for many people living in … Read more

Running the length of Portugal’s south-eastern border with neighbouring Spain, the River Guadiana rises up from the heart of the Spanish province of Albacete at an altitude of 1,700 metres.

Having existed as a country for almost nine centuries, Portugal is one of the oldest places in Europe with strong traces of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic culture to be seen across the land.

Falconry has been practiced in the fertile plains, mountains, forests, rivers and meadows of old Portugal since the 12th century in a tradition that has remained largely unchanged for centuries.