Portugal’s first king

Full of history and rustic traditions, Celorico da Beira is a small town nestling on the edge of the Serra da Estrela mountains approximately 50 kilometres east of Viseu in the heart of central Portugal.

Located in the heart of the old university city of Coimbra, the venerable church of Santa Cruz (which means Holy Cross) is one of Portugal’s most important monuments.

Portugal’s ambitious but impetuous monarch, Sebastião I (1554-1578), is remembered as the young man who orchestrated the greatest of all military disasters in his country’s long and chequered history.

One of the oldest in Europe, Coimbra University is a place of dedicated royal patronage with a fine academic tradition stretching all the way back to the 13th century when it first opened.

Encompassing a rich mix of Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Manueline architecture, Braga Cathedral is the oldest building of its kind in Portugal and one of the most magnificent citadels of Christendom anywhere in the world.

Set at the foot of the Serra da Estrela, Seia is a traditional market town with a long history and some of Portugal’s most impressive mountain views.

One of the most legendary and influential figures of Portugal’s long and chequered history is Afonso Henriques, the country’s first king.

Portuguese writing officially began in the 12th century when Henri de Bourgogne, father of Afonso Henriques, Portugal’s first king, brought with his court several French scholars and literary gentlemen.

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.

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.

With its remote beauty and strong, independently-minded people, Trás-os-Montes (meaning ‘beyond the mountains’) is one of the most isolated and genuinely unspoilt parts of southern Europe.

Surrounded by one of the oldest state forests in the world, the lovely old city of Leiria was once the southernmost outpost of the early Portuguese kingdom at a time when Lisbon was still under Moorish occupation.

Located close to the Spanish border in the centre of Portugal, Monsanto is generally considered to be the most typical and picturesque of all Portugal’s prized villages.

Fringed by salt-flats and paddy-fields, Alcácer do Sal is an old port town on the Sado River about 90 kilometres south-east of Lisbon.

Located 120 km (about an hour’s drive) due north of Lisbon, the church and adjacent monastery of Alcobaça are the earliest examples of truly Gothic architecture in Portugal.

Despite its steep hills, Porto is certainly a city made for walking with a number of interesting routes available for visitors looking to soak up the city’s medieval atmosphere at their own pace.

Set in a prime location overlooking the city centre, Porto’s Sé Cathedral is a magnificent Romanesque building dating right back to the 12th century.

Built in the second half of the 12th century, Coimbra’s magnificent cathedral known as Sé Velha is one of the finest Romanesque churches in Europe.

Synonymous with the city’s long and chequered history, Lisbon’s imposing Castle of São Jorge stands proud on the highest hill of the Tagus estuary and was once the nucleus of the Portuguese capital. Evidence suggests that an Iron Age castro, or … Read more

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.

Synonymous with the town of Tomar in the heart of the Ribatejo region, the legendary Knights Templar played a very important role in the reconquest of Portugal in the 12th century.



With its steep cobbled streets lined with elegant whitewashed houses, Palmela is a charming hilltop town huddled around a magnificent castle just 40km south of Lisbon.

Standing on a ridge above the River Tagus, the historic town of Santarém is one of the oldest and most intriguing places in the centre of Portugal.

Located 30 kilometres north of Braga in the enchanting Minho region, Ponte de Lima is without doubt one of the loveliest and best-preserved medieval towns in the whole of Portugal.

On the road to Colares, just 2 km west of the historic village of Sintra and a short drive from Lisbon, lies the delightful Palace of Monserrate, one of the most impressive examples of Romantic architecture in Portugal.

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.

Dating from the early 12th century, many rare examples of Romanesque architecture still exist in Portugal, most notably in the northern regions of the country.



Evoking the Middle Ages, the grand old Castelo de Guimarães still exudes much of the boldness and pride that created the kingdom of Portugal many centuries ago.

Few places in Portugal are more welcoming and atmospheric than the Aldeias Históricas, a series of a dozen ancient and very historic villages spread out mostly along the Spanish frontier in the heart of the country.

One of the most picturesque seaside towns in Portugal, Nazaré is a bustling resort with a large crescent-shaped stretch of golden, sandy beach on the west coast of central Portugal.

Stretched out to the west of Lisbon, the enchanting Cascais Coast (sometimes affectionately referred to as the ‘Portuguese Riviera’) is brimming with leisure activities and wide-ranging tourist appeal.

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.

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.