queen

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.

As its name implies, the lovely town of Caldas da Rainha (Queen’s Spa) an hour’s drive north of Lisbon in central Portugal preserves the eternal and loving memory of one of the country’s most popular queens – Leonor – whose … Read more

Birthplace of six kings and the seat of Portugal’s first university, Coimbra is one of the most celebrated cities in southern Europe.

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.

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

Although Catarina de Bragança, the queen-consort of Charles II, didn’t introduce tea to England, she certainly made the afternoon tea dance fashionable, and due to her influence tea has become the widely-drunk beverage we enjoy today.

The story of Pedro and Inês is an intriguing one; Portugal’s very own Romeo and Juliet. In essence, it’s a story of forbidden love.

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.

An old ritual of pre-Roman origin, and with its roots firmly set in an ancient fertility festival dedicated to the goddess Ceres, the Festa dos Tabuleiros is one of the most colourful and traditional events in Portugal’s cultural calendar.