Ribatejo

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.

In Portugal, a love of all things sweet is perhaps a lip-smacking legacy of the country’s long period of Moorish occupation, especially in the south of the country.

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

Located in the heart of the Ribatejo, one of the flattest and most extensive regions in Portugal, Golegã is a charming town in the centre of the country with a great horse-breeding and agricultural tradition.

The longest of all Portugal’s rivers, the Tagus (Tejo in Portuguese) meanders across the Iberian Peninsula for just over 1,000 kilometres before spilling out into the Atlantic Ocean in Lisbon, right at the point where Portuguese caravels set sail on … Read more

Covering some 600 square-kilometres, Portugal’s very own cowboy country – the Ribatejo, meaning ‘bank of the Tagus’ – is a highly fertile province and the country’s geographical and agricultural heartland.

The magnificent Convento de Cristo (Convent of Christ) in the historic town of Tomar in central Portugal is one of the most impressive religious complexes in the whole of southern Europe.

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.



One of the planet’s most versatile natural products, cork is a renewable raw material that has been produced in Portugal for more than 200 years.

Portugal is famous for the Lusitano horse, a creature renowned for its courageous character, gorgeous physique, gentle temperament, amazing agility and versatile performance.

Besides enjoying Portugal’s enchanting landscape, fine wines, sandy beaches and warm year-round sunshine, the best moments for many visitors are served up in the country’s eateries, with the dining experience further enhanced by the choice of soups and other starters … Read more

There’s a feeling in some parts of Portugal that bread is sacred – ‘pão é sagrado’, they say – and that it sustains life like the wafer taken at Communion.

Located 30km north of Abrantes, the small town of Vila de Rei (which means King’s Town) is a pretty place set in a wonderland of pinewoods, lakes, running streams and waterfalls right in the very heart of Portugal.