Vasco da Gama

Spurred by Prince Henry the Navigator (1394-1460), the Portuguese discovered precisely what Columbus was seeking – the fabled Indies. They also charted new sea routes halfway around the world to destinations as far as Japan.

Purpose-built for traversing the oceans, the wide-hulled caravel (caravela in Portuguese) was arguably Portugal’s most significant contribution to maritime history and an integral part of Prince Henry the Navigator’s ambitious plan for extensive sea exploration in the 15th century.

The history of Portugal’s ground-breaking association with the seas spanned a hundred years from 1415-1515. Widely labelled as the Age of Discovery, this epoch-making period saw Portuguese navigators sail across uncharted seas to break out of the confines of Europe and … Read more

From Atlantic-fresh fish to the wild meats of the mountains, Portuguese food is distinctive and varied with many of the most popular regional dishes having evolved from age-old recipes based on locally-grown ingredients.

Blessed with a bucolic landscape of lush meadows and emerald-green pastures divided by walls of volcanic rock, Terceira was the third island of the Azores to be discovered (its name means ‘third’ in Portuguese) and coincidentally, is the third-largest in … Read more

One of Portugal’s lesser-known but stunningly picturesque shorelines is the Alentejo Coast, a haven of long sandy beaches and hidden coves sheltered by golden cliffs stretching for over 150 kilometres (93 miles) between the Tróia Peninsula and the western Algarve.

With thousands of years of history and one of the richest patrimonies in the whole of Europe, Lisbon is a city full of unique and fascinating snippets of information, so here are a few things that you might be interested … Read more

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.



Located in the extreme south-western corner of Portugal lies a most historic site that changed the world in the 15th and 16th centuries – Prince Henry the Navigator‘s ground-breaking Rosa dos Ventos.

One particular household name that has stood the test of time is Vasco da Gama – intrepid explorer, world tradesman and Portuguese national hero.

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.

Nestling at the heart of a wide bay on the eastern edge of Madeira, just a short drive from the island’s international airport, Machico is a pretty fishing town with plenty of tourist appeal and some of the most spectacular … Read more

Portugal’s national gallery is the magnificent Ancient Art Museum where visitors to Lisbon can view an outstanding collection of paintings, sculptures and decorative arts spanning more than 700 years.

Charles Lindbergh might have received global recognition for his solo air crossing of the Atlantic in 1927, but it was two Portuguese pilots – Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral (pictured left and right, respectively) – who had previously set the … Read more

When visitors arrive in Lisbon‘s historic centre of Belém, the first building they see is the imposing Jerónimos Monastery, impressive for its sheer size and without doubt one of the most spectacular monuments in the whole of Europe.

Looking upwards on a clear night, it’s difficult not to wonder how the heavens guided Portugal’s great discoverers towards new horizons in the late Middle Ages.

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

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.

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.

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.

Taking a stroll down Lisbon‘s memory lane, through the historic square mile of Belém, the place from which Portugal‘s fearless adventurers set sail for unknown lands in the 15th and 16th centuries, is one of the highlights of any person’s visit to the capital.

One of Portugal’s most striking architectural landmarks is the Romantic-style palace commissioned in the first half of the 19th century by D. Fernando of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha on the site of an old 16th-century convent.

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.

In 1572, Luís Vaz de Camões published his long-awaited poem, Os Lusíadas (The Lusiads), based on the hardships and adventures experienced by the great explorer, Vasco da Gama.

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.

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 in the heart of Belém, a bustling tourist centre in the western suburbs of Lisbon, the excellent Museu de Marinha (Maritime Museum) is a top attraction for anyone interested in learning all about Portugal’s many seafaring achievements over the … Read more

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.

The flurry of Portuguese maritime activity orchestrated by Prince Henry the Navigator in the 14th and 15th centuries culminated in the Holy Grail of seafaring achievements when an unknown sea captain bravely steered his wooden caravel around one of the … Read more

A man of rare taste and exceptional vision, good King Manuel I of Portugal ruled over the Portuguese Empire during the halcyon days of his country’s great Age of Discovery.