what to do in southern Portugal

Once the largest privately-developed beach resort in the whole of Europe, the upmarket and very cosmopolitan seaside town of Vilamoura continues to thrive and evolve some sixty years after its conception.



Nestling on a rugged cape midway down the enchanting Alentejo coast, the vibrant port town of Sines is the ideal base from which to enjoy the very best of south-western Portugal.

The story of Évora dates back more than twenty centuries to Celtic times. This fascinating museum-city reached its golden age in medieval times when it became the residence of Portuguese kings.

Rising like a pyramid above vast plains of surrounding wheat fields, Beja stands proud as the capital of the Lower (Baixo) Alentejo region.

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.

Perhaps the most striking of all the marble towns in the Alentejo region, Vila Viçosa might be small in stature but it’s an immense place in the overall context of Portugal’s long and chequered history.

After the region’s gateway city of Faro, Portimão is the most important commercial centre in the Algarve and the main hub for the region’s thriving sardine-canning, leisure cruising and big-game fishing industries.

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.