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.
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.
Portuguese Baroque architecture is a revelation that’s held in great esteem around the world for its vigour, purity and astonishing abundance, especially in the north of the country.
Located 120 kilometres (75 miles) upstream from the bustling city of Porto, Peso da Régua (more commonly known as just Régua) is a charming port town idyllically situated on the banks of the River Douro in northern Portugal.
One of Portugal’s lesser-known but much-savoured wines is vinho verde, so called because the grapes are picked young and the wine is mostly drunk just a year or two after bottling.
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.
Iberia’s third longest river, the majestic Rio Douro, gathers waters from over fifty major tributaries to form the peninsula’s largest river basin.
Bordering the south-western edge of the Iberian Peninsula, with around half of its periphery surrounded by water, Portugal’s shoreline has been a source of attraction as well as a gateway to the rest of the world for hundreds of years.
Portugal has a rich musical heritage, flavoured by the meanderings of early medieval troubadours when Europe’s south-westernmost country ruled half the world. Today it’s the soulful ballads of the fervent fado singers in Lisbon’s ancient Alfama and Bairro Alto quarters … Read more
Without doubt one of Europe’s most astonishing cityscapes, Porto’s old quarter, with its thick flagstones and delicately-moulded façades, is attracting a fast-growing number of culture-hungry tourists.
Set high on a hill looking over the seafront, Porto Moniz is a remote coastal town located at the north-westernmost point of Madeira, well sheltered by a narrow peninsula that points toward a picturesque islet called Ilhéu Mole.
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.
Visitors to the picturesque Douro Valley region in the north of Portugal can enjoy a very large dose of nostalgia on one of the great railways journeys of the world along the Douro line.
It seems that Portugal’s much-celebrated port wine was invented by chance. A shortage of French claret at the end of the 17th-century had wealthy wine connoisseurs searching for suitable alternatives.
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.
Blessed with a prime location on Europe’s south-west coast, Portugal offers visitors a great variety of leisure options with a wide range of sports activities to match, not to mention a temperate climate with plenty of year-round sunshine.
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.
Although Portuguese architecture is said to have officially commenced with the start of the monarchy, there was already a large scattering of ancient buildings in existence all over the country, most notably the Visigoth temple of Balsemão, the Mozarab church of … Read more
Famous for its port wine lodges, the ancient town of Vila Nova de Gaia lies directly opposite the great city of Porto on the steep south bank of the River Douro in northern Portugal.
The ancient city of Braga in northern Portugal has always been an important centre for culture, commerce and religion. The Romans dedicated it to their Emperor and called it Bracara Augusta, making it their Galician head-quarters in 216 BC.
Portugal is very highly ranked on the list of Europe’s top beach destinations with 432 of the country’s beaches and marinas currently flying the coveted Blue Flag for cleanliness and quality.
Rich from centuries of trade, the ancient city of Porto is as much a cosmopolitan centre as it is a place steeped in the historical events of the past.