Portugal has something for every type of traveler, including sandy beaches, picturesque cities, wild islands, and world-class surf breaks.
Portugal is just as enticing as its neighbor Spain, with its wild, empty beaches and year-round sunshine, crag-top crusader castles, cities filled with museums and baroque treasures, and bustling bohemian nightlife. Yet only a small percentage of people visit it. Come to see the oceanfront palaces, the crumbling abbeys in butterfly-filled meadows, and the perfectly kept medieval towns that are so quiet that you can hear your footsteps echoing off the cobblestones.
Current entrance criteria and travel restrictions
Arriving travelers to Portugal’s mainland and the Azores must exhibit one of the following: a recovery certificate, a negative PCR test (taken within 72 hours of departure), a negative lab-conducted rapid antigen test, and evidence of immunization (with vaccination schedule) (taken within 24 hours of departure). Children under the age of 12 only need to bring their passports.
Only in cabs, on public transportation, and during visits to any medical facility are masks required. Madeira has no vaccination or licensing requirements, although anybody over the age of six must wear a mask indoors anywhere on the island.
It’s the time to go.
Any time of year is a fantastic time to visit Portugal if you make a wise choice of location. Mid-summer is pleasant and sunny along the coast, but inland areas heat up till the grass turns brown (reaching 40C in the center and south). In Porto, where locals smash one another over the head with rubber hammers and dance till dawn in the streets, the colorful So Joo celebrations are at their liveliest in June.
The Serra da Estrela mountains are stunning in the fall and winter when golden leaves fall and there is adequate snow for skiing. Winters on Madeira are among the warmest and sunniest in all of Europe. everywhere in the world in spring, but notably in the lush, wildflower-filled Alentejo and Centro areas. The best months to view blue whales in the Azores are April and May.
Top cities and regions
Lisbon
Lisbon is a capital that is excessively beautiful, even by European standards. The picturesque Baixa dates back to the 18th century and located at the foot of a beautiful castle. It is characterized by its grand squares adorned with statues and its beautiful, monochromatic mosaic pavement. Phoenicians constructed one of Europe’s first fortifications; later Romans, Arabs, and Crusader knights added to it. The Baixa district of Lisbon spread out across seven hills and contains the city’s neighborhoods.
Wander the backstreets of Bairro Alto or Alfama and smell the Becca coffee wafting from the art nouveau cafés as you pass by fado bars and bohemian pubs. Take a tram along the Tagus Estuary’s shimmering blue shoreline to Belém for the best pastel de nata custard pies in the world and gleaming gothic and baroque churches. Take a commuter train to the seaside in fashionable Cascais (where Edward and Mrs. Simpson kept their holiday house) or Sintra’s rococo mansions and pantomime castles perched above the Atlantic amid pine forests.
La Algarve
Portugal’s portion of the Mediterranean coast is still pristine by Spanish standards. There are concrete condo villages, skyscraper resorts, and golf courses, but there are also natural expanses. Around Tavira Island, in the east, silk-soft stands and rolling dunes stretch for tens of lonesome kilometers; in the west, close to Sagres, the coast crumbles into crescent bays and cave-pocked cliffs backed by butterfly-busy meadows. Then there are the hills, with their castle towns, Mykonos-white houses, and tiny spa villages like Monchique, which is located in a pine forest close to a swift-moving stream.
Infinite Coast
Nazaré doesn’t feel like one of the world’s adventure sports capitals, with its terracotta cottages grouped along a clifftop above a lengthy, golden beach. However, in the fall and winter, the world’s most courageous surfers congregate here to ride the biggest waves in the world—huge rollers that reach heights of 100 feet and crash onto the sand. It’s a breathtaking sight. In addition, surfers are finding that the Costa Dourada, one of Europe’s most picturesque coastline districts, is located right in the center of the hamlet.
Any time is beautiful. Around Nazaré, Peniche, and Aveiro, there are wonderful beaches of all sizes and forms, some gentle enough for young children and others suitable for year-round championship surfing, as well as a wealth of adjacent activities. Hop a few kilometers inland to see the majestic Gothic abbeys at Batalha and Alcobaça, both of which are Unesco World Heritage Sites, the little walled town of Videos with its fairytale castle, and the historic hilltop university city of Coimbra.
Madeira
Is there a nicer island in Europe than this one? Rugged mountains and terraces on the island of Madeira descend to honey-colored beaches and a Caribbean-clear sea. Tiny sugar-cube hamlets, mountain paths, and a number of cliff-top miradors with breathtaking dawn and dusk vistas are all connected by winding roadways. Madeira never gets too hot in the summer because of the sea. The ocean is warm enough to swim in during the winter. Additionally, in the spring, lilies of the valley, agapanthus, and oleander bloom, illuminating the environment.
In the Douro Valley and Porto
Portugal’s northern capital of Porto boasts a backdrop that is almost as breathtaking as Lisbon, with its twisting, church-dotted lanes clambering up the slope of a steep valley carved by the Douro River. It’s also ideal for city walking because it’s less than half the size. In the Vila Nova de Gaia neighborhood, stroll down the riverfront and stop at one of the numerous old wine warehouses to sample some port. Climb the crooked lanes lined with rococo churches and lofty medieval mansions to squares with outstanding modernist architecture. Utilize the city as a base to explore the Douro River, which winds through a patchwork of vineyards, as well as the beaches in northern Portugal.
Best off-the-beaten-path locations:
Azores
This mid-Atlantic archipelago, which consists of a jumble of beach-lined, smoking volcanoes submerged in a deep blue sea, is Europe’s version of Hawaii. There are excellent hiking, mountain biking, and surfing opportunities, and the skies and sunsets are some of the clearest outsides of the polar regions. But the biggest draw is the untamed, unpolluted ocean. There is no better place in Europe to observe whales and dolphins, with an astounding 25 species making an annual visit to the Azores, including the Blue Whale, the largest mammal on Earth, which migrates here in the spring.
La Alentejo
The Alentejo, which spans the entirety of Portugal’s southern coast between Lisbon and the Algarve, is Iberia’s Tuscany (without the crowds). Come to see castles perched atop medieval walls surrounding tranquil stone villages; stroll through their winding alleyways in search of a long-gone neighborhood eatery serving delectable Alentejo wines, cheeses, and olives. Visit Roman remains and standing stones older than Stonehenge by driving through fields and along narrow roads. You may even swim off deserted beaches that are bordered by crumbling, caramel-colored cliffs.
Peaks of the Serra da Estrela
Some of Portugal’s most beautiful landscapes can be found in the Serra da Estrela mountains, which are 90 minutes by car from the Silver Coast. These mountains have beautiful gorges cut by raging mountain rivers and stepped with waterfalls, steep valleys of tumbling terraced fields, and enough snow in January and February for a small ski resort.
Best Activities
- Along the Spanish border, drive
Portugal’s border with ancient foe Spain is Europe’s oldest disputed border. It’s an interesting trip filled with abandoned walled towns and villages constructed by Romans, Moors, Christian rulers, and British forces under Wellington. Additionally, the breathtaking scenery includes craggy mountains, forests, gorges cut by rivers, and enormous lakes.
- Reside in a rustic pousada.
The luxurious country hotels that were once medieval monasteries, palaces, and castles referred to as paradors in Spain and pousadas in Portugal. They are all over the interior of the country, from the ancient Phoenician castle of Alcacer do Sal in the Alentejo (just a short distance from the opulent Comporta beach where Madonna has a home) to the converted convent next to the enormous palace where a young Catherine of Braganza grew up before departing to become Queen of England.
- Vicentina Coast Walk
The Rota Vicentina is one of Western Europe’s most romantic coastal walks, winding through meadows of wildflowers, crossing secret bays, and climbing over steep cliffs where storks and peregrine falcons nest. From Sagres at the southernmost tip of the Algarve to the wide beaches surrounding Sines in the Alentejo, you can spend a week or more traveling its entire length. Alternatively, you can walk a short section in the morning or afternoon.
Portugal is a small country, only 350 miles long and 130 miles wide, so there is no need for internal flights. While there is a solid, consistent train service (if not at high speeds) between the coastal cities, getting to inland places can be challenging with few rail links and sporadic bus service. Getting around is best done with a rental automobile.
Getting there
Budget flights into Lisbon, Faro (in the Algarve), or Porto are the quickest and least expensive ways to go to Portugal. Even though Brittany Ferries is thinking about opening up direct routes from the UK to Porto, there is currently no other option to go by boat than through Spain to get to Portugal. Twice per week, ferries depart from Portsmouth and Plymouth for Santander (23 hours). The trip to Santander from the Portuguese border near Bragança takes four to five hours. See flixbus.co.uk for direct buses that leave from Santander and arrive in Porto in around 10 hours.
Saving advice
Summertime in Portugal is hot and crowded. Travel during the shoulder seasons (April, May, and September) to enjoy even better weather and up to 30% off on lodging and dining costs.
Questions Answered About Ultimate Travel Guide
- How is the weather today?
Summers are mild along the coast and scorching and dry in the interior of the South. The winters are moderate in southern Portugal and the islands (with daytime temperatures around 15 °C and in the 20 °C range on Madeira from late February).
- In which time zone is it?
GMT is the same for both Madeira and mainland Portugal. GMT+1 summertime runs from the beginning of March until the end of October. The Azores operate on GMT-1.
- What kind of money do I need?
Euros.
- Which language is used here?
Portuguese speakers are proficient in both English and French, and both languages are widely spoken. Speaking a few words of Portuguese will make you many friends; conversing in Spanish with Portuguese folks may result in a chilly reception.
