Visit Portugal

Portugal is not just the Algarve that is trully full in the summer and a desert in the winter. So on we invite you to visit all the beautiful places that this small country as to offer.

It is visited by many, but in truth, Portugal is known by few. Seasonal sun-seekers swell the hotspots of the Algarve during July and August, leaving it deserted in winter, when pink almond blossom covers the landscape under a cloudless blue sky. Beyond it lies the Alentejo, a rustic region of wide empty plains and oak groves, vineyards and dolmens, medieval whitewashed towns and Roman remains, marble and pottery.

Lisbon, while increasingly popular, retains its authentic Portuguese character, its yellow trams rattling along cobbled roads, past coffee shops serving fresh custard tarts. It flies in the face of the rapid globalisation of so many capitals. Yet, there is a modern side to the city, from its explosion of street art (do track down the graffiti artist Vhils) to the gleaming new Mercado da Ribeira where, under one vaulted roof, you can find a selection of the city's best loved food shops and restaurants – with the emphasis firmly on Portuguese produce.With British Airways resuming flights to Porto this week, areas beyond the capital and beach resorts of the Algarve are now even more accessible.

Porto's granite cityscape is far removed from the whitewashed Moorish buildings of the south, but there are some gems such as the Sao Bento train station, where blue and white tiles depict scenes from the country's history, and the Ponte Dona Maria, a railway bridge built by Gustave Eiffel in 1877, across the wide flowing Douro River.