In all my years of blogging about Portugal, I’ve neglected to tell you about the many things to do in Coimbra. This pretty riverside city, presided over by a UNESCO Word Heritage university, has a fascinating history that visibly dates back to Roman times. As the first place I livedRead More →
Many people in the Vila Nova de Poiares neighbourhood learned to swim in the swimming pools at Recreio da Fraga leisure complex (nicknamed Fraggle Rock in our house) but it became neglected and was closed down for many years. Thanks to the efforts of the local council and local investment, theRead More →
Did you realise that there are no less than four UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Central Portugal, all less than an hour’s drive from each other? These remarkable buildings contain tales of Portuguese history dating back to the the earliest days of Portugal as a country. With the Knights Templar,Read More →
I’ve been busy working on my plans for Portugal travel in 2018 and already have a long list of places to visit. If previous years are anything to go by, I probably won’t make it to all the destinations on my wish list this year but this post may inspireRead More →
It’s only when I stop and take a little while to look back on 2017 that I realise how many places in Portugal I visited last year. Some had been on my wish list for a very long time and others were return visits to familiar yet beloved destinations forRead More →
Exactly how far north or inland the Silver Coast, or Costa da Prata, of Portugal extends is debatable so for the purposes of this article, I’ll concentrate on the things to see and do around Caldas da Rainha, Òbidos, Alcobaça and Nazaré. As a beautiful, green, agriculturally rich area ofRead More →
I know that many of you enjoy getting away from the hustle and bustle of cities to explore picturesque villages and I’ve shared many of my favourite villages in Portugal with you over the years. In anticipation of a public vote on the best villages in Portugal, I decided to roundRead More →
As you might expect from a place called Buddha Eden, this garden in the Silver Coast area of Central Portugal contains several Buddha statues. Portuguese art collector and businessman Joe Berardo was horrified when the Buddhas of Bamiyan destroyed by the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001. He responded by buying a wideRead More →
I’d heard good things about Quinta do Sanguinhal and was not disappointed when we finally got the chance to visit this winery on a recent trip to the Silver Coast. The traditional wine estate is just outside the small town of Bombarral and has been in the same family sinceRead More →