Why should you visit Viseu in central Portugal? Well, perhaps because it’s such a lovely place that it’s been voted ‘Best city in Portugal to live in’. Twice. I won’t be moving up there any time soon but I am pleased to have got to know it a little better.Read More →
Portugal’s most popular destinations, such as Lisbon, Porto, the Algarve beaches and Douro wine region have a tendency to hog the limelight and the covers of glossy magazines. However, you don’t have to venture far off the beaten track to discover some wonderful smaller towns and cities. These underrated placesRead More →
Descriptions of picturesque balconies overhanging a river were enough to lure Mike and I to the pretty riverside town of Amarante on our way home from Porto. This first visit revealed enough things to do in Amarante to warrant a return trip, including glimpses of local lifestyles and traditions andRead More →
If the thought of a whole festival dedicated to chocolate appeals to you, here’s my advice for getting the most out of annual chocolate festival in Óbidos. UPDATE: The Chocolate Festival for 2024 runs from 1st to 17th March. Check here for more information. 1. There’s plenty to enjoy without buying aRead More →
The huge waves that draw surfers to the beaches around Peniche were not the reason I visited. One disastrous surfing lesson was enough to persuade me that it’s not the sport for me. I had other plans, the main one being a boat trip to the nature reserve on Berlenga Islands.Read More →
We’ve been visiting Figueira da Foz a lot more recently; we now have an apartment there, which we use when we don’t have tenants. I love being able to pop to the beach and every time we go, we find even more amazing things to see and do in thisRead More →
Thanks to its inland location, Loulé has remained unscathed from the blight of holiday resorts that mar some of the coastal areas in the Algarve. What you’ll find here is a quiet, attractive town with a strong local community and plenty of culture and creativity. Here are some of the things to doRead More →
The plan was to spend 3 hours or so walking around the crater lake at Furnas, one of many such lakes on the island of São Miguel in the Azores. Our attempts the day before to walk around the crater edge at Sete Cidades and gaze down at the blueRead More →
I’m probably not the only one who felt slightly disappointed the first time they visited Aveiro but I’ve long since changed my opinion and now love this beautiful little city. My initial disillusion was largely due to the fact that it’s marketed as the Venice of Portugal but although theRead More →
