Not that long ago, the Portuguese Tourist Board’s slogan was ‘Portugal - Europe’s best kept secret’ and it was. But as we begin 2025, Portugal is a destination on everyone’s lips. Increasingly lived in by cool digital nomads, visited by multi-generational families seeking sunny downtime in safe and friendly surroundings not too far from those much-photographed, golden beaches and topping endless lists for best city breaks for Lisbon and Porto, Portugal is now a country that you cannot afford to miss. And that is before we talk about the food, which now has its own dedicated Michelin Guide, free from the shadow of neighbouring Spain with whom it shared a guide for many moons.
The best time to visit Portugal
May is my favourite month to travel around the country. The beaches are still empty, clear blue skies frame white-washed villages where storks are busy feeding their chicks and the countryside is a riot of colour with fields of orange poppies and yellow mimosa everywhere.
Top things to do in Portugal
Surfing is a national sport and surf schools are dotted along Portugal’s long coastline. In the Algarve, kite-surfing and even sky-diving are popular while in the Alentejo it is riding. The endless golden beaches are accessible from everywhere and form the main draw in the summer. Both Lisbon and Porto have beaches within easy reach, offering you a heady mix of sun and sights. Those who seek the shade will find some excellent art museums (Lisbon particularly is booming in this respect), impressive churches and cafe’s where they can listen to Fado as the night falls.
Where to travel in Portugal
The Algarve has honed its offering over the years to genuinely have something for everyone. There are endless top-notch golf courses right across the region and some brilliant spas like the Sisley Spa at Vila Vita Parc. Teenagers are well catered for with a vibrant nightlife scene in Vilamoura and Vale do Lobo, a good range of water parks and excellent surfing on the west coast around Aljezur. Smaller children will be thrilled with dolphin spotting trips out to sea, marine parks like Zoo Marine and the genuine warmth of the Portuguese who love children. There is history and heritage in towns like Silves, occupied by the Moors for hundreds of years, and wineries such as Morgado do Quintão, which is creating a name by breathing new life into indigenous grapes. Restaurants abound, from a healthy sprinkling of Michelin-starred wonders to small beach restaurants where the freshest of fish, simply grilled and drizzled with local olive oil accompanied by a crisp, chilled, white wine is exactly what you came for. Visit Porches Pottery, while you are there, to see how the old Iberian designs have evolved over time. Still family run, this pottery was started by the Irish artist Patrick Swift, to preserve the vanishing cultural heritage of the region for which pottery had long been a local craft. Now with his two daughters at the helm, their pottery continues to go from strength to strength. Purchases can be shipped.
Where to stay: Martinhal Sagres Beach Family Resort
Unlike so many capitals which have lost their national identity as they grow into a multi-cultural melting pot, Lisbon remains gloriously, unashamedly, Portuguese. Its particular white light which bounces off the wide flowing Tagus River reflects on the glossy tiled facades all over town, illuminating the red roofs, the yellow trams and the cobbled streets. In Belém, history is writ large with the magnificent Monastery of Jerónimos, built on the riches of the spice trade during Portugal’s Golden Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries. But all over the city lively restaurants and chic shops line the streets. In Príncipe Real, faded 19th-century palaces stand between soaring palm trees and leafy parks, while Alfama with its warren of Moorish streets transports you back to a Lisbon of yesteryear. There are excellent museums and an increasing wealth of choice. Those who want to get under the skin of Lisbon should head to the National Tile Museum, housed in a 16th century convent, which takes you on a journey of the history of the tile from the 15th century to the present day, illustrating its importance in Portuguese life. Both from a cultural point of view and a practical one. Tiles also feature at the Gulbenkian Museum, where Kengo Kuma has completely reimagined what was CAM, the Centro de Art Moderna. Collaborating with landscape artist Vladimir Djurovic, to create more of a connection between the landscape and the art housed there, Kuma has used soft white tiles as his twist on a traditional Japanese Engawa, a path protected by the eaves of the roof. The Gulbenkian is undergoing a huge renovation from March 2025 until July 2026, but highlights of the collection will be available to view on the ground floor of the Museum. At the end of February, a new museum will open in Sintra to house what is considered the greatest private collection of Chinese Export porcelain, ceramics from the Ming and Qing dynasties and Imperial porcelain. The collection, owned by Brazilian nonagenarian Renato de Albuquerque, comprises some 2,600 pieces.
Hotels are proliferating too with both international names like The Standard, ME and Andaz coming this year and a variety of small, privately owned, boutique properties tucked away down Lisbon’s characteristically charming narrow streets.
Where to stay: Palácio Príncipe Real
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With Porto playing the host for the Michelin ceremony this year, all eyes are on the food scene there which continues to grow apace. Porto is a young, buzzy city filled with people who are going somewhere. It looks to the future perhaps more than anywhere else in the country and change can be seen on its streets all the time. Gourmands should book a table at Nuno Mendes’s Cozinha das Flores for his twist on the classic pastel de nata alone. But go too for the tasting menu at Euskalduna Studio, at Ricardo Costa’s restaurant in The Yeatman and the lovely garden restaurant of Antiqvvm. Visit the port houses along the riverside to learn about this liquid gold or book a stay in the new Tivoli Kopke Porto Gaia Hotel, to stay above the old Kope port houses before immersing yourself further in The World of Wine museum. And once you are done with the city centre, hop on a boat or a train to visit the Douro Valley or pack a picnic and head in the other direction to the beach. Best would be to stay there for a few days to soak up not only the excellent ports and wines around you but also to enjoy what is one of Portugal’s most beautiful landscapes. Steep terraces tumble down on either side of the bottle-green Douro River in a remarkably unspoilt countryside. Tiny train stations covered in bougainvillea and hand painted tiles make exploring by train quite easy here. Alternatively hire a car and experience what Avis have called the ‘world’s best driving route’ which runs from Peso de Régua to Pinhão and offers 93 bends.
Where to stay: The Largo
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On the wide plains of the Alentejo, life is lived at a different pace. Here you have time to enjoy the rhythm of nature, the clear night skies, the earth’s bounty. White-washed medieval towns sit on hilltops surrounded by city walls; black pigs graze under the oak trees that dot the landscape. Houses come with wide chimneys to smoke the region’s famous hams and good wineries abound. This is a place of slow living and age-old handicrafts. Rugs, woven with the colours of the wild flowers at spring time, can be found in Monsarez, clay cribs in Estremoz and pretty painted wooden furniture in Évora. In between the towns, seek out the many Dolmens and indulge in a hot air balloon ride to see the sun dapple the magnificent plains. Those who love wine will be more than content with the offering in the Alentejo with its full-bodied reds and aromatic whites. Follow the official Alentejo Wine Route wine route through the region which starts in a Tasting Room in the capital Evora, allowing you a chance to explore that beautiful town too. Don’t miss the superb Roman Temple, built in Corinthian style in 1st century AD and one of the best-preserved Roman temples in the Iberian Peninsula and, for the strong-stomached, the rather gruesome 17th century Chapel of Bones. Admire the remarkable aqueduct of the ‘silver water’ whose building began in 1532 and dip into one of the acclaimed restaurants like Fialho for a typical dish of wild asparagus and scrambled eggs.
Where to stay: Sao Lourenco de Barrocal
Those in search of a walking holiday will find themselves well served in Madeira. The ancient levadas, or waterways, that criss-cross this fertile island take you through primary laurisilva forests, through natural parks and over high mountain tops, blue seas sparkling beneath you. The more adventurous will enjoy canyoning or jeep tours off road to naturals pools and waterfalls. There are trips out to sea to watch dolphins and whales and wonderful botanical gardens to wander around. Don’t miss the exhilarating ride in a toboggan in Monte, which takes you at speed down a winding hill, exactly how the locals used to do it in the old days. If you don’t mind an early start, a memorable way to begin your day is to wind your way up to the highest peak on the island and watch the sun rise over the layer of clouds at your feet, creating a magical memory. The main food market in Funchal is also a fun way to spend the morning. Look out for the tiny, but oh-so-sweet, bananas, hardly more than the size of your finger and the intensely flavoured pineapple too. The bananas are often paired with the local black scabbard fish in restaurants. Typical here too are the flat buns, the bolo de caco. Made from flour and sweet potato, the buns are traditionally cooked on a flat stone and often filled with steak.
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Things to know
- Weather: The cooler, greener north gets the most rain in Portugal, although summers can see temperatures of 30 degrees celsius. The Algarve is warm all year around, although winter sees cooler nights and days of 25 degrees celsius, allowing long lazy lunches al fresco. In summer, it can get up to 40 degrees celsius. As can the interior of the Alentejo, where sea breezes don’t reach.
- Currency: Euro
- Transportation and how to get around: There is a good network of motorways which, because of the tolls charged on them, are fairly traffic-free. Intercity trains between Lisbon and Porto are excellent.
- Visa requirements: None
