The wildly rugged and dramatic International Douro National Park surrounds northeast Portugal’s natural frontier with Spain, the upper section of the River Douro.
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Viana do Castelo is famous for its colourful traditional costumes and gold jewellery as well as its architecture. When I say architecture, we’re talking Celtic settlements, medieval monuments and award-winning contemporary buildings....
Every inch of Guimarães’ delightful medieval centre exudes history. Known within Portugal known as the birthplace of the nation, its cultural heritage and architecture is remarkable enough to warrant UNESCO World Heritage status and plenty of photographs....
If you’re looking for evidence of Portugal’s prehistoric civilisations, the megalithic monuments in the north of Portugal are a good place to start. They are not the biggest or most famous dolmens in the country but they are among the...
Without fridges and freezers, people employed other methods of preserving their pork and other meat products, i.e. charcuterie. Smoking turned out to be the most effective way and the word fumeiro refers to both the cured meats and the smoke...
At first glance, a freshly turned-out pudim Abade de Priscos looks a bit jelly-like. Don’t be fooled. Slice into this decadent dessert and you’ll reveal the soft yellow centre of a firm egg custard....
Portuguese pottery dates back to prehistoric times, as you’ll see if you visit any archaeological exhibits in Portugal’s museums. Excavations of ancient settlements have produced terracotta urns used to store wine, water and olive oil as...
The Douro grape harvest is possibly one of the best times of year to visit this remarkable wine region. Especially if you take part in picking the grapes and treading them with your bare feet....
One day walking a section of the Portuguese Way to Santiago pilgrimage route was enough to convince me to come back and do the full 227 kilometre walk from Porto to Spain at some point.
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The weather was grim the day I went to the Peneda-Gerês National Park but I ended up seeing more of its rugged landscapes than I'd anticipated....