Portugal is a nation that savours life slowly and where much of the best pleasures are humble. Traditional folk festivals; simple, honest food drowning in olive oil; music that pulls at the heart strings, recalling past loves and glory, where local markets overflowing with fish, fruit and flowers remain at the roots of Portuguese life. The landscape is littered with olive groves, vineyards and World Heritage sites, while Portugal's delightfully laidback capital, Lisbon is an architectural time warp, with Moorish medieval and Art Nouveau riches.

Best time to visit

Mid-June to September (summer).

Essential experiences

Enjoying the nightlife of Bairro Alto in Lisbon; sunbathing on the Algarve beaches; exploring the revitalised medieval district of the Alfama in Lisbon; getting busy on the Esoril Costa; wandering around the beautifully preserved hill-top villages of Monsaraz and Mavaro; discovering Porto; playing a 4 ball on the to die for Golf Courses; wine & port tasting; chicken Piri-Piri.

In a few words, Portugal is

Golf courses, football fanatics, cork plantations, wild ocean beaches, late-bottled vintage port, Algarve holiday resorts and Vasco de Gamma.

Did you know

Many historians believe that it was Portuguese explorers who first reached Australia, some 250 years before its ‘official' discovery by Captain James Cook and around 60% of the world's cork comes from Portugal.