Portugal is a small country with a big, open heart. To discover its treasures, explore beyond Lisbon and the well-known Belém Tower, the Discoveries Monument and Jéronimos Monastery. The coastal road that meanders through the fishing towns of Cascais and Estoril leads to Sintra, once declared by Lord Byron to be ‘the most beautiful village in the world’. After stepping back in time at the summer residence of the Kings of Portugal and perhaps strolling through the Jewish quarter there, travel on south, past the red-and-white-striped lighthouse at Cape Roca, to the Algarve.
Summer tourists flock here, not only for the spectacular white, sandy beaches and luxury golf resorts but also to explore the small towns and villages, each offering something unique. Faro is renowned for its splendid fish market and for the families of storks nesting in the church steeples. Lagos has a promenade of brightly-painted dolphin statues. Not to be missed is the chapel at St Vincent - the interior walls are covered entirely with exquisite, handmade blue and white tiles - all twenty-two thousand of them. San Pedro do Corval is famous for its potters, around forty families of them, all willing to demonstrate their skills.
The wide plains of the Alentejo region are an artist’s delight with vibrant patches of yellow sunflowers, vineyards, rice paddies and groves of cork and olive trees. Stone windmills and white-washed farmhouses grace the rural landscape. The bright blue stripes painted along the edges of farmhouse walls are claimed to ward off mosquitoes!
Over the Serra de Caldeirao Mountains, is the walled city of Evora, which was reconquered from the Arabs in 1166. With its ancient Roman temple and macabre Ossuary Chapel, the walls built from human bones and skulls, it makes for a chilling sight. Anyone staying overnight at Viseu should book a table at the nearby Insua Manor House for a six-course gourmet meal paired with excellent wines. After all, Portugal has more wine varieties than any other country.
Every day brings a new adventure! For an adrenaline boost, time your visit to Monsaraz for Easter. This is when six large black bulls stomp and snort their way through the narrow main street to the bullfight arena, goring slow-footed crazies along the way.
Up north, the Douro Valley is breathtakingly beautiful with endless hills of terraced vineyards and many wine estates. The Palácio de Mateus, famous for its rosé wine and its pretty, manicured gardens, is well worth a visit. Afterwards, have lunch at a traditional ‘quinta’ with generous tastings of local vintages and bowls of fresh red and yellow cherries. No time for siesta afterwards though as the medieval city of Guimāeres, the original capital of Lisbon, is only half an hour away. The cobbled alleys and charming square are a delight.
June in Oporto has balconies of apartments along the river festooned with decorations in honour of St John’s festival. Toy plastic hammers are on sale everywhere and housewives stock up with sardines at the market. A wrinkled lady selling filigree jewellery tells the story of St John, a scallywag in his youth, whom people used to beat about the head with bunches of garlic to urge him to reform. Today small musical hammers have largely replaced the garlic in this quirky festival.
Sandeman, one of the oldest cellars, offers tastings of smooth and chocolaty ports, the perfect prelude to a leisurely cruise down the Douro River. As the sun sets, tables are squeezed together in the popular and compact Chez Lapin restaurant. Busy waiters set fire to pottery dishes filled with white spirits and topped with skewers of chorizo. Smoky aromas of sizzling sausage excite the appetite for platters of roast rabbit or grilled salmon that follow.
The grand Majestic Café, where JK Rowling scribbled the beginnings of Harry Potter, offers morning tea and delicious custard pastries. The winding, ornately-carved wooden staircase featured in one of the movies can be found at Librairie Lelo, voted the third prettiest bookshop in the world. (Who on earth decides these things?)
Leaving Oporto travel through Buçaco National Park, a magical forest with around seven hundred varieties of trees, many brought from Africa and the New World by the intrepid Portuguese explorers, to the university town of Coimbra. The Joanina library, a magnificent building, rich in gilt and exotic woods, with highly decorated ceilings has shelves laden with leather-bound volumes from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. A colony of tiny bats has taken up residence in the rafters and they keep insects under control, preserving the precious books. At closing time the caretaker covers the handsome tables with leather cloths which are whisked off next morning.
The old Roman town of Conimbriga has a museum of relics including coins and surgical tools. Follow the path to the ruins of a Roman villa dating back two thousand years. Look at the delicately restored mosaic flooring and imagine the former splendour of this double-storey house with its towering columns, impressive courtyard and under-floor stone heating ducts. One can picture toga-clad figures going about their daily lives.
Spend an afternoon touring the imposing castle and Convent of Christ at Tomar, built by the Knights Templar in the second half of the 12th century and embellished over subsequent centuries. From here it’s a short drive to Fátima where three young shepherd children saw an apparition of the Virgin Mary. As the evening sun casts a rosy glow on the white basilica, crowds gather for mass and a candle-lit procession. The modern church, built on the far side of the square is far from plain, a stunning gold mosaic fresco stretches across the interior.
En route back to Lisbon is Batalha and the Santa Maria Monastery which took a century to build, spanning the reigns of seven kings. Several side chapels remain unfinished leaving exquisite columns of intricately carved stone reaching up to the open sky.
Nazaré is the perfect lunch stop. Steep cliffs overlook pristine beaches dotted with rows of brightly-painted beach huts and racks of fish drying in the sun. Tucked away down the alleys, are countless restaurants, some with just a few tables perched on a narrow pavement. Baskets of enormous wriggly crabs and lobsters entice patrons and the smell of grilled calamari stirs gastric juices. The choices, oh, the choices!
Finally, the cherry on the top: Medieval Obidoś, a photographers’ dream. White buildings trimmed with blue and yellow; pots of geraniums and walls of bougainvillea in bright pinks and purples; a brown and white cocker spaniel asleep in a doorway; red rooftops as depicted in postcards. Quaint shops lure tourists to empty their wallets of Euros and many spend their last few coins on cherry liqueur sipped from small edible cups of dark chocolate.
It’s amazing to think that in 1494 the Pope divided the world between Portugal and Spain, two rival empires in the quest for God, glory, gold and spices. Today the Portuguese people express their feelings of loss in traditional Fado music with dramatic guitar riffs and gut-wrenching lyrics. Be sure to catch a Fado show before leaving this enchanting country.

Information
Travel to Portugal with Trafalgar Tours (11 day Best of Portugal Tour).
For details, see the website: trafalgar. com