Belem Tower is one of the most famous landmarks in Lisbon, one of the leading tourism cities in Europe.

The Algarve — the main beach tourism area in Portugal.

Monserrate Palace in Sintra, Greater Lisbon.

Porto and its region is an upcoming star in Portuguese tourism.

Pico, besides being the highest mountain in Portugal, is a wine region whose landscape is protected as world heritage.

Portugal attracts many tourists each year. In 2006, the country was visited by 12.8 million tourists.Tourism is playing an increasingly important role in Portugal’s economy contributing with about 5% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The main tourist areas are, by order of importance, the Greater Lisbon (Lisboa), the Algarve, Portuguese Islands (Ilhas Portuguesas: Madeira and Azores), Greater Porto and Northern Portugal (Porto e Norte) and Alentejo.

Lisbon is, after Barcelona, the European city attracting most tourists, with 7 million tourists sleeping in the city’s hotels in 2006, the number grew 11.8% compared to previous year. Lisbon in recent years surpassed the Algarve as the leading tourist region in Portugal. Porto and Northern Portugal, especially the urban areas north of Douro River, was the tourist destination which grew most (11.9%) in 2006. Today, most tourists in Portugal are British, Spanish or German, travel in low cost airliners, and are not only in search of the beach and the sun, but mostly searching culture, city breaks, gastronomy, nautical tourism or travel in business.

Tourism regions

Tourist hotspots in Portugal are Lisbon, the Algarve and Madeira, but the Portuguese government is currently developing new destinations: the Douro Valley, Porto Santo Island, and Alentejo.

Portugal has several other tourism regions such as Douro Sul, Templários, Dão-Lafões, Costa do Sol, Costa Azul, Planície Dourada, etc. Most of them are unknown to tourists and locals alike. As of 2007, these are being reorganized.

All these regions are grouped in tourism reference areas, which are widely known due to the fact that these are the traditional regions:

• Costa Verde — The Portuguese green coast comprises all the northern coast of Portugal from the estuary of the Minho River to the city of Porto.
• Costa da Prata — Silver coast. The coast of central Portugal from Porto to Lisbon.
• Costa de Lisboa — Lisbon coast. The coast of the capital city and its important suburbs.
• Montanhas — Mountainous and interior regions of northern and central Portugal, namely Serra da Estrela and Trás-os-Montes.
• Planícies — The Portuguese plane region of Alentejo in the south.
• Algarve — The southern coast of Portugal.
• Madeira — The Madeira islands.
• Açores — The Azores

Portugal has a very rich cultural heritage. In various fields like painting, music and literature, Portuguese cultural activity is one to be bestowed with glory and praise. 

Painting

The most prominent Portuguese painters of the 15th century belonged to the Gothic period in painting like Nuno Gonsalves. Significant naturalist painters include Teofilo Braga, Jose Malhoa and Antero de Quental. With the arrival of the modernist phase in painting in the twentieth century, one can come across various proficient artists who dominated fine arts during this period. Further with the advancement of time, influence of other movements like cubism and futuristic tendencies could be noticed in the works of many painters. Some of the notable painters of this period include Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso. Modern Portuguese painters proficient in visual arts include Julio Pomar, Vieira da Silva and Paula Rego.

Music

In the field of music, Portuguese music covers a plethora of generic styles beginning with the ‘fado’ which is the most significant one. They usually refer to urban music styles played with the accompaniment of a Portuguese guitar. Some of the famous musical performers include Mariza, Carlos Paredes, José Afonso and many others. Several musical festivals like Festival de Paredes de Coura, Festival Sudoeste etc are organized to celebrate the magical prowess of music. 

Literature

The roots of Portuguese literature can be traced back as early as the 14th century with the troubadour poets who were the roaming minstrels. Both Spanish and Portuguese drama owes its origin and development to the prolific writer Gil Vicente. Some of the well known literary scholars of the present times include Camilo Castelo Branco, Antonio Lobo Antunes, Almeida Garrett, Fernando Pessoa etc. In fact in 1998, Portuguese writer Jose Saramago was honored by the Nobel Prize for literature.

Traditional Dances

Each region of Portugal has its own style of dances and songs and the most traditional songs are of a slower rhythm than those in Spain.Some of the best examples of the regional dances are the vira, chula, corridinho, tirana and fandango, many of which reflect the courting and matrimonial traditions of the area.

Visual Arts

Portuguese sculpture
This form of art can be best appreciated by studying the magnificent tombs of the 12th and 13th Centuries that are found around Portugal. In the late 18th Century, Brazil was the main influence in Portuguese sculpture, noticeable in the increasing Baroque wooden sculptures that appeared during this time, particularly from the hands of the famous Portuguese artist, Joaquim Machado de Castro.

Contemporary  Art                             
There are several Portuguese contemporary artists that have marked a movement in the art world. Maria Helena Vieira da Silva was the country’s finest abstract painter and Carlos Botelho was noted for his street scenes of Lisbon.
Paula Rego became famous for her “storytelling” in painting. She was projected to world-wide recognition after her series of  “Dog Woman” in the 1990’s and “Abortion”, a reaction to the referendum in Portugal in 1997-1999 that maintained the act of abortion as a national crime. Her art is shown all over the world in several museums, including Tate Modern in London and the new museum dedicated solely to her art, Casa das Histórias Paula Rego, in Cascais.

Azulejos
Among the decorative arts, the Portuguese glazed tiles (azulejos) are outstanding. Many 16th and 17th century buildings are faced with tiles and the rooms and halls of palaces and mansions exhibit blue and white tiled panels or motifs in other soft colours. Exceptionally fine examples are found in the Pátio da Carranca (pátio = “courtyard”) of the Paço de Sintra (Paço = “Palace”) at Sintra, São Roque  church in Lisbon and the Quinta da Bacalhoa at Vila Fresca de Azeitão near Setúbal.

Language

Portuguese language is one of the Romance languages. Like all other languages of the group, Portuguese is a direct modern descendant of Latin, the vernacular Latin of the Roman soldier and colonist rather than the classical Latin of the cultured Roman citizen. It developed in ancient Gallaeci (modern Galicia, in north western Spain) and in northern Portugal and then spread throughout present-day Portugal.
Portuguese owes its importance (as the second Romance language, after Spanish, in terms of numbers of speakers) largely to its position as the language of Brazil, where more than 150 million people speak it. In Portugal itself there are about 10 million speakers. It is estimated that there are also some 4,6 million Portuguese speakers in Africa (some of whom also use creole) and about 500,000 in the United States.
There are five main Portuguese dialect groups, all mutually intelligible: (1) Northern, or Galician, (2) Central, or Beira, (3) Southern (including Lisbon, Alentejo and Algarve), (4) Insular (including the dialects of Madeira and the Azores and (5) Brazilian.
Typical of the Portuguese sound system is the use of nasal vowels, indicated in the orthography by m or n following the vowel (e.g., sim “yes”, bem “well”) or by the use of a tilde (~) over the vowel ( mao “hand”, nação “nation”).

Vasco da Gama Bridge, over the Tagus River, is the longest bridge in Europe.

Founded in 1972, Brisa is the largest highway management concessionaire. With 89,015 km² (34,369 sq mi), Continental Portugal has 3 international airports located near Lisbon, Porto and Faro. The national railway system service is provided by Comboios de Portugal. The major seaports are located in Leixões, Aveiro, Figueira da Foz, Lisbon, Setúbal, Sines and Faro.

The two largest metropolitan areas have subway systems: Lisbon Metro and Metro Sul do Tejo in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area and Porto Metro in the Porto Metropolitan Area, each with more than 35 km (22 mi) of lines. In Portugal, Lisbon tram services have been supplied by the Companhia de Carris de Ferro de Lisboa (Carris), for over a century. In Porto a tram network, of which only a tourist line on the shores of the Douro remain, began construction in 12 September 1895, the first in the Iberian Peninsula. All major cities and towns have their own local urban transport network, as well as taxi services.

Rail transport of passengers and goods is derived using the 2,791 km (1,734 mi) of railway lines currently in service, of which 1,430 km (889 mi) are electrified and about 900 km (559 mi) allow train speeds greater than 120 km/h (75 mph). The railway network is managed by the REFER while the transport of passengers and goods are the responsibility of Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses (CP), both public companies. In 2006 the CP carried 133 million passengers and 9,750,000 t (9,600,000 LT; 10,700,000 ST) of goods.

Lisbon’s geographical position makes it a stopover point for many foreign airlines at airports all over the country. The government decided to build a new airport outside Lisbon, in Alcochete, to replace Lisbon’s Portela airport. Currently, the most important airports are in Lisbon, Faro, Porto, Funchal (Madeira), and Ponta Delgada (Azores).

The Algarve, separated from the Alentejo by mountains, has a climate much like the southern coastal areas of Spain. Portugal’s highest point is Mount Pico on Pico Island in the Azores. This is an ancient volcano measuring 2,350 m (7,710 ft). Mainland Portugal’s highest point is Serra da Estrela, with the summit being 1,993 m (6,539 ft) above sea level.

Portugal has a Mediterranean climate, Csa in the south and Csb in the north, according to the Köppen climate classification. Portugal is one of the warmest European countries: the annual average temperature in mainland Portugal varies from 13 °C (55.4 °F) in the mountainous interior north to over 18 °C (64.4 °F) in the south and on the Guadiana basin. In some areas, as in the Tejo and Douro basins, annual average temperatures can be as high as 20 °C (68 °F). Here in the summer temperatures may be over 50 °C (122 °F) as it is documented in a climatology study done recently, for example in the Arqueology Park in Côa, Douro valley.

The record high of 50.5 °C (122.9 °F) was recorded in Riodades, São João da Pesqueira. The annual average rainfall varies from a bit more than 3,000 mm (118.1 in) in the mountains in the north to less than 600 mm (23.6 in) in southern parts of Alentejo. The country has around 2500–3200 hours of sunshine a year, an average of 4–6 h in winter and 10–12 h in the summer, with higher values in the southeast and lower in the northwest.

The Madeira and Azores archipelagos have a narrower temperature range with annual average temperatures exceeding 20 °C (68 °F), according to the Portuguese Meteorological Institute, in the south coast of Madeira Island. The annual average rainfall in the mainland varies from a bit more than 3,000 mm (118.1 in) in the mountains in the north to less than 300 mm (11.8 in) in Massueime region, near Côa on the Douro river . In the Pico mountain, in Azores, is the rainiest spot of Portugal, reaching over 6,250 mm (246.1 in) per year, according to IM (Portuguese Meteorological Institute).

The islands of the Azores are located in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge whilst the Madeira islands were formed by the activity of an in-plate hotspot, much like the Hawaiian Islands. Some islands have had volcanic activity as recently as 1957. Both the Azores and the Madeira Islands have a subtropical climate, but there are differences between the islands, mainly because of differences in temperature and rainfall.

Some islands in Azores do have dry months in the summer therefore a Mediterranean climate according to Koppen-Geiger ( both Csa and Csb types) Maritime Temperate ( Cfb) in some islands ( Flores) and Humid subtropical (Cfa) in the others (Corvo), according to Koppen-Geiger where are no dry months in the summer. The Savage Islands, that belong to the Madeira archipelago, have a Desertic climate (BWh) with an annual average rainfall of just around 150 mm (5.9 in). The sea surface mean temperatures in these archipelagos vary from 16 °C (60.8 °F)-18 °C (64.4 °F) in winter to 23 °C (73.4 °F)-24 °C (75.2 °F) in the summer, occasionally reaching 26 °C (78.8 °F).

In South Azores, there´s an oceanic area, inside Portuguese maritime territory which has the unique tropical climate (As type according to Koppen-Geiger)known in Europe, because of Gulf Stream influence on this area. Sea temperatures here are over 20 °C (68 °F) even on the peak of the winter ( Source AEMET).

Portugal’s Exclusive Economic Zone, a seazone over which the Portuguese have special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources, has 1,727,408 km². This is the 3rd largest Exclusive Economic Zone of the European Union and the 11th largest in the world.

Fauna and Flora

Conservation areas of Portugal include one national park (Parque Nacional), 12 natural parks (Parque Natural), 9 natural reserves (Reserva Natural), 5 natural monuments (Monumento Natural), and 7 protected landscapes (Paisagem Protegida), ranging from the Parque Nacional da Peneda-Gerês to the Parque Natural da Serra da Estrela to the Paul de Arzila. Climate and geographical diversity shaped the Portuguese Flora.

As far as Portuguese forests are concerned, because of economic reasons the pine tree (especially the Pinus pinaster and Pinus pinea species), the chestnut tree (Castanea sativa), the cork oak (Quercus suber), the holm oak (Quercus ilex), the Portuguese oak (Quercus faginea), and the eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus) are very widespread.

Mammalian fauna is diverse and includes the fox, badget, Iberian lynx, Iberian Wolf, wild goat (Capra pyrenaica), wild cat (Felis silvestris), hare, weasel, polecat, chameleo, mongoose, civet, brown bear (spotted near Rio Minho, close to Peneda-Gerês) and many others. Portugal is an important stopover place for migratory birds, in places such as Saint Vicent Cape or Monchique mountain, where thousands of birds that fly from Europe to Africa in the Autumn or on the opposite direction can be seen in the Spring. They congregate there because the Iberian Peninsula is the closest place in Europe to Africa. Portugal has around 600 bird species and almost every year there are new records. The islands have some species of American, European, and African origin, while the mainland shares European and African bird species.

Portugal has over 100 freshwater fish species and vary from the giant European catfish (Tejo International Natural Park) to some small and endemic species that live only in small and located lakes (West Zone, for example). Some of these rare and specific species are highly endangered because of habitat loss, pollution and drought. Marine fish species number are on the thousands mark and include the sardine (Sardina pilchardus), tuna and Atlantic mackerel. The marine bioluminescence is very well-represented (in different colors spectra and forms), with interesting phenomena like the glowing plankton, that is possible to observe in some beaches. In Portugal it is also possible to observe the upwelling phenomena, especially on the west coast, which makes the sea extremely rich in nutrients and biodiversity. Portuguese marine waters are one of the richest in biodiversity in the world.

There are many endemic species of Insect fauna, that are only found in some places in Portugal, others are more widespread like the stag beetle (Lucanus cervus) and the cicada. Macaronesian islands (Azores and Madeira) have many endemic species (like birds, reptiles, bats, insects, snails and slugs) that developed differently from other places in the world because of their isolated locations and so very unique species have evolved there. Only in Madeira island is possible to observe more than 250 species of land gastropods. Laurissilva is a unique type of subtropical rainforest in Europe and in the world. It is found in Madeira and The Azores and also on the Canary islands, Spain.

Pure Portugal Holidays include: relaxing amongst the vines and olives on a vegetarian owned quinta; horse riding and trekking in the picturesque wooded hills of the Gois valley; self-catering apartments in an historic watermill on the River Alvoço; bed & breakfast or rent an off-the-grid solar powered cottage overlooking the beautiful Rio Mondego; low-impact breaks, discovering yurt camping on an organic smallholding; and luxury rooms in a manor house once owned by the mother of the first king of Portugal.

You can also volunteer on an organic farm, holiday apartments in portugal, cheap apartments portugal, holiday homes in portugal,luxury villas portugal, explore the fantastic network of peaceful mountain tracks, swim & fish in crystal clear rivers or the beaches of the Silver Coast & Algarve, visit the lively local markets, ski in the Serra de Estrela or simply relax in the sun, by the pool.For enjoying your holidays you can rent direct with GoHolidayLets..? Goholidaylets is web portal which provides all over the world a fantastic opportunity to secure great holiday accommodation directly from the owner at great value for money.
Pure Portugal has something different to offer everyone, including a growing selection of longterm accommodation and winter lets, and holidays with ADSL.

Although most of our holidays are in central portugal (Beiras and Alentejo), some very special places on the Algarve are now listed with us, particularly near Monchique. Not your usual run-of-the-mill villas!