Miradouro de Salir do Porto
Caldas da Rainha
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A city, a flavour, somewhere new. Portugal begins with your curiosity.
Caldas da Rainha
Mirandela
Mirandela
Mirandela
Batalha
Batalha
Albufeira
Albufeira
Albufeira
Elvas
In June, the Algarve's best beaches are not in Albufeira: they are in Aljezur, on the Costa Vicentina, where the water is cold, the wind is real, and you can still get lunch without a reservation. An opinionated guide to Arrifana, Bordeira and Amoreira, with breakfast at Mioto and proper sweet potato.
In August, Nazaré beach has towels half a metre apart and eight-euro parasols. There are five beaches twenty minutes away where none of that happens, and this honest guide tells you which, when to go, and where to eat afterwards.
While half the country sweats in traffic on the road to the Algarve, Praia dos Galapinhos, named Europe's most beautiful beach in 2017, sits 45 minutes from Lisbon waiting for anyone willing to walk ten minutes. Here is how to trade July in the Algarve for the Arrábida and never look back.
The sea still sits at 23 degrees, the beaches empty out, and prices drop by up to 40%. For anyone driving, a stop in Castelo Branco, between silk embroidery and a good night's sleep, makes the road to the Algarve as interesting as the destination itself.
Alentejo has no ocean, but Monsaraz hides a river beach at the foot of its castle hill, warm water and almost nobody around before ten in the morning. Between a swim in Lake Alqueva and a proper Alentejo dinner, there's still time to sleep under one of Europe's darkest skies.
Mirandela is a labyrinth of reflections on the Tua River and centuries-old granite. Discover the viewpoints where the Transmontano light transforms the city into a photographer's dream, far from the tourist traps.