Hidden Portugal: where to stay and what to do off the beaten track | Portugal holidays

Britain’s love affair with its oldest ally is set to be reignited this summer. The UK is Portugal’s biggest overseas tourist market, and it became the first EU country to allow Britons fast-tracked entry, post-Brexit, via electronic passport gates. Thanks to the easing of Covid travel restrictions, hundreds of thousands of British travellers are expected to head back there this summer, drawn mainly by its sunny south coast. But Portugal has so much more to offer than the beaches and bars of the Algarve.

Marvão, Alentejo

Tourists driving south to the Algarve or east to the Spanish border may think of the Alentejo (meaning “beyond the Tagus” river) as an endless stretch of cork oaks and olive trees that takes forever to cross. Barrel across its vast plains and the only thing you’ll notice is that it is big; Alentejo is the largest and flattest of Portugal’s provinces, occupying more than a third of the mainland.

But in its north-east corner, close to the Spanish border, the Serra de São Mamede is a mountain range that defies this idea of the Alentejo (there might even be snow in the winter). Some of the towns in this range have breathtaking settings, particularly Marvão, a serene and storied medieval village dramatically set 862 metres high on a granite crag. With its narrow lanes, whitewashed houses and formidable castle, Marvão offers views across the Alentejo plains and over the mountains into Spain.

Nearby Castelo de Vide is another beguiling walled town, its castle rising above the town’s dazzlingly white houses, flower-lined cobbled lanes and peaceful squares. Locals are proud of the crystal-clear mineral water that spouts out of the pretty public fountains in this former Roman spa town.

Those in search of a beautifully unspoilt Portugal will find much to love in this part of the country, where life eases along at a slower tempo. And there is no better way to soak in the mood than taking one of the two scenic routes offered by Rail Bike Marvão (from €20) along a disused railway line. Between June and September, the company runs “full moon” night tours three times a month (€35 including drinks, petiscos and live music). Visitors use customised, two-person pedal-powered rail bikes to zigzag through megaliths in the stunning Serra de São Mamede natural park with views over Marvão and Castelo de Vide.

Where to stay