Wild empty beaches with year-round sun, crag-top crusader castles, cities bursting with museums, baroque treasures and buzzing with boho nightlife… Portugal is every bit as enticing as its neighbour Spain. Yet it receives a fraction of the visitors. Come for palaces perched over the ocean, ruined abbeys set in meadows brilliant with butterflies and perfectly preserved medieval villages so quiet you can hear your footfall echoing off the cobbles.
Current travel restrictions and entry requirements
Travellers arriving in mainland Portugal and the Azores need to present one of the following: proof of vaccination (with vaccination schedule); a recovery certificate; or a negative PCR test (taken within 72 hours of departure) or a negative lab-conducted Rapid Antigen test (taken within 24 hours of departure). Under 12s do not need to present any documentation beyond a passport.
Masks are obligatory only on public transport, in taxis, and for visits to any health facilities. There are no vaccine or certification requirements to enter Madeira, but masks are required indoors anywhere on the island for everyone over six years old.
Best time to go
Portugal is good at any time of year if you choose your destination carefully. In mid-summer the coast is warm and sunny, but inland regions bake until the grass is brown (reaching the 40C in the centre and south). June sees the colourful São João festivals, which are at their liveliest in Porto, where locals bash each other over the head with rubber hammers and dance until dawn in the streets. Autumn and winter are beautiful in the Serra da Estrela mountains – with golden leaf fall and enough snow for skiing. Madeira has some of Europe’s warmest, sunniest mid-winters. Spring is beautiful everywhere – especially in the Alentejo and Centro regions, which are lush and blooming with wildflowers. April and May are the best times to see Blue Whales in the Azores.
Top regions and cities
Lisbon
Even by European standards Lisbon is a ridiculously pretty capital. The stately, statue-filled squares and elegant monochrome-mosaic pavements of the city’s handsome 18th-century centre (the Baixa) sit at the feet of a romantic castle. It’s one of Europe’s oldest fortifications: founded by Phoenicians and later expanded by Romans, Moors and Crusader knights. Lisbon’s neighbourhoods are sprinkled around the Baixa over seven hills. The best way to see it all is to get lost: wander the cobbled wynds of the Bairro Alto or the…
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