Tourist Pages

Portugal has a rich seafaring past, superb beach resorts, wistful towns and a landscape wreathed in olive groves, vineyards and wheat fields. Littered with UNESCO World Heritage sites and graced by one of Europe's most relaxed and attractive capitals, it also remains refreshingly affordable. Savouring life slowly is a Portuguese passion, and much of the best is humble - traditional folk festivals; simple, honest food drowning in olive oil; music that pulls at the heart strings, recalling past love and glories; and markets overflowing with fish, fruit and flowers. 

Porto is Portugal's second largest city. It is the seat of the Porto district and capital of the Northern region. It is situated in the north of the country, on the northern bank of the Douro River, just in from the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Porto has a type of Mediterranean climate, although its influenced by a cooler breeze from the Atlantic which make it distinguishably cooler than other Mediterranean climate cities but nonetheless during the peak of the Summer, especially in August, temperatures can reach 40ºC.

In recent years, UNESCO recognised the historic centre (which dates back to the Middle Ages and the Roman Empire) as a World Heritage Site. A guided visit to the old city's stock exchange (Bolsa), and in particular the Arab Room, is a gem that no visitor should miss. Oporto is a small (in the European context) but an extremely rich city in cultural and historical terms.

One of Portugal's most internationally appreciated products is Port Wine. Its name comes from the fact that it ages in cellars in Porto's southern sister city Vila Nova de Gaia, just across the river Douro. Port Wine gets its distinctive taste from brandy that is added during the fermentation process. This additive causes fermentation to stop, allowing for much of the sweetness of the grape to remain intact. The results of this process were discovered quite by accident by British traders who added the brandy to the wine simply to fortify it for long sea voyages back to England.