Romance, culture and adventure awaits in Portugal. Advice on living or buying real estate.
Fast Facts
Population: 10,642,836
Capital City: Lisbon
Climate: Maritime temperate; cool and rainy in north, warmer and drier in south
Time Zone: GMT
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Portugal Articles
The economies of the PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain) are in disarray. Europe is in the throws of a banking crisis brought on by (among other things) exposure to Greek sovereign debt. Many of you have been asking if now is the time to jump in.
Of the grand capitals of Europe, Lisbon in Portugal is unjustly neglected by North Americans visiting the Old World. At the edge of the continent, facing the Atlantic Ocean, it’s just a little off the beaten track.
In the last year two magnificent Portuguese palaces—one in the north of the country and the other in the south—have opened their gilded salons to guests, becoming part of the chain of pousadas.
I stayed at lavish haciendas, ate the freshest foods in Ecuador, got to know the smiling, helpful locals. I went to a Shaman healing ceremony, rode horses in the Andes and learned to weave. And then I sat sipping fresh mango juice, relaxing by the pool. It’s hard to believe it costs me nothing to travel like this.
Easter is the most important holiday of the Christian calendar. And in Spanish speaking Roman Catholic countries one day just isn’t enough.
From finding teaching jobs in Thailand to buying and selling your guidebooks online – there’s something for everyone in this month’s globetrotter.
In the first of a series on unspoiled European enclaves, Steenie Harvey reports back from the Alentejo region of south-central Portugal. Here you’re far from the tourist trail in a land of slow roads, off-thegrid beaches and fl ower-fi lled fortress towns
I’ve just come back from my first scouting trip to Portugal’s Costa da Caparica. And I can report back to you that this stretch of coast is set to be transformed. The Costa da Caparica is set for major infrastructure and tourism investment. This area has stayed under the radar for a long time. Don’t expect this to last. There are 13 miles of pristine beach backed by undulating dunes and pine trees…20 championship golf courses within an hour’s drive…and some of the best surf waves in Europe.
The Portuguese government has had major success marketing other parts of the country—most successfully the Algarve—to visitors. Now they have their sights set on the Costa da Caparica as a focus for tourism and high-tech industry development. They mean business.
Travel writing never feels like work to me. And when you acquire the research skills that go with the job, it boosts your enjoyment of a place tremendously. In fact, research often leads me to local places where few tourists go—and I think that’s much more fun…
Discover your dream beach hideaway with International Living…
Looking to relax in luxury? Check out International Living’s top monastery hotel finds throughout the world.
Central Portugal is one of Europe’s sleeping beauties.
Why it gets ignored is puzzling. Hemming a rugged coastline of cliffs, coves, and whitewashed windmills, the Atlantic beaches of the Beira and Estremadura provinces resemble broad golden ribbons. Slumbering inland are historic castle towns, abbeys, and pilgrim shrines. Small villages come surrounded by terraced olive groves, citrus orchards, and vineyards.
