Private Portugal Travel & Tours 2022 and Beyond

What comes to mind when you think of Portugal?... Here's my take.... Think old world, yet modern touches, vibrant, yet once overlooked, Portugal offers lovely Lisbon’s seven hills, Porto an idyllic river city, the lush Douro river wine valley, timeless tradition of medieval towns or Mediterranean climate, grottos, red-cliffed coast and active fun of the Algarve Coast.“ Check out some of our best insider idea for a private luxury tour of Portugal here. Ready for a Once-in-a-Lifetime Adventure?... Let´s Talk. Magical Spain & Portugal luxury tours are customized for private travel. https://magicalspain.com/portugal/

Portugal Travel Planning Tips beyond Lisbon and Porto

Portugal Travel Planning Tips and History 101

* Expert Portugal Travel Planning Tips  *

  The beautiful yet often overlooked country of Portugal has a rich and often overlooked history. The personality and history of Portugal is deeply tied to the ocean and their isolated postion in the south west corner of Europe.

This led the smallish Portugal to orient itself to the seas and away from their more powerful rival in Iberia, the Spanish kingdoms of Castilla y Leon that created Spain.This wise choice, helped them become one of the world’s greatest ocean powers. The peak for Portugal, was discovering the prized sea route to Asia. Like the oil trade now, this meant big money and enabled them to monopolize the spice trade for many decades

So while Columbus was discovering the New World, Bartolomeu Dias and Vasco da Gama weent east and explored and  made contact in Africa, India, and the East Indies. Today in the 21st century, a well planned trip to Portugal can include, dramatic medieval castles, spectacular fortresses, beautiful mansions +  huge churches & cathedrals. These are are the reminders of this former period of great wealth and prominence. So portugal has much to offer and has  lovely places to stay, good food & wine, fine weather, and nice locals, make Portugal an ideal travel destination, that should not be missed by savvy upscale world travelers.

So here is a quick scouting report of  historic towns and medieval villages in Portugal that we often include beyond the enchanting cities of Lisbon or Porto.

Many of these towns and villages fall in of the ancient region known as Estremadura, which comes from the Latin for -- beyond the River Douro-- Nowdays only the strip between the Tagus and the sea north of Lisbon. 

In Portugal, Estremadura was of vital strategic importance in the middle ages as it formed the border between the Catholic Portuguese kingdom and the Islamic Moors to the south of Portugal and of Moorish Spain. (Also this was the most accessible route from Spain to the Atlantic ocean)




Sintra,  like something from the Great Gatsby, this was the summer retreat of the wealthy and powerful of Lisbon, Portugal before internation travel was so common.

Óbidos,  -  It has a fun medieval fair in the summer
see  -    www.obidos.pt/CustomPages/ShowPage.aspx…

 

Tomar   - a possibility from Lisboa , Tomar  has  a big Templar heritage.

Santarém  -  it's the gothic capital of Portugal, with an important group of churches from that period

Évora is a favorite place + is full of history, from Roman times and before.
It is really worth an overnight visit &  it is closer to the Spanish border and it is to the east of Lisbon and so does not fall between Lisbon and Porto. Do not miss the Roman Temple...

Braga  -  also a pleasant city for a visit and it does have reasonable bus connections to the surrounding area.

Santarem - A nice unspoiled town between Lisbon and Porto is

Leiria - with its excellent castle and pretty old town.

 Feira - has a nice castle +  a big medieval fair www.viagemmedieval.com/index.php?lang=en

Barcelos-   a nice day trip from Porto for ore history and charm.  

BTW, I know this is brief and there is much more, but I have travel biz customers waiting now so that's all for now.

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