The custard tart came from a monastery.
Monks at Lisbon's Jerónimos Monastery created the pastel de nata. The bakery next door has followed their secret recipe since 1837, and only a handful of master bakers know it.
Portugal
Portugal, Sipped Slowly
Seven hills, golden cliffs and green islands far out in the Atlantic. Portugal is a country of light, long tables and warm welcomes, and we know just where to find them.
Plan Your Portugal Journey
Where Europe Meets the Atlantic
Portugal rewards those who take the time to look properly. It is a small country with an enormous story. From this edge of Europe, sailors set out to map the world, and they carried its flavors home: cinnamon on a warm custard tart, pepper in a fisherman's stew, tea grown on an island in the middle of the ocean.
Our Portugal moves at the pace of a long lunch. We pair the great sights, like Lisbon's monasteries and Porto's riverfront, with the quieter pleasures: a cork harvest in the Alentejo, a tile painter's studio, a fado singer in a candlelit room of twenty. You'll eat well, sleep well and come home knowing you've seen the real thing.
Where we wander
- Lisbon & Sintra
- Cascais & the Atlantic Coast
- Óbidos & Nazaré
- Évora & the Alentejo
- Tomar & Coimbra
- Porto & the Douro Valley
- The Algarve
- The Azores
- Madeira
Seven Sides of Portugal
Every region keeps its own pace, its own landscape and its own table.
Lisbon & Sintra
Seven hills, one great river and a fairytale forest just beyond.
Lisbon is a city made for wandering, with yellow trams climbing past tiled facades to viewpoints over the Tagus. In Belém, the Jerónimos Monastery and the Tower of Belém tell the story of the explorers who sailed from this very shore. Half an hour away, Sintra's palaces rise from misty, forested hills like a page from a storybook.
- Dinner in the Alfama with live fado, Portugal's soulful song
- A warm pastel de nata from the Belém bakery that has guarded its recipe since 1837
- Pena Palace and the spiraling Initiation Well of Quinta da Regaleira
- A sunset sail on the Tagus, beneath a red suspension bridge that will remind you of San Francisco
Porto & the Douro Valley
Port wine, granite bridges and terraced vineyards carved by hand.
Porto rises in colorful tiers above the Douro River, its waterfront lined with café terraces and the old wooden boats that once carried wine downstream. Across the bridge in Vila Nova de Gaia, the port lodges have aged wine in oak for centuries. Upriver, the Douro Valley became one of the world's first official wine regions in 1756, and it remains one of the most beautiful.
- A tasting in the cool cellars of a historic port lodge
- Paint your own azulejo tile in a Porto workshop, and take it home
- Lunch at a family quinta, then a river cruise as the light turns gold
- A francesinha, Porto's legendary sandwich, for the hungry and the brave
Évora & the Alentejo
Big skies, cork forests and a mystical walled city.
Évora is a living museum: a Roman temple, a Gothic cathedral and whitewashed lanes, all inside medieval walls. Just outside town stands the Almendres Cromlech, a circle of standing stones older than Stonehenge. In 2027, Évora is the European Capital of Culture, and its guiding word is vagar, the Alentejo art of taking your time. It's a philosophy we share.
- The Chapel of Bones, one of Portugal's most haunting spaces
- A cork farm visit and a long lunch at an organic vineyard
- A hands-on Alentejo cooking class, then dinner around the table you set
- Stargazing under the certified dark skies of Alqueva
The Atlantic Coast
Wild beaches, fishing harbors and the biggest waves on earth.
West and north of Lisbon, the coast turns wild and wonderful. Elegant Cascais gives way to Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of mainland Europe, then to surf towns, fishing harbors and cliff-top villages. At Nazaré, winter swells rise from an undersea canyon, and surfers have ridden the largest waves on record.
- Cherry ginjinha sipped from a chocolate cup in the walled village of Óbidos
- Grilled fish on the harbor in Peniche, with the beaches of Baleal close by
- The great monasteries of Alcobaça and Batalha, both UNESCO World Heritage Sites
- A quiet hour and a lit candle at the Sanctuary of Fátima
The Algarve
Golden cliffs, hidden coves and sunshine nearly all year.
Portugal's southern coast is a run of ochre cliffs, sea arches and sheltered coves with water as clear as glass. The rock formations of Ponta da Piedade near Lagos are best seen from a small boat, and the cathedral-like sea cave at Benagil is a sight you'll carry home forever. To the east, Tavira and the lagoons of the Ria Formosa move at a gentler pace.
- A small-boat trip into the Benagil sea cave
- The Seven Hanging Valleys Trail along the clifftops above Praia da Marinha
- A copper cataplana of clams and seafood at a beach restaurant
- Oysters straight from the Ria Formosa lagoon
The Azores
Nine volcanic islands in the middle of the Atlantic.
Scattered across the open ocean, the Azores are as lush as Ireland and warmed by the Gulf Stream. On São Miguel, twin crater lakes shine blue and green at Sete Cidades, hot springs steam in the Furnas Valley, and Europe's oldest tea plantation grows on the hills above the sea. Life here moves at island time, and you'll settle into it quickly.
- Cozido das Furnas, a stew slow-cooked for hours in the volcanic earth
- Whale and dolphin watching in waters visited by more than 25 species
- A warm soak in the thermal pool at Terra Nostra Garden
- Tea on the terraces at Gorreana, still family-run since 1883
Madeira
The garden island, named the World's Leading Island Destination year after year.
Madeira rises steep and green from the ocean, with flowers in bloom every season and a mild climate all year. Walk the levadas, old irrigation channels that wind through a UNESCO-listed laurel forest. In Funchal, ride down from Monte in a wicker toboggan steered by men in straw hats, then taste the wine that America's Founding Fathers loved.
- A levada walk through the ancient Laurisilva forest
- The glass-floored skywalk at Cabo Girão, high above one of Europe's tallest sea cliffs
- Espetada beef skewers on bay-laurel sticks with warm bolo do caco bread
- A Madeira wine tasting in a historic Funchal lodge
Tee Times on the Atlantic
Named the World's Best Golf Destination at the 2025 World Golf Awards.
With more than 90 courses, mild winters and fairways that run right to the sea, Portugal is a golfer's dream from January to December. We arrange the tee times, clubs, caddies and transfers, and plan something lovely for anyone who prefers a spa morning or a winery lunch.
- The AlgarveQuinta do Lago, Vale do Lobo and Vilamoura, where clifftop holes play straight out over the ocean
- The Lisbon CoastEstoril and Cascais by the sea, and the dune courses of Comporta among pine forests and rice fields
- MadeiraPalheiro and Santo da Serra, high above the ocean, recently named the World's Best Emerging Golf Destination
- The AzoresFurnas, framed by cedar trees and volcanic hills on São Miguel
A Taste of Portugal
Two Portuguese classics to savor along the way.
Table Talk
Six stories you'll be telling at dinner back home.
Tempura began in Portugal.
In the 16th century, Portuguese missionaries brought peixinhos da horta, crisp battered green beans, to Japan. Japanese cooks lightened the batter and called it tempura.
America's first favorite wine is Portuguese.
Madeira was the wine of colonial America, and tradition says the Founding Fathers raised a glass of it to toast the Declaration of Independence.
Your wine cork probably grew in the Alentejo.
Portugal produces about half of the world's cork, stripped by hand from the same oak trees once every nine years.
Europe's oldest tea grows in the Azores.
Gorreana, on São Miguel, has produced tea since 1883, and the same family still runs it today.
A cod for every day of the year.
The Portuguese say there is a bacalhau recipe for each day of the calendar, and every grandmother swears hers is the best.
Portugal, Season by Season
Mild weather, long light and something to celebrate in every month.
Spring
March to May
Wildflowers across the Alentejo, Madeira's Flower Festival, and blue and fin whales passing the Azores. Perfect walking weather in Lisbon and Porto.
Summer
June to August
Lisbon's festival of Santo António with sardines grilled in the streets, Porto's São João night, Algarve beach days and hydrangeas lining the roads of the Azores.
Fall
September to November
Grape harvest in the Douro, the warmest sea of the year in the Algarve, the start of golf season and golden days for touring.
Winter
December to February
Almond blossom in the Algarve, Madeira's Christmas lights and famous New Year's fireworks, crisp sunny golf, and Évora's year as European Capital of Culture opening in February 2027.
Four Ways to See Portugal
From a golf escape for two to a choir of forty, every Portuguese journey gets the same care.
Journeys built around a passion
- Food & Wine
- Golf
- Faith & Pilgrimage
- Heritage & Family Roots
- Choirs & Performance
- Walking & Active
- Festivals
For couples, families and friends
One-of-a-Kind Journeys
Celebrate an anniversary in a palace hotel near Sintra, gather the whole family in a villa above an Algarve cove, or follow your family roots back to a village in the Azores or Madeira. You'll have your own driver-guide, your own pace and a few quiet surprises along the way.
Design My Private Journey
Intimate departures with a personal touch
Small Group Journeys
Travel in a small circle with a Tour Director who knows everyone by name. Paint tiles in Porto, cook with a local family in the Alentejo, and take your seat in a fado house where the singer stands an arm's length away.
Join a Small Group
Beautifully managed for 20 to 40 travelers
Grand Group Experiences
Clubs, choirs, church and alumni groups travel with ease, with comfortable coaches, porterage and festive dinners. Sing beneath the vaulted ceilings of a centuries-old church, light a candle together at Fátima, and share a long fado dinner in the heart of Lisbon.
Plan a Group Journey
Reward moments, incentive trips and thank-you celebrations
Incentive & Corporate Travel
Treat your best people to Portugal at its most generous. Picture tee times on award-winning Algarve courses, a private catamaran along the golden cliffs, a Douro wine estate reserved for your team, and a gala evening in a palace above Sintra.
Plan an IncentiveJourneys We Love
A few of our favorite ways to string Portugal together. Each one can be shaped around you.
Portugal & the Azores
15 days
Four days on São Miguel among crater lakes, hot springs and tea fields, then Lisbon and fado, the cork forests of the Alentejo, Templar Tomar, Coimbra, the Douro Valley and a tile-painting workshop in Porto.
Discover This Journey
Lisbon, the Alentejo, Porto & Sintra
11 days
Lisbon and Belém, a cork farm and vineyard lunch, two nights in Évora with a cooking class, the palaces of Sintra and the riverfront of Porto.
Discover This Journey
Your Portugal
Any length
A golf week in the Algarve, a slow escape to Madeira, a pilgrimage to Fátima or a family-roots journey to the Azores. Tell us what you have in mind, and we'll shape the journey around it.
Start Planning