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Cities, Towns, Villages and Areas of Portugal

Balaia
Évora
Faro
Lagos
Lisbon
Obidos
Porto
Praia D'El Rey
Sintra
Vigo City

 

Book Hostels in Portugal Online  You can also find a hostel almost anywhere in the world through Experience Paradise, a partner of Getting Away.

Balaia

The Club Med Balaia Resort is perched on a red cliff top in southern Portugal overlooking a magnificent white sand beach. The Club Med Balaia Resort welcomes families for an experience of sheer well-being. The restaurant's vast windows flood the dining areas with light (diverse ambiences for dining with family or friends, design by Didier Gomez). Emphasis on relaxation and fun, with a brand new lounge round the swimming pool. A perfect decor for delightful evenings. Gardens of pine, cork oak, carob, palm and olive trees with vast lawns. The Resort has 372 rooms divided between 3 hotels connected by glass walkways. Delicious, creative cuisine and impeccable table art. Our chefs pull out all the stops to ensure you have a fabulous and entertaining meal. The storey Hotel La Tour faces the pool. The Hotel Pyramide is a 4-storey building with 2/3 storey wings, near the tennis courts. The comfortable 6-storey Hotel Golf is some distance from the centre of the Resort, near the golf clubhouse. All buildings have lifts. For additional information, click on Europe Balaia

Évora
The walled town of Évora is one of the architectural gems of Portugal. Situated in a landscape of olive groves, vineyards, wheat fields and brilliant spring flowers, it's a charming town with one-way back streets so narrow that car wing mirrors have the potential to be lethal. The focal point is the Praçado, and its attractions include the Sé cathedral, which has a museum of ecclesiastical treasures; the picturesque Roman temple; and the Igreja de São Francisco, which contains a ghoulish ossuary chapel constructed with the bones and skulls of several thousand people.

Faro

British Airways (ba.com) flies between Faro and Lisbon and London.

Lagos
Lagos, on the south coast of the Algarve, is one of the country's most popular tourist resorts. Most visitors are drawn to the superb beaches which include Meia Praia, a vast strip of sand to the east, and the more secluded Praia do Pinhão to the south. The town has abundant facilities for renting bicycles, mopeds and horses, and there are also boat trips from the main harbor. Apart from the sun and sand, the resort's other highlight is the municipal museum, which has eccentric displays of ecclesiastical treasures, handicrafts, and preserved animal fetuses.

Puerta del Sol is a bi-monthly Spanish audio magazine published in conjunction with Champs-Elysees for the intermediate to advanced speaker of Spanish.  It is designed to take their speaking and listening comprehension to the next level. Every issue takes the form of an hour long radio broadcast featuring interviews with Spanish celebrities as well as up to date news from the worlds of art, business, literature, politics etc. Previous guests on the programs include Felipe Gonzalas, Carlos Fuentes, Julio Iglesias and Salvador Dali. Each magazine comes with a complete transcript and a comprehensive glossary together with optional linguistic exercises.  Available on both CD and cassette.  I know from experience that it is always easier and more enjoyable to travel in a foreign country when you can speak some of the language.  Check out Puerta del Sol and see what you think.  Jim

Lisbon
Lisbon (Lisboa), the country's capital, stands breezily on the banks of the Rio Tejo. The city's low skyline, unpretentious atmosphere and pleasant blend of architectural styles conspire to make it a favorite with many visitors. Orientation is fairly straightforward - apart from the puff required to negotiate the hills - with most of the daily activity centered in the lower part of the city.

A clear choice for Lisbon's finest attraction is the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos. Construction began about 1502 and was completed towards the end of the century. It survived a great earthquake in 1755, and is today the principal remnant of Manueline architecture found in the city. Nearby is the Torre de Belém, a Manueline-style tower which stands in the Rio Tejo, and is probably the most photographed monument in Portugal.

Lisbon has a number of attractive museums including the Museu Nacional do Azulejo, which contains superb displays of decorative tiles; the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, which houses the national collection of works by Portuguese painters; and the immense Museu Calouste Gulbenkian, considered the finest museum in Portugal, with exhibits of paintings, sculptures, carpets, coins and ceramics from around the world.

Other places of interest are the districts of Baixa and Alfama. Here you'll find some of the city's oldest and most rewarding sights: anarchic cobbled streets, squares and alleys; markets and craftspeople, and colorful buildings and brooding castles. Lisbon has a wide range of budget accommodation and cheap eateries, mostly found in the central parts of the city. Lisbon's nightlife is boisterous, and includes drinking in bars, raving at discos, bopping to jazz and African rhythms or puzzling over fado. Local soccer matches and bullfights are the biggest daylight thrills.

Lisbon has a Metro system with 4 different lines -- purple for Linha da Gaivota, yellow for Linha do Girrasol, green for Linha da Caravela, and orange for Linha do Oriente.  Tickets are inexpensive and are purchased before entering the station barriers. The Metro operates from 0600 hrs. until 0100 hrs. in the morning. The stations are decorated with interesting works from contemporary Portuguese artists making them worth a visit just from an art point-of-view. New stations and further line extensions are under construction.

A universe of culture and literature. A melting pot of languages and alphabets. A space specially thought out for people who enjoy reading. A hotel that lives and breathes literature. This is the Eurostars Das Letras, possibly the most literary hotel on the whole continent. The Eurostars Das Letras Hotel is one of the most rewarding and breakaway novelties that has happened in the last few years by the Tagus estuary. It is a luxury establishment where the secret ingredients of our recipe are blended in perfect proportions: design, top quality comfort, the latest in technological advances and, of course, literature and more literature. Each one of the 107 rooms of he Eurostars Das Letras is dedicated to a celebrated writer: our guests will find on their bed headrest a large frame with a fragment of a particular author in its original version from Shakespeare to Calderón de la Barca, from Virgil to Saramago, the essence of universal literature from every era. This is an ideal establishment for business travel and for enjoying tourism with one's partner or family. The hotel provides a business centre, Wi-Fi connections throughout the premises, a gym, sauna, private parking, a restaurant and four completely equipped meeting rooms adaptable for all kinds of corporate events of any size: from 10 persons in the Camoes Lounge to 120 in the Pessoa Lounge. The Das Letras Restaurant, with its décor in contemporary design and its outdoor terrace, serves the finest traditional, Portuguese cuisine and international dishes. Flanked by two large, emblematic Lisbon spaces, the Botanical Gardens and the Avenida da Liberdade, the Eurostars Das Letras enjoys a privileged location in the Portuguese capital, exactly at the point where the business city and the tourist and shopping areas meet. An endless assortment of Lisbon attractions are available within walking distance from the main door of the hotel: Praça Marques de Pombal, Santa Justa, Bairro Alto and its cultural and night-time offers, the Chiado and its book stores, the Castle of Sao Jorge, Alfama, Rossío Square, Praça do Comércio, Praça do Municipio, Rua da Prata, Graça, Lapa and even the streets close to the Benfica area. The hotel is surrounded by excellent restaurants and boutiques, such as Hugo Boss, Louis Vuiton or Cartier. By public transport, the hotel is easily accessible from the Airport, Santa Apolonia Station and other emblematic places in the city, like the Belem district or the Parque das Naçoes, with the Estaçao de Oriente designed by Santiago Calatrava or the impressive Oceanarium.

For additional information, or to make reservations, click on Best Hotel Rates In Eurostarshotels.

British Airways (ba.com) flies between Faro and Lisbon and London.

 

My preferred hotel chain is Marriott. I have stayed Residence Inns, which are prefect for longer stays with all the comforts of home; Spring Hill Suites, which I have found nice for longer stays as the have up to 25% more room than comparably priced rooms; Towne Place Suites, again when I want more room or am on a longer stay; Courtyard by Marriott, which has everything the business traveler needs, as well as families; Courtyard, Fairfield Inn, which I find spacious, comfortable and affordable. Another great idea is to stay at one of the JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts where you can enjoy a new dimension for your vacation or holiday. and Marriott Hotels and Resorts and have found them all to be of consistent quality and service. I have also stayed at some of their Vacation Club properties and have enjoyed each visit. AAA members can get discount rates at Marriott, as can Seniors. Click on Great Getaways for less at Marriott for special officers and great deals at Marriott hotels worldwide!

Lisbon Hotels - Make your reservations in a great hotel in Lisbon today and, even better, get great discounts by reserving through Getting Away! Click here for hotels in selected other worldwide locations.
 

For information about low cost airport and hotel transfers in Lisbon, click on The Transfer Store! The Transfer Store offers taxi, minibus, coach, and limousine transfers between airports and accommodation at low rates and our system is quick and easy to use- just click on the map to get started! You can book return trips or one way going in either direction, up until 3 days before you travel. For additional information and other world wide locations, CLICK HERE!

 

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Obidos

For information about low cost airport and hotel transfers in Obidos, click on The Transfer Store! The Transfer Store offers taxi, minibus, coach, and limousine transfers between airports and accommodation at low rates and our system is quick and easy to use- just click on the map to get started! You can book return trips or one way going in either direction, up until 3 days before you travel. For additional information and other world wide locations, CLICK HERE!

Porto
 

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Praia D'El Rey
Holiday Rentals Portugal - Portugal holiday villas, townhouses and apartments in the beautiful Praia D'El Rey area of Portugal that are perfect for your holiday in Portugal.

Sintra
The town of Sintra lies immediately north-west of Lisbon and was long favored by Portuguese royalty and English nobility (Lord Byron was mad about it) as a summer destination. Its appeal is still evident today, with its thickly wooded setting, romantic gardens and ramshackle glamour. Dominating the town are a number of palaces and ruins, including the Palácio Nacional de Sintra, an interesting amalgam of Manueline and Gothic architecture and the Palácio Nacional da Pena. Just outside the town are the rambling Monserrate Gardens, while further out is the Convento dos Capuchos, a tiny 16th-century hermitage enclosed in forest, with cells hewn from rock and lined with cork.

Vigo City

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