Things To See And Do In Portugal
Portugal is a wonderful place for the water enthusiasts. Water sports such as swimming, snorkeling, windsurfing and big-game fishing are popular along the Algarve Coast while surfing is big along the west coast. Golf is also quite popular with Southern Portugal famous for its championship golf courses. Other activities include hiking and pony trekking in the Serra da Estrela and Peneda-Gerês regions and (with advance notice), you can also make arrangements for a weekend of canyoning or hydro speed near Porto.
Click on the topics or places below for additional suggestions.
Douro Valley
Monchique
Parquets Nacional da Peneda-Gerês
Sagres
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Douro Valley This valley is one of Portugal's scenic highlights with expansive panoramas stretching from the city of Porto all the way to the Spanish border. The area is also filled with port-wine vineyards that seem to wrap around almost every terraced hillside. The roads along the banks of the Rio Douro can sometimes be crowded and you may choose to opt seeing the area along the river. The river has been tamed by five dams and is navigable along its entire length.
Parquets Nacional da Peneda-Gerês is a wilderness park in the north of Portugal, near the Spanish border. The park is filled with spectacular scenery along with a wide variety of flora and fauna. A rather out-of-the-way place for foreign visitors, It's extremely popular with Portuguese day trippers. The area is also wonderful for hikers with plenty of good short-distance trails interspaced with places to swim along the way. You will also find facilities for horse riding and canoe rental. Good camping facilities are located within the park area.
Often missed by visitors is the quiet highland town of Monchique which hugs the wooded slopes of the Serra de Monchique. Monchique is a good alternative to the sometimes hectic beach life on the coast. Apart from its beautiful and restive setting, the town's other attraction is the Igreja Matriz church. You will especially enjoy the amazing portal which seems to be made of stone that has been tied in knots. Just outside the town is the spa of Caldas de Monchique, an area worth a visit just for the chance to hike through thick forest to Foia, the `rooftop' of the Algarve area from which the panoramic views from the top are wonderful.
Sagres is a small fishing port perched on dramatic, windswept cliffs at the south-western extremity of Portugal. As the village's is quite close to Lagos, you may find that there may be a lot of folks here during the holiday season. The port is a center for boat-building and lobster-fishing. Nearby you will find several pleasant beaches and the barren, throne-like Cabo de São Vicente, Europe's south-westernmost point. Sagres is around 20miles west of Lagos and frequent buses connect the two. There are less frequent coach connections direct to Évora and Lisbon.
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