Portugal tourist information with details about
travel to and around the country. Where to stay and what to see is made easier with
insider tips and hand-selected Portugal links, by dedicated editors and visitors to
TravelNotes.org - The Online Guide to Travel.
Portugal gets its name from the Comitatus Portaculenis
fiefdom which extended around the old Roman seaport of Portus Cale; now Oporto.
Weather in Portugal
View a graphical weather forecast for the week ahead in places around
Portugal.
Aveiro
Weather, Barreiro
Weather, Braga
Weather, Faro
Weather, Lisbon
Weather, Portimao
Weather, Porto
Weather, Setubal
Weather, Viana
do Castelo Weather, Vila
Real Weather.
Weather in The Azores
Flores
Weather, Ponta
Delgada Weather, Povoacao
Weather, Santa
Maria Weather.
Weather in Madeira
Calheta
Weather, Funchal
Weather, Porto
Moniz Weather, Porto
Santo Weather.
Find and Book a Hotel in Portugal
Hotels in Portugal
by City:
Albufeira,
Lisbon,
Porto.
Hotels by Region:
Algarve Hotels, Hotels in
Madeira and Porto Santo.
The Romans occupied the Iberian Peninsula from the 2nd century BC
to the 5th century AD, and they left behind many important monuments to their presence.
The Visigoths came along in the 5th century and were followed by the
Moors in the 8th century. Both of their styles can still be seen in Portugal's older
buildings and churches.
Bermudo II, king of León, retook the northern territory, between the
Douro and Minho rivers, from the Moors in 997 and by 1064 Ferdinand I, king of
Castile and León had completed the reconquest as far south as present-day Coimbra.
Alfonso Henriques, later Alfonso I, king of Portugal, rebelled against
his mother and Spanish fiefdom in 1128, and in 1179 the pope recognised the independence
of Portugal.
King Alfonso III completed the expulsion of the Moors from the Algarve
and relocated the capital of Portugal, from Coimbra to Lisbon, during his reign (1248 to
1279).
In the 15th century Henry the Navigator, prince of Portugal,
encouraged exploration of the African coast for an eastward route to the Indies to bypass
Arab taxation and hostilities the traders might face in the Middle East.
The eventual route to India was not
discovered until after Henry's death though: Vasco da Gama, in his voyage of 1497-1499,
followed Bartolomeu Dias's 1487-1488 rounding of Africa
and started the lucrative sea trading between Europe and Asia.
Lisbon is the capital of Portugal.
If you're not on a charter flight to the beaches of the Algarve then
you will probably arrive here by train from Spain, or fly in directly.
Walk through the old city of Lisbon and you might be tempted to think
about the seamen and merchants who strolled the narrow, winding streets during the city's
illustrious history.
The Monastery of Jeronimos was built in 1498 to remind us of these
15th-century seafarers who opened the ocean trade route to India.
US Embassy in Lisbon:
United States Embassy
Av. das Forças Armadas, 1600-081 Lisboa.
Accommodation in Lisbon
Hotels
in Lisbon:
Find hotels in Lisbon with special online rates.
Sort Lisbon Hotels by: Hotel
Price, Hotel
Rating, Hotel
Name.
A commonwealth of Portuguese-speaking countries was formed on July
17th, 1996, to preserve the Portuguese language, co-ordinate diplomatic efforts, and
improve co-operation among its members: Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde,
Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, and São Tomé e Príncipe.
Portuguese
for Travellers:
Get to grips with Portuguese before you travel to Portugal.
On a visit to Portugal, be sure to get into the countryside. Rural
life is still the backbone of this Iberian country.
Even if your visit to Portugal is primarily to get a tan, you would
miss the essence of the country if you didn't hire a car and visit some of the villages.
Many of Portugal's finest churches were created during the Renaissance
and Baroque periods of the country's golden age.
Portugal
Guides:
Tourism and sightseeing guides for the whole of Portugal.
Travel To
Portugal:
Tom Sullivan invites you to the Iberian Peninsula and has a lot of useful information to
help you get the most out of a visit to Portugal.
Visit
Portugal:
Enjoy the sunny climate and diverse geographic features of Portugal by discovering what is
unique about each region: Alentejo, Algarve, Açores, Beiras Centro de Portugal, Lisboa e
Vale do Tejo, Madeira and Porto e Norte de Portugal.
Only 30km from Lisbon, you would be missing out if you didn't
leave the capital for a visit to Sintra - a UNESCO World Heritage Site and once referred
to by Lord Byron as 'this glorious Eden'.
Sintra
Sightseeing:
Abounding in history the town of Sintra is dominated by the two conical chimneys of the
Palácio Nacional da Vila -- the summer home of the Portuguese royal family since the 15th
Century.
Nova
Sintra:
The Pensão Restaurante Nova Sintra is ideally located in the old part of the village of
Sintra with beautiful views over the unique hillside of this immortal landscape.
Quinta
Verde Sintra:
If you're looking for a little turismo rural, a stay at this restored country house, with
swimming pool, might be ideal for you.
Accommodation in Sintra
Hotels
in Sintra:
Find hotels in Sintra with special online rates.
Portugal Info:
Who, what, where and when in Portugal.
Portugal Virtual:
Click your way through hundreds of links devoted to accommodation resources, tourism
guides, sights, activities, museums, shops and businesses in or related to Portugal.
BikeIberia:
Based in Lisbon, BikeIberia provides top biking services in Portugal and Spain to an international clientele.
More detailed travel destination information for:
Lisbon.
Books
on Portugal Travel:
Browse Amazon's best-selling list of books on travel in Portugal.
|
