Portugal

The Azores sit on a piece of mid-Atlantic seafloor that drops to three thousand metres within…

The speedboat punches west out of Albufeira’s marina hard enough that the spray hits before the…

The big circular skylight in the roof of Benagil Cave isn’t a man-made tunnel and it…

The blow-spray hits the Atlantic surface a second before you hear it. Your skipper has already…

The jeep lurches up the Encumeada pass at a thousand metres, the road narrowing to a…

Our guide stops in front of the castle wall, presses a hand against the granite, and…

Here is the thing nobody tells you before you book this tour. Vinho Verde isn’t a…

The pew is a wooden bench, not padded, and it pulls slightly cold under your hands….

The motor kicks in halfway up the Vitória ramp, the steep climb that snakes from the…

The Portuguese guitar trembles first. A small Cedofeita music shop, twelve folding chairs, granite walls, and…

Does the Porto Card actually pay for itself? On some itineraries, easily. On others, you’ll spend…

Step seventy of the climb is when most people start audibly counting. The stone is cool…

Most people show up to Livraria Lello on Rua das Carmelitas, see the queue snaking back…

My guide stopped beside a barrel that was older than most countries. He told us about…

The driver leaned the throttle a little harder and the tuk-tuk hauled itself up the ramp…

Here is the strange thing about the Porto 6 Bridges Cruise. You sit on a flat-bottomed…

The boat pushes upriver out of Régua and the schist hillsides start closing in on both…

Here is something to chew on before you book anything. Portugal was named for Porto, not…

The Tagus turns gold first, then bronze, then a deep tangerine that bleeds into the water…

I lost my breath twice on the climb between Largo das Portas do Sol and the…

You walk out of the player’s tunnel and the pitch hits you all at once. Sixty-four…

Most people walk into the Oceanário expecting one big tank with a catwalk around it. The…

You bite into a pastel de nata at Pastéis de Belém and the lacquered top crackles…

So, do you actually need a hop-on hop-off bus in Lisbon? It’s a fair question. The…