Portugal travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises spa and resorts

If you approach Porto Santo by air, the whole island seems a glorious-golden yellow against the glistening cobalt blue sea. The island is known as ‘painting made by god’ and is 46 km to the northeast of Madeira in the Atlantic Ocean. The island tending to remind of North Africa, rather than Europe – a starkly beautiful desert landscape of palm trees and cacti, dotted with pine groves and small wheatfields. Photo by: Tiagoto
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Paula Rego Museum, is located just outside the Portuguese capital by the beaches of Cascais. The museum includes paintings and drawings by Portugal’s most acclaimed living artist. The museum is named after Paula Rego, who was born in Lisbon but has been living between Cascais and London since the 1970s. In the British capital she married artist Victor Willing and was appointed the first associate artist of England’s National Gallery. She’s also considered one of the best living painters in Britain, and her works can be seen in several museums around the world, from the British Museum in London to the MoMA in New York.
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The Vasco da Gama Bridge spans the Tagus River near Lisbon, Portugal. When it opened (and still today) it is one of the longest in Europe. With a total length of 17 km including 0.8 km for the main bridge, 12.3 km in viaducts, and 4.8 km in dedicated access roads, this magnificent structure is an immense cable-stayed bridge. It is named after Vasco da Gama – the famous maritime explorer, which in 1498 discovered the sea route to the Indies around the Cape of Good Hope.
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An archipelago of nine volcanic islands approximately 1,500 km from mainland Portugal, The Azores are the remote western tip of Europe. They are the tops of some of the biggest mountains on the planet, mostly hidden under the Atlantic Ocean, but rising to a spectacular 2,351 m above sea level. Amazing! Photo by: swilton
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On Algarve coastline of Portugal are located some of the most beautiful secluded coves, broken up by fabulous rugged cliffs and fantastic grottoes. Here the small beaches are caught between high extraordinary rock formations which act as wind- and wave-breakers. The water is a little colder than the Mediterranean’ (it is situated on the Atlantic), but the weather is beautiful and the wind keeps the climate from becoming too hot.
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Ericeira is a fishing village only few km from Lisbon and Sintra, located where the high cliffs of the rocky coast meet the Atlantic Ocean. A prime target for surfers, famous for its beautiful beaches Ericeira is internationally renowned as one of the best surfing spots in Europe. And it attracts tourists who come from all over the world to take advantage of the powerful Atlantic waves that can be found here.
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I present you a twentieth-century rural hotel in Felgueiras, Portugal. The hotel is located on 24-acres of farmland which are primarily used as vineyards, and had existing sixteenth-century buildings. The notion was to revive the old structure, so the hotel was designed to complement and enhance the characteristics of the existing structures — and provide space and amenities for up to 22 guests and an outdoor swimming pool.
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