Portugal - overview
Most visitors to Portugal head for the sandy
coves, pretty fishing villages, and manicured
golf links of the Algarve. But beyond the
south coast resorts lies the least explored
corner of Western Europe: a country of rugged
landscapes, sophisticated cities, rural backwaters
and sharply contrasting traditions.
Portugal appears to have no obvious geographical
claim to nationhood, yet this western extremity
of the Iberian Peninsula has existed within
borders practically unchanged for nearly
800 years. Its ten million people speak their
own language, follow their own unique cultural
traditions, and have a centuries-old history
of proud independence from neighbouring Spain.
Portugal is so compact, and it's therefore
easy to see so much from each of its elements.
Scenically, the most interesting parts of
the country are in the north: the Minho,
green, damp, and often startling in its rural
customs; and the splendid gorge and valley
of the Douro, followed along its course by
the railway, of which antiquated branch lines
edge into remote Tras-os-Montes. For modern
interests, spend some time in both Lisbon
and Porto, the only two cities of real size.
And if it's monuments you require, the heart
of the country ・above all, Coimbra and Evora
・retains a faded grandeur of days gone by.
The coast is virtually uninterrupted beach,
and apart from the Algarve and a few pockets
around Lisbon and Porto, resorts remain low-key
and thoroughly Portuguese, with great stretches
of deserted sands between them. Perhaps the
loveliest are along the northern Costa Verde,
around Viana do Castelo, or, for isolation,
the wild beaches of southern Alentejo. |
