Portugal Hotels

For some reason, when I think of Portugal, the famous port wine comes to my mind... That shouldn't be the first thing to remember; the thing to remember should be that this place "used to be the end of the world" because Portugal is located on the southwestern corner of Europe.

The only neighboring country is Spain on the east. Together, these two countries occupy the Iberian peninsula. The country is very open to Oceanic weather, although the climate feels closer to Mediterranean. The north coasts are "warmed" a bit by the Gulf Stream, you might take this fact into account if you are planning a seaside holiday in Portugal. As you'd expect from a country on the side of the Atlantic Ocean, weather is mostly not very cold, mostly rainy and breezy in winter, hardly ever drops under one digit degrees Celsius. The inlands climate of course, shows some continental effect, where it is not too uncommon to experience mild snowy days especially on higher areas. All is well in summer though, except maybe for the wind. That is not exactly a bad thing, there are great opportunities here for surfing and kite surfing.

The history of Portugal is not very "screaming" till the Moors invaded the peninsula. Today's borders of the country were mostly re-conquered land from Moors around 13th century. During and after the re-conquista of the Iberian territory, Portugal emerged as a separate kingdom from their friendly neighbor, Spain. The brightest period of this country was between 15th and 17th century.

In the middle ages, this land was thought to be "the end of the world" because it was the furthest western side of continent Europe, which was later proved inaccurate thanks to many brave explorers that "thought" outside the box. Here in this western end, the country was somehow "away" from all the major power struggles of Europe, and because of their victories against the Muslims, Spanish and Portuguese were highly favored by the Papacy. Conquests of new worlds resulted from this relative peace in the mainland. New sea routes were created to India, South America and Africa. These brought great wealth and with it, came great power and influence. Portuguese language is still widely known in many Latin American and African countries.

Back to today's world, Portugal would be a very good choice for summer holidays, with its developed resorts on sun loving sands of long long beaches. Combinations of wildflower covered mountains, thought to be end of world cliffs, dune covered beaches create a picturesque scenery all around. Beach attractions are very common, from kite surfing to beach sports. And if you want lively nightlife after the beach, you will be pleased with the big cities such as Lisbon and its rival, Porto. Another strong point of this country is the most excellent golfing resorts. There are many new quality spots. Golfers definitely won't be disappointed.

Best thing about Portugal would be the reasonably priced life. This country probably provides the most economical vacation in Europe. The choices are plentiful too. If you want highly developed full-on holiday resorts, they are there, the Algarve coast would be a very good choice. And if you're willing to go a bit further to spot untouched, quite, yellow sand, just go a bit further away from the cities. After all, transportation and accommodation are well priced.

Apart from the natural beauty, we have to mention the monuments. This country has properly lived the medieval times. You'll come across many well preserved castles and towns. UNESCO’s World Heritage suggests sites in Evora , Batalha, Alcobaça, Evora and Coimbra. Architecture is just fantastic. There are also a number of Natural Reserve spots worth mentioning.

The cuisine of Portugal is very interested. The colonial time period, with the exported spices left its impact of today's culture. Both the delicious seafood with some local recipes, and red meat is popular. Especially in rural restaurants, all you will find will be beef, sheep and pig products. Vegetarians, beware... Rice specialties are very common along with many unique soups as appetizers before the meals. Locals are very keen on their drinks, mostly great selections of wines. Make sure to try the famous port wine.

The pleasant cities, the lush green countrysides, ye olde towns of Medieval era, the long sun bathed sands of the coasts combined with inexpensive living conditions; Portugal offers a reasonable holiday opportunity for everyone.