Product Description

The Rough Guide to Portugal is the ultimate handbook to one of Europe's most beguiling countries. The full-colour introduction includes stunning photos of the best sights and activities, from the famous resorts of the Algarve to the nightlife of Lisbon, from historic Evora to the wine lodges of Porto. There are lively accounts of all the attractions, including those well off-the-beaten-track and practical tips on outdoor activities such as exploring the country's magnificent mountains, endless beaches and stunning national parks. In every chapter there are good maps and plans, complete with keys for all accommodation, eating and drinking establishments. Finally, in the 'contexts' section there is unrivalled cultural background from fado to cuisine, football to history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #324224 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 688 pages

About the Author
Mark Ellingham and John Fisher were co-founders of Rough Guides and wrote the first edition of the Rough Guide to Portugal in 1985. Matthew Hancock is author of the Rough Guides to Lisbon, The Algarve and Maderia.

Excerpted from Portugal: the Rough Guide by Mark Ellingham, John Fisher, Graham Kenyon. Copyright © 2000. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved
Where to go and when

Since Portugal is so compact, it's easy to take in something of each of its elements - northern river valleys, southern coast, and mountains - even on a brief visit, whether you rent a car or make your own way by public transport. Scenically, the most interesting parts of the country are in the north: the Minho, green, damp, and often startling in its rural customs; the sensational gorge and valley of the Rio Douro; the remote Trs-os-Montes; and the wild, mountainous serras of Beira Alta. For contemporary interest, spend at least some time in both Lisbon and Porto, the only two cities of real size. And if it's monuments you're after, the whole centre of the country - above all Coimbra, vora and the Estremadura region - retains a faded grandeur dating from the Age of the Discoveries in the sixteenth century and from the later gold and diamond wealth of Brazil.

The coast is virtually continuous beach - some 800km of it - and only on the Algarve and in a few pockets around Lisbon and Porto has there been large-scale tourist development. Elsewhere, a number of beach areas have seen casual development on a relatively small scale, these resorts remaining thoroughly Portuguese, with great stretches of deserted sands between them. Perhaps the loveliest beaches are along the northern Costa Verde, around Viana do Castelo, or, for isolation, the wild stretches of southern Alentejo. It must be added, however, that the Portuguese coast is the Atlantic and can often be windswept and exposed. If you like your swimming warm, the only area where the water approaches Mediterranean temperatures is the eastern Algarve, where a series of sandbank islands, the ilhas, protect the shore.

Swimming aside, when you go matters little. The entire country is warm from April to October, if slightly erratically so in the rainy north, while the Algarve is amazingly mild throughout the year - it hardly has a winter and January can be delightful when the almond blossom is out. The Serra da Estrela, in contrast, features winter snow for skiers, while further north winter is wet and the wind bitingly cold - this is no time for extended journeys around Trs-os-Montes. Throughout the year, escaping the crowds, outside the Algarve and Lisbon, is little problem. Especially on the Algarve, booking accommodation is essential in high season; elsewhere, however, you should find rooms with little difficulty throughout the year except at festival times when even the smallest towns and villages can fill up quickly.

Customer Reviews

Perhaps the best companion for independent travelling.
I did a 16 day trip around Easter this year, visiting among other places Porto, Coímbra, Lagos and Lisbon. The Rough Guide proved very helpful in directing me to Portugal's most interesting spots, as well as in giving me information about practicalities like accomodation, food, transport and even laundry. I travelled on a quite limited budget, mostly eating and sleeping as cheap as possible, and even if this book isn't specifically aimed at such travellers, I'd easily recommend it to others. A plus for a good number of quite accurate maps that help you get the bearings on arrival, and also for including accomodation listings in the very beginning of each chapter. A roof for the night is, after all, one of the first things you should look for. Also good on nightlife. And just to point out a few drawbacks: Accomodation is listed alphabetically, not by price. Didn't like that. I also found it coming a little short on background information about portuguese society, culture and contemporary life.

But I definately liked the book. It helped me getting the most out of my fortnight in Portugal.

Sets the standard for guide books
By far the best guide to Portugal you will find. It tells you everything you could wish to know. I live in Portugal -- and find it invaluable.

Smooth travelling in Portugal
In fact as a review of the Rough Guide to Portugal this could as easily be a review of any or all of the Rough Guides travel books - it just happens to be the one I've used most recently. The Rough Guides score on all the main factors for books as aids to travel. They are thorough enough to enable the traveller to make informed judgements without being so comprehensive that they drive your airline baggage into excess weight. Most important of all Rough Guides are relevant to most travellers' experiences: the places I visit are recognizably the same as described and the guides do not direct themselves to one readership, be it backpackers or epicures, seekers after history or nightlife. There's nothing fancy about the Rough Guides, but all you need is helpful, clear and accurate guides - and that's what you get. And, of course, as guides start going out of date even before they reach the shops, the positive encouragement to readers to supply corrections for the frequent updates is the Rough Guides' final strength.