Portugal

Lisbon and Cascais

Best time to visitMay to June and September to October are ideal: warm, bright days for the city and the palaces of Sintra, without the heat and crowds of July and August. The Atlantic stays cool, at 19–20°C (66–68°F) even in high summer.

• Stay
  Four Seasons Hotel Ritz LisbonForbes Five-Star and two MICHELIN Keys

  Above Eduardo VII Park, Portugal's only Forbes Five-Star hotel.

• Dine
  Belcanto

  José Avillez's restaurant in the Chiado holds two MICHELIN stars.

• Beach
  None that meets our standard yet.

The full Lisbon guide ›

Comporta

Best time to visitJune and September are ideal: long, dry days on the wide, empty beaches, without the August peak. The Atlantic here stays cool, at 19–21°C (67–69°F) from June to October.

• Stay
  Vermelho (two MICHELIN Keys)

  Christian Louboutin's hotel in the village of Melides, on the Alentejo coast just south of Comporta, his first venture into hospitality.

• Dine
  None that meets our standard yet.
• Beach
  JNcQUOI Beach Club

  Standing alone on the sand facing the Atlantic, in a building by the Belgian architect Vincent Van Duysen, with seafood at its heart.

The full Comporta guide ›

The Algarve

Best time to visitMay to June and September to October are ideal: hot, dry days and a sea at 19–22°C (66–71°F), without the peak of July and August. Spring and autumn are the great golf seasons, and winter stays mild and sunny.

• Stay
  Vila Vita Parcthree MICHELIN Keys

  A clifftop resort above the sea at Porches, one of only two hotels in Portugal with three Keys.

• Dine
  Ocean

  Hans Neuner's restaurant at Vila Vita Parc holds two MICHELIN stars.

• Beach
  Gigi's

  The Algarve's most celebrated beach restaurant, on Quinta do Lago's beach, known for its long seafood lunches and the day's catch.

The full Algarve guide ›

Porto and the Douro Valley

Best time to visitMay to June and September are ideal: the city at its best and, in September, the grape harvest in the Douro's terraced vineyards. The Atlantic off Porto is cool all year, at 14–18°C (57–65°F).

• Stay
  Six Senses Douro Valley (two MICHELIN Keys)

  A restored 19th-century manor among the vineyards above the Douro near Lamego, about an hour and a half from Porto.

• Dine
  Casa de Chá da Boa Nova

  Rui Paula's two-MICHELIN-star restaurant in Álvaro Siza's teahouse, built into the rocks above the Atlantic at Leça da Palmeira, just north of Porto.

• Beach
  None that meets our standard yet.

The full Porto and the Douro Valley guide ›

Madeira

Best time to visitMadeira is mild all year, with day highs of 20–27°C (68–80°F): April to June and September to October are ideal for the gardens and the island's walks, and the sea is warmest from August to October.

• Stay
  Reid's Palace, A Belmond Hoteltwo MICHELIN Keys

  The clifftop grande dame above the bay of Funchal, receiving guests since 1891.

• Dine
  Il Gallo d'Oro

  At The Cliff Bay in Funchal, chef Benoît Sinthon's restaurant holds two MICHELIN stars.

• Beach
  None that meets our standard yet.

The full Madeira guide ›

Sintra

The wooded hills above Lisbon where Portugal's kings and the 19th-century Romantics built their summer palaces, among them the painted Pena Palace on its peak and the Gothic and Manueline National Palace in the town, with the ruined Moorish Castle on the ridge and the gardens of Monserrate and Quinta da Regaleira. The Cultural Landscape of Sintra was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1995.

Best time to visitApril to June, and September to October; the hills are often misty, and summer days are crowded.

• Stay
  Penha Longa Resort

  A former royal retreat in the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, built around a 14th-century monastery, holding three MICHELIN Keys.

The Douro Valley

Terraced vineyards climb the steep schist slopes of the Douro and its side valleys, with the port quintas, white manor houses and the river town of Pinhão below. The Douro was demarcated in 1756, one of the oldest demarcated wine regions in the world, and the Alto Douro Wine Region was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2001.

Best time to visitMay to June, and September to October; the harvest is in September.

• Stay
  Six Senses Douro Valley

  A restored 19th-century manor among its own vineyards above the river near Lamego, holding two MICHELIN Keys.

Évora and the Alentejo

The walled capital of the Alentejo, with a Roman temple, a Romanesque and Gothic cathedral and whitewashed lanes, set in a rolling country of cork oaks, olive groves, wine estates and hilltop villages such as Monsaraz. The Historic Centre of Évora was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1986.

Best time to visitMarch to May, and September to November; July and August are very hot.

• Stay
  Torre de Palma Wine Hotel

  A wine estate near Monforte, beside the ruins of a great Roman villa, about an hour from Évora, holding two MICHELIN Keys; Quinta do Paral, at Vidigueira south of Évora, also holds two Keys.

Alcobaça, Batalha and Tomar

Three great monasteries of central Portugal: the Cistercian abbey of Alcobaça with the tombs of King Pedro I and Inês de Castro, the Gothic and Manueline Dominican monastery of Batalha, and the Convent of Christ at Tomar, the seat of the Knights Templar and later the Order of Christ. Each is a UNESCO World Heritage Site: Batalha and Tomar since 1983, Alcobaça since 1989.

Best time to visitMarch to June, and September to October.

• Stay
  No hotel here yet meets our standard; visit as a day trip from Lisbon.

Madeira's mountains and the Laurisilva

Above Funchal the island rises to peaks of nearly 1,900 metres, with walking paths along the levadas, the old irrigation channels, through the largest surviving laurel forest, a relic of the forests that once covered southern Europe. The Laurisilva of Madeira was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1999.

Best time to visitApril to October; the island is mild all year.

• Stay
  Reid's Palace, A Belmond Hotel

  The clifftop palace hotel above Funchal Bay, holding two MICHELIN Keys.