Under two hours by train to the oldest university in the Portuguese-speaking world. How the Joanina Library ticket really works, the station trap, and whether a day is enough.
14 min read
The waves that made Nazaré famous cannot be booked. How to get there, when the swell actually runs, what to do when it doesn't, and whether the trip is worth it.
13 min read
April is when Lisbon becomes easy: 20°C afternoons, eight hours of sun, long evenings, Sintra's gardens at their peak — and the extraordinary 25 April holiday.
13 min read
March is the month Lisbon turns: 19°C afternoons, seven hours of sun, terraces reopening and an extra hour of evening light — still at off-season prices.
13 min read
February is Lisbon at half price with no queues — and a weather gamble worth taking. The real climate numbers, where to go for Carnaval, and what to skip.
13 min read
Pilar 7 lets you stand inside the leg of Lisbon's red suspension bridge for under four euros. What it costs, what you see, the 372-step catch, and where the free views are better.
12 min read
Thirty-five arches, 65 metres up, untouched by the 1755 earthquake. How to walk across the Aqueduto das Águas Livres, and why Mãe d'Água is the part to do first.
12 min read
A queen's vow, a marble dome, a 500-figure nativity scene and the best garden in Lisbon — all free or nearly free, and all with no queue.
11 min read
The travesseiro is a 1940s invention, the queijada is the older one, and the good restaurants are all 300 metres past where the crowd stops. Where to eat, and what to skip.
11 min read
Should you stay in Sintra at all? The areas compared — historic centre, São Pedro, Colares, the coast — plus the named hotels, the €2 tourist tax and six things nobody tells you.
13 min read