Where to go, and when · with the homework done
TAVIRA · EASTERN ALGARVE · THE ISLAND FERRY The beach here is not at the end of the street. It sits on the far side of a lagoon, and reaching it costs you a boat ride, a glance at a timetable and the discipline of packing lunch. That small inconvenience is why the prettiest river … Read more
LAGOS · THE ALGARVE · BARLAVENTO COAST Cross the little bridge over the creek after breakfast and the whole shape of the place reads in ten minutes: masts and boat kiosks on one bank, a walled center of cobbled lanes on the other, cliffs beginning a short walk south. That geography is the argument for … Read more
PORTUGAL · WHERE TO STAY · THE MAINLAND, BASE BY BASE Mainland Portugal looks small on the map and moves slowly inside it. The run from Lisbon to a Douro quinta or an Alentejo hill town eats a morning, and every hotel change costs a check-out, a transfer and the afternoon that follows. So the … Read more
PORTUGAL · THINGS TO DO · THE NATIONAL SHORTLIST Mainland Portugal holds three trips that barely resemble each other. There is a chain of walkable historic cities strung along a fast train line. There is a wine country of terraced river slopes and cork plains where nothing moves without a car. And there is a … Read more
FOOD AND DRINK IN PORTUGAL · WHAT TO EAT · WHERE TO FIND IT Salt cod, olive oil, pork, bread and Atlantic fish carry most of the Portuguese table. Portions are large, and the weekday lunch menu in an ordinary restaurant is where the cooking is at its most representative. What a week of eating … Read more
FLIGHTS TO PORTUGAL · FROM THE UNITED STATES · MAINLAND ROUTES The short answer, before the detail: eight US cities reach mainland Portugal without a change of plane, a ninth starts this autumn, and from the East Coast the crossing runs about seven hours. Lisbon takes most of that traffic, Porto has three American routes … Read more
