Southern Europe · Europe

Portugal

Discover Portugal - a nation of fado music, Age of Exploration heritage, pasteis de nata, Algarve beaches, and one of Europe's oldest borders.

Where Is Portugal?

Portugal is a country in Southern Europe. Its capital is Lisbon.

Where Portugal isSouthern Europe · Capital Lisbon

Plan a trip · 6 guides Compare Portugal

Capital Lisbon
Population 10.8M
Area 92,090 km²

Portugal has the oldest fixed borders in Europe - they've been essentially the same since 1249. From this narrow strip of Atlantic coastline, Portuguese sailors launched the Age of Exploration and built an empire that stretched from Brazil to Macau, Mozambique to Timor. They were the first Europeans to reach India by sea, to trade with Japan, and to establish a global maritime network. The language they spread is now spoken by over 250 million people across four continents.

Modern Portugal is something of a quiet European success story. Lisbon has become one of the continent's coolest cities - hilly, colorful, and full of fado music echoing from tiny restaurants. Porto has the wine, the azulejo tiles, and a gritty charm that makes it many people's favorite European city. The Algarve has some of the best beaches in the world. And then there are the things Portugal invented or popularized: the tempura technique (exported to Japan), the pastel de nata (custard tart), cork production (they supply over half the world's cork), and a global habit of drinking fortified wine. The food is brilliant, the people are warm, and everything costs about 40% less than in Spain next door.

At a glance

Language

Portuguese

Currency

Euro (EUR)

Calling Code

+351

Drives On

Right

Internet

.pt

Timezone

WET (UTC+0)

Script

Latin

Government

Semi-Presidential Republic

Independence

1143

Travel guides

Plan a trip to Portugal

All 6 Portugal guides

The twin crater lakes of Sete Cidades on a clear day, seen from the rim, with the village on the shore and blue hydrangeas in the foreground

Portugal · Azores · 5 days

5 Days in São Miguel

Crater lakes, hot springs and a stew cooked in the ground. Five days on the Green Island, planned around the weather.

Updated Oct 2026Read the plan →

Rabelo boats on the Douro in golden light, with the Ribeira houses, the Bolsa palace on the hill and the Dom Luís I Bridge behind

Portugal · 5 days

5 Days in Porto

Granite, tiles and a river full of port. Five days in Portugal's northern capital, with the Douro Valley on day four.

Updated Oct 2026Read the plan →

Rocky peaks of the central massif seen from Pico do Arieiro, rising out of a sea of cloud in bright daylight

Portugal · Madeira · 5 days

5 Days in Madeira

Cliffs, clouds, irrigation channels and grilled beef on a laurel stick. Five days in Madeira, planned properly.

Updated Oct 2026Read the plan →

Red-roofed houses of Alfama tumbling down toward the Tagus from Miradouro de Santa Luzia, with the National Pantheon dome and the church of Santo Estêvão in view

Portugal · 5 days

5 Days in Lisbon

Seven hills, wet cobbles, tiles and fado. Lisbon in five days, with the closures and queues you need to know about.

Updated Oct 2026Read the plan →

Golden cliffs, sea stacks and a sandy cove full of sunbathers at Praia da Marinha on the Algarve

Portugal · Algarve · 5 days

5 Days in the Algarve

Atlantic cliffs in the west, a warm lagoon in the east, and straight talk about the crowds in between.

Bases: Lagos, Carvoeiro, Tavira

Updated Oct 2026Read the plan →

SightseeingPortugal

Lisbon vs Porto

Seven hills and a capital's worth of sights, or a compact granite city built around port wine. How to choose, and how to split your days.

Updated Oct 2026See the verdict →

By population

Largest cities in Portugal

Lisbon

The hilly capital built on seven hills along the Tagus River, a mix of faded grandeur and cutting-edge creativity

545,000

Porto

The northern gem famous for Port wine, azulejo tiles, and a riverside scene that's been UNESCO-listed since 1996

238,000

Braga

Portugal's religious capital with Baroque churches, one of the oldest cities in the country

194,000

Coimbra

University city with one of the oldest universities in the world (founded 1290) and a unique fado tradition

143,000

Faro

Capital of the Algarve region, gateway to southern Portugal's spectacular cliff-lined beaches

65,000

Funchal

Capital of Madeira, a subtropical island with levada walks, Cristiano Ronaldo's birthplace, and year-round mild weather

105,000

People

Famous people from Portugal

Cristiano Ronaldo
Sport
Born in Madeira, became one of the greatest footballers of all time with record-breaking goals for club and country
Fernando Pessoa
Literature
Portugal's greatest poet, wrote under dozens of heteronyms, each with their own biography and literary style
Vasco da Gama
Science
First European to reach India by sea in 1498, opening the maritime route that changed world history
Jose Saramago
Literature
Won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1998 for novels like Blindness and Baltasar and Blimunda
Amalia Rodrigues
Music
The Queen of Fado who made Portugal's soulful music genre famous worldwide
Jose Mourinho
Sport
One of football's most successful managers, winning Champions League titles with Porto and Inter Milan

Food

Traditional cuisine of Portugal

Pastel de Nata: Flaky custard tart with a caramelized top, originally from Belem - now Portugal's most famous food export
Bacalhau: Salt cod prepared in supposedly 365 different ways - one for each day of the year. Portugal's obsession.
Francesinha: Porto's monstrous sandwich: layers of meat, cheese, and a spicy beer-and-tomato sauce, served with fries
Caldo Verde: Simple, soul-warming soup of potatoes, kale, and chorizo, eaten across Portugal with cornbread
Sardines: Grilled sardines are a Portuguese summer institution, especially during the June festival of Santo Antonio in Lisbon
Arroz de Marisco: Seafood rice stew loaded with prawns, clams, and mussels, a Portuguese coastal classic
Port Wine: Fortified wine from the Douro Valley, aged in Porto's historic cellars - ruby, tawny, and vintage varieties

Nature

Nature and landmarks in Portugal

Algarve CoastCoast: Stunning southern coastline with golden cliffs, sea caves, and some of the best beaches in Europe
Douro ValleyRiver: UNESCO-listed wine region with terraced vineyards cascading down to the Douro River, where Port wine is born
Madeira IslandIsland: Subtropical volcanic island in the Atlantic with dramatic cliffs, levada walks, and a year-round spring climate
AzoresIsland: Remote Atlantic archipelago with volcanic craters, hot springs, whale watching, and some of Europe's most dramatic landscapes
SintraLandmark: Fairytale town near Lisbon with colorful Romantic palaces set among misty forested hills, a UNESCO site
Peneda-Geres National ParkNational Park: Portugal's only national park with granite peaks, oak forests, waterfalls, and wild horses

Sport

Sports in Portugal

Football: Euro 2016 champions, Cristiano Ronaldo is the all-time international top scorer, and Benfica/Porto/Sporting are European giants
Futsal: One of the world's strongest futsal nations, regularly competing for European and World titles
Surfing: Nazare holds the world record for the largest wave ever surfed - over 26 meters
Athletics: Rosa Mota won the Olympic marathon gold in 1988, and Carlos Lopes won it in 1984

Facts

Did you know?

Portugal has the oldest bookshop in the world - Livraria Bertrand in Lisbon, open since 1732
The Portuguese invented tempura and taught it to Japan when traders arrived in the 1500s
Portugal produces more than half of the world's cork, mostly from Alentejo region
Lisbon is older than Rome - it was settled by Phoenicians around 1200 BC
Nazare in Portugal holds the world record for the largest wave ever surfed at over 26 meters
The longest bridge in Europe is the Vasco da Gama Bridge in Lisbon at 17.2 km
Portugal decriminalized all drugs in 2001 and saw drug abuse rates actually decrease significantly