Portugal Bucket List

Savor azulejo lanes, Atlantic surf, fado nights, and Douro vineyards of Portugal

Visit Porto, Portugal's second-largest city. Explore the historic Ribeira district (UNESCO World Heritage site with colorful houses along the Douro River), taste Port wine at a cellar in Vila Nova de Gaia (like Sandeman or Graham's), admire the intricate azulejo tiles at São Bento railway station (over 20,000 tiles depicting historical scenes), and cross the iconic Dom Luís I Bridge (designed by a student of Gustave Eiffel).

Visit Lisbon, Portugal's hilly capital on the Tagus River. Ride the iconic Tram 28 through historic Alfama (narrow medieval streets and Fado music venues), see the Belem Tower (16th-century fortress and UNESCO site), explore the Jeronimos Monastery (Manueline architecture and Vasco da Gama's tomb), and taste pastel de nata (custard tarts) at Pasteis de Belem.

Experience traditional custard tart

Enjoy a glass of authentic porto wine in its city of origin, Porto

Explore the natural beauty and cultural heritage of Madeira, a picturesque region known for its stunning landscapes and rich history.

Nazaré, Portugal has big waves that is surfed every year, usually around November. Often called the 100ft wave.

Visit the Azores, a stunning archipelago in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean known for its volcanic landscapes, green pastures, and blue hydrangeas

Master Portuguese, spoken in multiple countries

The Azores' main town, gateway to crater lakes, hot springs and whale watching in the mid-Atlantic.

Visit the Cristiano Ronaldo Museum in Funchal, Portugal, dedicated to the football legend's career and achievements.

Pessoa's assistant bookkeeper Bernardo Soares and his fragments; the anti-novel of Lisbon.

A city goes blind and is quarantined; Saramago without punctuation.

The palace garden on hexes, where a tile has to share a colour or a plant with its neighbour.

Panes instead of tiles, and a glazier who only ever moves clockwise around the factories.

The best of the Azul family, with wild tiles and a gentler penalty for what you cannot place.

Painted moliceiro boats on the canals, Art Nouveau facades and ovos moles egg sweets.

The Algarve capital, with a walled old town, storks nesting on the cathedral and the Ria Formosa lagoon.

'Here Portugal was born': the castle of the first king and a UNESCO medieval centre.

A Roman temple, a chapel lined with bones and whitewashed lanes inside walls, the capital of the Alentejo.

Portugal's oldest city and its religious heart, with the baroque stairway of Bom Jesus do Monte.

Madeira's capital: wicker toboggans down from Monte, the flower market and Madeira wine lodges.

Sea cave on the Algarve coast with a round skylight in its domed roof — reached by boat, kayak or paddleboard.

Walled medieval town of whitewashed lanes and bougainvillea, where ginjinha cherry liqueur is served in chocolate cups.

Port-wine country of terraced vineyards along the river, tasted at the quintas and seen best from a rabelo boat.

Hilltop palaces and romantic gardens.

Portugal’s ancient university town, with the baroque Joanina Library, black-caped students and mournful fado.

Golden cliffs and beaches in the south.