Bright beaches, bountiful countryside, and flanked by the boundless North Atlantic Ocean, it’s easy to understand why Portugal is such a popular holiday destination. But there are hidden pockets of the country that still go largely unvisited by tourists – regions that are just as beautiful, as culturally rich, and as extraordinary as the usual hotspots.
Allow us to prove it with our top five quiet corners of Portugal…
Allow us to prove it with our top five quiet corners of Portugal…
The Minho
A lovely, relaxing holiday in beautiful, green scenery. The manor houses were excellent with local dishes, comfortable rooms, and large, well-kept grounds..png "right-quote-(1).png")
—Inntraveller, Northern Portugal’s Minho Manor Houses
Tucked in the north-west of the country, between the city of Porto and the Spanish border, the Minho is a luxuriant region of abundant valleys and vineyards, flecked with historic towns and traditional mansions.
All its gems are at your feet, from the Roman bridges spanning tumbling rivers to the traditional 16th- and 17th-century manor houses offering a unique place to stay. Here, you can walk with history on the Portuguese Camino’s ancient paths that weave through the countryside, wander the streets of pretty Ponte de Lima (Portugal’s oldest town), and explore the rolling hills neatly piped with rows of twirling vines.
Did you know?
The Minho is great for birdwatchers, with a diverse variety of birdlife to spot in the wetlands, and for wine enthusiasts – this being the home of the sparkling vinho verde (young wine).
The Serra da Arrábida
Lovely views... Very quiet (apart from abundant birdsong!) despite being so close to Lisbon.”—Inntraveller, Hidden Portugal: the Serra da Arrábida
Despite its proximity to Lisbon, the Arrábida Natural Park on the Setúbal peninsula has, so far, gone virtually undiscovered by visitors – surprising given its breathtaking landscape, ancient history, and traditional culture.
Carved with rustic ridges and valleys cloaked in forest, the region’s hills dance with the sea – the shoreline waltzing in and out with secluded, sandy coves. Dinosaur tracks climb the rugged, prehistoric cliffs of Espichel, and rocky medieval castles stand watch over the horizon.
Epic views, accompanied by epic flavours
The food here is sublime. Fresh fish can be sampled all along the coast, where you can also try the region’s renowned grilled sardines and choco frito (fried cuttlefish). Inland, the abundant vineyards yield sumptuous local produce, including the famous Moscatel dessert wine.
Peneda-Gerês National Park
Northern Portugal is so undiscovered – on most days, if we saw more than half a dozen people, it was a busy day. It was the Lake District without the crowds.—Judy, High Paths of Northern Portugal
A timeless land of secluded sanctuaries, rustic mountain villages, and wooded slopes, serene Peneda-Gerês in northern Portugal is the country’s only national park – and a special one at that.
Cachena cows and wild Garrano horses roam the hills criss-crossed with pilgrim paths, and the high mountains bow to cool, blue lakes. The terracotta-coloured roofs of traditional hamlets emerge above the forest canopy, the spires of their quiet churches like lighthouses in a sea of green.
Secrets hidden in the scenery
The region is festooned with relics of the Roman period – ancient bridges, roads, and milestones dapple the countryside – and the spa town of Gerês has been known for its healing waters since antiquity. Peaceful, untamed, and authentic, it’s as if Peneda-Gerês is an oasis in time.
The Costa Vicentina
It was an amazing holiday, and we would highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in fabulous coastal scenery, bird watching, and an interest in the night sky. The dark skies… at the majority of our overnight stays were a great chance to experience fantastic views of the Milky Way.—Mr Kendall, Walking Portugal's Costa Vicentina
Ambling along the Costa Vicentina feels like tiptoeing the edge of paradise. This is Europe’s largest coastal natural park, where the wide, rugged shoreline greets the great Atlantic Ocean with open arms, embracing beneath a seemingly infinite sky.
Wild but peaceful, nature here can truly thrive. The quiet, sweeping, sandy beaches are frequented by egrets and turtles, the rocky sea cliffs provide perfect perches for Europe’s only marine stork colony (particularly when the birds nest in spring), and the horizon glows in glorious colours with each sunset.
A seaside postcard
Winding clifftop paths connect the quaint fishing villages that are dotted along the coast, the houses cheerfully painted in white and blue. With secluded farmlands set back from the shore, the region is an idyllic intersection of land and sea, summoning, in all who visit, a blissful sense of remoteness – and freedom.
The Azores
The Azores is a very lush and still relatively quiet holiday location… Go soon while it is still relatively unknown!—Mrs Clark, The Azores: an Island-Hopping Experience
Last but not least, our final pick takes us away from mainland Portugal, heading about 800 miles west to a volcanic archipelago in the middle of the Atlantic – the Azores.
It seems bizarre that these islands should be one of Portugal’s hidden corners, when their fantastical and otherworldly landscapes appear like something from a film. Where one minute you’re traversing through the trees of an ancient laurel forest, the next you’re orbiting a spectacular crater lake.
Exploring the surrounding seas by boat, too, can be just as surreal and wonderful an experience – these waters being some of the best in the world for spotting whales, dolphins, and turtles (keep your eyes peeled on the included whale-watching excursion that features on all our Azores holidays).
Did you know?
The Azores archipelago has witnessed a lot of world history firsthand, having been officially discovered by the Portuguese in the 1400s (although evidence suggests the Vikings may have found it first), served as an important trading and stopover link between the Old and New Worlds, been targeted by pirate attacks, and used as an Allied military base in the Second World War.