Portugal

Portugal

Portugal: Top of the list of “Best European Countries” for tourism

By Leila Monteiro Lins | Photo by José Manuel – Praça do Império, Lisbon, Portugal

There area lot of reasons to choose Portugal as your next tourism destination. The country scored first place in USA Today’s “10 Best Readers’Choice” travel contest as the Best European Country to visit. According to the editors, “Portugal is less iconic than other well-known countries, but it offers a wealth of opportunities to travelers: cobbled villages beneath the shadows of medieval castles, great food, fascinating regional music, cultural opportunities, a beautiful coastline and even world-class surfing and plenty of history to explore.”

The new section “Discover Portugal” will feature up-to-date information on business opportunities, culture and tourism; you’ll want to surrender to the charm of a country that has gained recent international media recognition and attention, ranking it side by side with the world’s five-star destinations such as New York, London and Paris asthe “place to be”.

5 REASONS TO VISIT PORTUGAL

1. PEOPLE

The Portuguese people are generous, easy-going and kind, which fascinates tourists and makes the country an ideal getaway in Europe. Spanish writer Miguel Unamuno said after a visit to Portugal: “Quanto mais lá vou, mais quero voltar” (“The more I go to Portugal, the more I want to go back there”).

2. CLIMATE

Portugal has more sunlight hours than any other place in Europe.

  1. LANDSCAPE : Portugal has a huge diversity of landscapes and environments: sandy beaches as far as the eye can see, golden plains and mountains, vibrant and cosmopolitan cities, as well as a thousand years of history.

4. WINE AND Portugal FOOD Portugal’s wine tasting tours provide excellent day trips, and unique flavours. Wine has been widely produced in Portugal since at least the time of theRoman Empire. The food is delicious and cheap.

5. SPORTS There are eighty golf courses with different layouts and levels of difficulty, but the greatest challenge is to resist the beauty of the surrounding landscapes and remain focused.

For those who love to glide over the waves and feel the ocean, surfing is the sport of choice. Portugal is

considered the best surfing destination in Europe, with a magnificent coastline and waves for all types of surfing.

Highlights of Portugal

HISTORY

Portugal led Europe in the Mediterranean region in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Its pioneering sea voyages contributed new knowledge in botany, zoology and anthropology. Considered to bea small country with no natural resources at that time, it invested heavily in overseas journeys in order to survive and flourish as a nation. The Portuguese had an entrepreneurial and adventurous spirit, which led them to sail into the unknown, to be rewarded with knowledge and newly discovered resources.

GEOGRAPHY

Official Language: Portuguese

Portuguese is the seventh most spoken language, with more than 250 million native speakers across several continents. This diversity greatly contributes to the strong historical and cultural ties that Portugal has with the world. It’s noteworthy that a large part of Portugal’s population speaks foreign languages, with a prevalence of English.

CURRENCY

The euro is the currency of 13 European countries including Portugal. It is used by 315 million people.

POPULATION

An estimated 10.5 million of Portugal’s population are economically active. Demographic concentration is higher near the coastal areas, with Lisbon (the capital city) and Porto showing the highest population density.

CULTURAL ASPECTS

A shawl, a Portuguese guitar, a voice full of heartfelt emotion. This is a simple depiction of Fado, a rhythm that is genuinely Portuguese and one of its most beloved symbols.

GASTRONOMY

Portugal’s cuisine is as rich and varied as its landscape. The most distinctive feature of the Portuguese cuisine comes from the sea. The food is simple, not expensive and always fresh, since seafood abounds from and along their coast.

CULTURAL ASPECTS

A shawl, a Portuguese guitar, a voice full of heartfelt emotion. This is a simple depiction of Fado, a rhythm that is genuinely Portuguese and one of its most beloved symbols.

 

 

 

 

 

Leila Monteiro Lins

Leila has more than 30 years of experience in journalism and marketing, including media relations, event planning and the development of communication strategies. In April 2010, LML launched Discover magazine in Canada.

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