Seeing Portugal Properly
When we meet up with visitors or tourists to the UK, among the first questions we ask is where have they been and what have they seen? If they say they have spent their entire holiday trekking around London, Manchester or Edinburgh, we almost instinctively begin listing the many interesting places they should have visited. We insist they should hire a car and take in as much of our glorious heritage that they can cram into their visit. But when we go on holiday abroad, how often do we follow our own advice, More often than not, we spend whole days lounging on the beach and in the evenings venture no further than the nearest town to sample the restaurants and night-life – preferably within walking distance of course!
Yet, with car hire in Portugal being so simple, it couldn’t be easier to practise what we preach. Many of us, when we choose Portugal for our holiday, opt for the Algarve. And why not? Its beaches are wonderful, surrounding scenery attractive and temperatures practically perfect. But we need to leave the beach and explore the surrounding areas, like Lagos.
Lagos is an old walled town once occupied by the Celts, then the Romans and then the Moors, who built the city walls. Ignore the beaches for a day and take a trip into the past by exploring the surrounding town and neighbouring villages; the ancient churches, narrow streets and alleys; shops and markets full of local colour.
Thanks to your car hire in Portugal, you can head for the hills and visit the historic town of Sintra, with its own royal palace. The scenery en route is delightful and when you reach the town you can shop until you drop! Stop off at the beautiful Queluz Palace on the way – and be sure to have your camera at the ready
If you like places of historical interest, you should not leave without visiting Evora, which is Portugal’s best preserved medieval city and a world heritage site. It is dominated by an impressive cathedral and many Roman ruins, all of which you can visit easily when you use car hire in Portugal.
Braga is another beautiful city, steeped in religious significance. It contains Portugal’s oldest cathedral, dating from the twelfth century which houses a museum and several impressive chapels. These are just a few of the places you can visit so that you can then go home and claim that you have truly seen Portugal.