Portugal in spring or early summer is always a lovely prospect. For me, it has special significance: the year my son turned three, we went to the Algarve at the end of March. The skies were wide and blue, we splashed in the sea and built sandcastles on empty beaches in the gentle sunshine — it felt like summer wearing kid gloves. The week before we’d been stomping through snow in London.
According to the British Science Association, spring moves north at 2mph. So if you’re sick of waiting for it to arrive in the UK, you can make the seasonal jump in the time it takes to fly to Portugal.
Spring in Portugal is not only balmy but beautiful. Orange blossom scents whole swathes of the south; in the Douro Valley the vines gleam bright green and almond trees burst into pink and white bloom. Both these areas can be punishingly hot and rather crowded in summer; go sooner to find peace and feel smug and sweat-free.
In late spring, wildflowers carpet the rural landscapes — in May in the Alentejo and in June in the Minho, further north. Temperatures hover around the late teens and early twenties — perfect for hiking or cycling. In the cities, it’s optimum sightseeing weather, with blue skies for photos but enough freshness in the air to let you walk Lisbon’s and Porto’s cobbled streets for hours.
These two big-hitter cities aren’t your only options for a mini-break; even if you only have a weekend, the short distances between interesting ports of call and great roads mean you can easily explore areas a little way beyond these flight gateways, as well as the areas around Faro in the south.
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Here I’ve suggested a whole host of spring holidays lasting just three to five days, from city breaks in historic Braga and arty Cascais to walking in the wine regions of the Douro and Minho, and pure relaxation in some of Portugal’s most beautiful natural landscapes, such as the windswept beaches of Comporta or the lofty peaks of the Serra da Estrela mountains. Portugal’s north is best in later spring; if you’re champing at the bit for sunshine, you could find it in the Algarve tomorrow. This most misunderstood region of Portugal has plenty beyond its bucket-and-spade packages, so I’ve profiled foodie and active breaks that’ll take you off the beaten track.
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1. Ride the rails through the Douro Valley
The cruise ships that ply the Douro spend a whole week on the journey, but take the train from Sao Bento station in Porto and you’ll arrive in Pinhao, at the heart of the valley, in less than two and a half hours. Select a seat on the right-hand side for the best views as the train weaves through steep-sided, vine-laden valleys. In Pinhao, check into the Vintage House, where rooms overlook the river and the restaurant offers regional cuisine. The concierge can organise tastings at vineyards nearby; Quinta da Roeda has some of the region’s oldest vines and the tucked-away Quinta do Panascal is enchantingly pretty.
Details B&B doubles from £201 (vintagehousehotel.com). Fly to Porto
2. Eat oysters from the shell on Culatra island, Algarve
No need to worry about whether there’s an R in the month; Portugal’s oysters aren’t seasonal. They’re also extremely high quality; many “French” oysters start their lives on the Algarve’s barrier islands and graduate north to a Gallic finishing school. Eat them shucked while you wait with your toes in the sand on Culatra, a community-owned island where 400 families rear oysters and clams in the shallow waters. The best way to visit is on a tour with Portugal4U (pt4u.pt; £115pp for a six-hour excursion including oyster-tasting and boat trip), developed in partnership with the co-operative; the company donates part of the tour price to support local producers. Base yourself in charming Olhao, the fishing village that faces the island, just 15 minutes by taxi from Faro airport, and stay at Convento, a riad-style boutique located in the whitewashed old town.
Details B&B doubles from £128 (conventoolhao.com). Fly to Faro
3. Soak up Comporta’s natural beauty, Alentejo
The string of low-key beach towns — and the miles of undisturbed dunes between them — that make up the Comporta region used to be the jet-set’s stylish little secret, but its fame is growing. Visit before the summer season kicks in to avoid rocketing prices and bask in spring beauty — think carpets of poppies among the cork oaks. The hotel Sublime Comporta sits in 42 acres of pine-shaded grounds with a giant, chemical-free bio-pool, spa and fire pit, and its style — all white walls, exposed wood, cork and straw — is typical of this region. Borrow the hotel’s bikes and trundle among the forests and rice paddies and down to the sugar-soft sands of Carvalhal Beach. Comporta is about an hour’s drive south from Lisbon.
Details B&B doubles from £192 (sublimecomporta.pt). Fly to Lisbon
4. Cycle beside the canals in Aveiro
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Like every other city around canals, Aveiro cannot escape comparison with Venice. But where the Italian city has Renaissance palazzi, gondolas and a problem with crowds, Aveiro has elegant art nouveau buildings, moliceiros — colourful wooden boats originally used to collect seaweed — and a relatively tranquil atmosphere. Make the most of the surrounding region’s flat terrain, quiet roads and network of cycle paths and boardwalks, and explore on two wheels. A four-night self-guided “Aveiro — Portugal’s Little Venice” itinerary explores the city, nearby flamingo-filled lagoons and golden beaches, and includes B&B stays in four-star hotels. Aveiro is an hour and 15 minutes by train to the south of Porto.
Details Four nights’ B&B from £825pp, including bike hire and luggage transfers (inntravel.co.uk). Fly to Porto
• Portugal travel guide: everything you need to know
• Where to go in Portugal: 10 secret spots the locals love
5. Explore Sintra’s hilltop palaces
With its candy-coloured palaces poking from forested peaks, Sintra is a stunner in any season, but summer’s crowds can make the popular sights feel fraught. Spring is calmer, particularly when you do the smart thing and stay overnight — you’ll feel smug watching the day-trippers leave only half-fulfilled. Spend one day ticking off the more famous Pena Palace, National Palace and the Castle of the Moors, the second at quieter but no less rewarding sights such as the Arabic-inspired Palacio de Monserrate and the sprawling Quinta da Regaleira, where the mystical Initiation Well features a gothic spiral staircase descending 88ft underground to a maze of tunnels. Take the train from Lisbon — it takes 40 minutes — and stay at the central Sintra Boutique Hotel.
Details B&B doubles from £126 (sintraboutiquehotel.com). Fly to Lisbon
6. A stylish farm stay in the rural Alentejo
North of the Algarve and south of Lisbon, the Alentejo is known as Portugal’s breadbasket, but this doesn’t do full justice to a region that’s the country’s biggest olive grove and vegetable garden. For a flavour of the area, stay at Craveiral Farmhouse, where 70 per cent of the restaurant’s ingredients are grown on-site, and the rest sourced locally. You’ll sleep in low-rise, whitewashed suites, furnished with pieces by Portuguese brands and artists, and as well as eating exceptionally well, you can ride horses or quad bikes, take a yoga or ceramics class, or pet the farm animals — making this a great option for young families too. It’s a 90-minute drive northwest from Faro.
Details B&B doubles from £188 (craveiral.pt). Fly to Faro
7. Musical performances in Porto
For some, the sound of spring might be birdsong; for others, it’s Primavera Sound. The Porto edition of the music festival runs from June 6 to 8 this year, and alongside headliners Lana del Rey, Pulp and the National, you can hear a host of up-and-coming Portuguese bands (from £64, primaverasound.com). If you’re not a festival fan, take in a show featuring traditional ballads of love and loss in one of the city’s fado houses, or head to the futuristic, Rem Koolhaas-designed Casa da Musica, where from April 19 to 26 a programme of works dedicated to Portugal’s Carnation Revolution will be played, commemorating its 50th anniversary (from £7, casadamusica.com). Stay at M.Ou.Co, a music-focused boutique hotel with its own concert hall and 600-record library of vinyl.
Details Room-only doubles from £48 (moucohotel.pt). Fly to Porto
8. A mountain lodge in the Serra da Estrela
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Keep your adventure in Portugal’s highest mountain range on the down-low — this pristine environment of granite massifs, wooded valleys and clear streams is wonderfully untouristy, so don’t go telling everyone how magical it is. Spring still has a chill in the air, so stay at Casa das Penhas Douradas, which has chalet-chic style, a heated spa pool and alfresco hot tub. There’s a complimentary guided hike daily, plus the hotel can organise longer treks, Jeep tours, paragliding, stargazing — even spending a day with local shepherds during the May shearing. A two-hour drive southeast from Porto, this is a more remote recommendation, so stay at least three nights.
Details B&B doubles from £171 (casadaspenhasdouradas.pt). Fly to Porto
9. Cooking classes in a riverside hideaway
From pasteis de nata to piri piri chicken, Portuguese flavours are beloved by Brits. Any trip to Portugal will reveal lip-smacking new favourites, but why not come back with the recipes and skills to reprise them at home? On this four-night “Portugal’s Spice Route & Beyond” cooking holiday, running from April 19, you’ll learn to make local favourites including bacalhau (salt cod) and cataplana stew, plus dishes from Brazil, Macau, Goa and Mozambique — all part of Portugal’s colonial history. Stay on a full-board basis in a riverside lodge near Silves, and enjoy cooking classes, market visits and walks in the Algarve countryside.
Details Four nights’ full board from £814pp (notintheguidebooks.com). Fly to Faro
10. Yoga and hiking in the rugged southwest
The Fishermen’s Trail, snaking 150 miles along Portugal’s west coast, is one of Europe’s loveliest long-distance hiking routes. Rather than attempting the whole thing, sample bite-size walks on this four-night “Yoga, hike and SUP in Portugal” group retreat based at Quinta Camarena in the heart of the Alentejo, two hours south from Lisbon. With daily yoga on an alfresco deck, half-day hikes and stand-up paddleboarding on the Mira River, you’ll be gently immersed in this tranquil landscape of woodland and wild coast. Many home-cooked, seasonally influenced meals and a wine tasting are included, plus airport transfers. Dates in April and May are available.
Details Four nights’ half-board from £1,160pp (muchbetteradventures.com). Fly to Lisbon
11. Cliffs and caves of windswept Lagos
The golden, wind-sculpted rocks of the Ponta da Piedade headland in Lagos are some of the most striking in Portugal, but visit this corner of the Algarve in summer and you’ll find it heaving. Go now, and your hike along the boardwalk trail and down the famous stone staircase into the grottos will be far quieter. Stay at the nearby Cascade Wellness Resort, with direct access to the paths, and even in peak season you can be there before everyone else has got up. Don’t miss nearby Benagil Cave, with its Pantheon-like skylight — on a speedboat excursion in the quieter months you’re more likely to be able to get out and walk on the sandy cave floor.
Details Three nights’ room only from £320pp including flights (britishairways.com)
12. Step back in time in Braga
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You may not know Braga, but you’ll probably recognise pictures of its most famous sight. The Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte is reached by a zigzagging baroque staircase 116m high, but if you want to swerve the 573 steps, you can use the oldest water-powered funicular in the world to reach the top. This city, 40 minutes by bus from Porto airport, is one of Portugal’s oldest, home to Roman remains, the rococo Raio Palace, the neoclassical Arco da Porta Nova — Arch of the New Gate — and the nation’s oldest cathedral, a mishmash of gothic, Romanesque and Manueline styles. The architecture may be historic, but Braga’s not stuck in the past, with a lively student community and plenty of bars to cater to them. Stay at the fittingly venerable Vila Gale Collection Braga, a former 16th-century hospital.
Details B&B doubles from £97 (vilagale.com). Fly to Porto
13. Water sports on the Costa Verde
Stretching north from Porto, the Costa Verde is Portugal’s least developed coast, a place of long, untouched beaches, Atlantic swells and the emerald forests that give the area its name. From May, the conditions at Cabedelo Beach, near Viana do Castelo, are near-perfect for kite and windsurfing, making this one of the best places in Europe to learn. FeelViana Sport Hotel, in pinewoods just behind the beach, offers these and more, with stand-up paddleboarding, cycling, yoga and Pilates for those less gung-ho, alongside a spa with recuperative treatments. An hour’s drive from Porto, it’s the ideal spot for an all-action short break.
Details Three nights’ B&B from £405pp, including flights (expedia.co.uk)
14. Take a boat trip to the Berlengas Islands
Spring is nesting season on the Berlengas Islands, granitic outcrops ten miles off the Atlantic coast where migrating and endemic seabirds gather in great numbers. Visitor numbers to this nature reserve are limited to 550 each day, with boats running to Berlenga Grande, the only accessible island, from May to September (returns from £27; berlengas.org). Hike the trail around the island and it will bring you to the still-functioning lighthouse, the extraordinary fort reached by a narrow walkway and colonies of gulls, shearwaters and petrels. Stay in the legendary surf town Peniche, 75 minutes from Lisbon, in the characterful two-bedroom converted windmill Abrigo do Moleiro.
Details B&B doubles from £132 (airbnb.co.uk). Fly to Lisbon
• Lisbon travel guide: everything you need to know
15. Find culture on the coast in Cascais
Come the height of summer, the call of the Cascais beaches will be too loud to ignore for anyone in the vicinity. But visit in spring and the Atlantic waters at this smart town half an hour west of Lisbon will still be brisk enough to chase you off the sand and into its Museum Quarter. One ticket gains you access to a clutch of sights; the pick of the bunch are the Condes de Castro Guimaraes Museum, a gothic revival castle packed with historic pieces, and the Casa das Historias Paula Rego, dedicated to the artist who lived near by (£13; bairrodosmuseus.cascais.pt). Stay in the Pestana Cidadela Cascais, which has six studios on site where you can chat to the resident artists and watch them work.
Details Three nights’ B&B from £260pp, including flights (britishairways.com)
16. Wine and walking in the rural Minho
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The swathe of bucolic countryside to the northeast of Porto is never crowded, but it is particularly beautiful in spring, when the weather is perfect for hiking. If the rewards of tramping among the gentle landscape of woods and rivers weren’t enough, this is also vinho verde territory, so you can finish your walk with a glass of gently sparkling wine among the vines. Book treks with PorTrilhos; the team will guide you along quiet paths and introduce you to their favourite vineyards (from £21pp; portrilhos.com). Stay at Agua Hotels Mondim de Basto for sweeping hilltop views from the grounds and infinity pool — it’s a 70-minute drive northeast from Porto.
Details B&B doubles from £47 (aguahotels.pt). Fly to Porto
17. R&R in an Algarve spa
If the new you needs a little help to emerge, head to the Algarve. The adults-only Longevity Health and Wellness Hotel offers the full works, from cryotherapy to reiki, mindfulness and non-surgical anti-ageing treatments. Choose from a range of themed programmes several days long, or simply book a stay and cherry-pick your treatments. There’s also a rooftop infinity pool and two restaurants serving nutritionally impeccable dishes. It’s an hour west of Faro, on the outskirts of the pretty town of Alvor, where you can walk in the Ria de Alvor Nature Reserve, stroll around the old town or head to the beach.
Details B&B doubles from £74 (longevityalvor.com). Fly to Faro
• Algarve travel guide: everything you need to know
18. Architectural wonders in Lisbon
If you’re contemplating a visit to the Portuguese capital, consider timing it to coincide with the city’s Open House festival, running this year on May 11 and 12. It will take you beyond the usual tourist sites, with tours of architecturally innovative private homes such as Casa Triangular, a minimalist angular space with grey concrete interiors, as well as derelict spaces and projects under construction, plus buildings usually not open to the public, including the Astronomical Observatory. Some tours are run in English, and there are themed urban walks to join. Many of the city’s hotels are in old buildings, but a fun, modern alternative is the art-filled, so-good-they-named-it-twice Hotel Hotel, where the pool is tiled in black and surrounded by the foliage of a vertical garden.
Details B&B doubles from £150 (hotelhotel.pt). Fly to Lisbon
19. Temples, cathedrals and a pousada stay in Evora
With its well-preserved Roman temple, wonderfully macabre medieval chapel lined with bones, imposing gothic cathedral and arching 16th-century aqueduct, Evora has enough history to keep you occupied for a week. Yet with sights scattered in conveniently walkable proximity through the narrow, winding streets of this small town 90 minutes from Lisbon, you can achieve a lot in just a day or two. It’s only fitting to stay somewhere equally distinguished, so choose the Pousada Convento de Evora, originally a 15th-century monastery where the whitewashed cloisters surround a citrus grove, full of spring blossom, and the monks’ cells are now comfortable rooms. Like Spain’s paradors, Portugal’s pousadas were conceived as state-owned hotels in significant historic buildings, though are now privately run. If you can stay longer, head out of town to the prehistoric standing stones of Cromeleque dos Almendres and the hefty Renaissance fortress of Evoramonte.
Details B&B doubles from £89 (pousadas.pt). Fly to Lisbon
20. Cycle through the eastern Algarve
Most tourists travel west from Faro. Turn to the east and you’ll find a more tranquil, less touristy Algarve, with sleepy, whitewashed villages, quiet beaches, olive groves and salt pans. This four-night, self-guided cycling itinerary, Exploring the Eastern Algarve, is best in spring, when wildflowers burst into bloom. Covering between 20 and 30 miles a day, you’ll freewheel — particularly if you choose the ebike upgrade — from the fishing village of Loule through Estoi and Tavira all the way to Spain, where you can hop over the border for lunch in Ayamonte or by the sea, then stay in hotels each night.
Details Four nights’ B&B from £815pp, including flights, transfers, bike hire and luggage transfers (bspoketours.com)
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