Intro

Portugal is a country in Europe, situated on the west side of the Iberian peninsula. Its name probably originates from the Roman port “Porto” – in Latin “portus cale”, “portus” meaning “port” while the meaning of “cale” is not 100% clear. The country borders Spain and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean. Portugal is divided into 7 regions: 5 regions on the mainland and 2 regions which are actually the island groups of Madeira and the Azores. 

A huge part of this country’s history is characterized by the Age of Discovery. Portugal was one of the biggest colonial empires with colonies in Africa, Asia and South America. The Portuguese kitchen actually incorporated several elements from its colonies, but also the presence of the Moors (approx. 7th until 12th century) left quite some marks on Portuguese kitchen. The national dish of Portugal is of course Bacalhau, which is essentially very salty cod fish. Another well known dish are the Pastéis de Nata.

So far, we have spent two weeks exploring the beautiful lush green island of Madeira and spent one week driving a van in the Algarve region of Portugal. Florence has also been to Lisbon and Sintra before.

Note: All of our guides to the island of Madeira can be found on their own Madeira Guide Page! Head over there to find all our sightseeing and hiking guides as well as an overview of how much our Madeira trip cost!

Portugal FAQs

Planning your trip to Portugal and don’t know where to start?

START HERE:

Portugal can be visited year-round depending on what you prefer weather-wise and what you want to do. The best time for beach weather is between June and August, it will be quite hot though! If you don’t like the summer heat and wish to do more exploring, April-May as well as September-October are better. The winter months can be more wet and grey. However, there are still quite a lot of Europeans who spend the winter months here.

Portugal is part of the EU and the currency used is the Euro (€).

The power plug sockets are of Type F and the main voltage 230 V.

The languages spoken is Portuguese, but you won’t have any trouble getting by with English.

Travel Planning Guides

What to see and do while in Portugal!


THE MIGRATORY BIRDS

Hi! We are Florence and Andy, the faces behind ‘The Migratory Birds’! Since May of 2023 we are on the road full-time for a longer period of time! Right now we are traveling through Asia and taking you along for the ride. On this blog we share our experiences, but also focus a lot on travel-planning, budgeting as well as destination guides. With our posts, we aim to give you inspiration for your own travels and provide the tools you need to plan your own trips. If you want to follow our travels in real-time consider following us on Instagram (@xthemigratorybirds).

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