The Portugal

The Portuguese may be feeling like their country is teetering on the brink of its Atlantic cliffs—the Iberian slip of a nation’s economy has failed to keep up with its European Union neighbors—but that won’t keep Lisbonites down. Crowds form every night outside local restaurants. In neighborhoods formerly given over to ladies of the night, apartments and storefronts proliferate, thanks to foreign money (courtesy of the Golden Visa program, giving non-Europeans residency permits in exchange for in-country investment). Herewith, a guide to Lisbon during its mild winter—December to February temperatures hover around 60 degrees—that focuses on the hidden and the elegant, where Portugal’s top families rub shoulders with cab drivers, who, in line with the city’s erudite vibe, play the blues in their taxis. The Portugal

Surely you’ve played this game: Are you a hotel person, or an inn person? My answer has always been firm: I am not an inn person. The homey rooms, the cheerful “And what did you do today?” every time you come through the door, the enthusiastic sh...The seaside town of Viana do Castelo, with its opulent Manueline and baroque buildings, tends to attract Portuguese rather than foreign tourists. But it's not just the architecture and clientele that are different from more visited parts of Portugal; the weather is somewhat less reliable too (it's not called the Green Coast for nothing). But if you're happy to take a chance on the climate, you'll be rewarded with beautiful empty beaches and some of Portugal's finest cuisine. Like its Spanish neighbor Gallic, the Cost Verde is known for seafood – eels, and Minho trout and salmon, are often on the menu. A great place to try seafood is Tasquinha da Linda a tiny restaurant that serves oysters and mussels as well as more adventurous options such as barnacles and octopus.We were four hours into the trail when Blatz hit me with an existential dilemma. “Do you really need your iPhone, your Nespresso machine?” he asked. “Just ten years ago people used to go to the village café to watch the football match, or make a phone call. They would stay and talk – but the gadgets made us stay at home.” The Portugal
We walked on in contemplative silence, the Atlantic sea-spray tickling my nose. “The economic crisis in Portugal has made us reassess our priorities,” he added. “Maybe traditional village life was better after all.”
Baltz was onto something. I had come to the vast, predominantly rural Alentejo region for a more rustic take on Portugal, away from the sunloungers of the Algarve and the fado-music bars of Lisbon. The northern city of Guimarães may be the 2012 European Capital of Culture but, for a grass-roots appreciation of real Portugal, the only place to go is the Alentejo.
And the best way to discover it is on foot. The Rota Vincent, leading from Cabo de St Vicente to Santiago do Cacém, opened in May 2012. Four years in preparation, the 356km, long-distance walking trail is split between two forks: a 241km inland route following the old pilgrimage trail of St James and the more visually alluring, 115km fishermen’s trail, which hugs the Atlantic coast of the Avicenna Natural Park.

Hotel owner Balthazar ‘Blatz’ True b is a member of Casas Brancas, an independent association of 62 guesthouses, restaurants and activity providers that developed the project. Five years from now         Guira

it could be one of Europe’s greatest walking trails, like the Lycian Way or the Wales Coast Path. But, for now, it’s gloriously quiet, freshly waymarked and crying out to be walked.
“The Alentejo has always been the poorest and least developed region of Portugal,” says Marta Cabral, Executive Director of Casas Brancas. “But with Europe in turmoil, it’s the place where real village life survives.

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