8 Interesting Facts About Portugal
Are you planning to visit Portugal soon? Here are 8 interesting facts about Portugal.
A sizeable country
Portugal is actually a fairly small country. It’s about 35000 square miles
You can drive from the far North to the South of Portugal in about 6.5 hours. From Spain to the Sagres is about 2.5 hours.
There’s a variation in the territory. The Northern part is mountainous, green, and a little wetter, while the South is drier, especially in the summer.
The landscape
The North is famous for its Duoro valley with old terraced hillsides and wine grapes, grown since Roman times. In the South is the Alentejo region, with many cork trees, olive trees, and a lot of grapes. It’s the second-biggest wine-producing area.
The beaches
Portugal has over 350 miles of coastlines and mostly sandy beaches. Vibrant cities such as Lisbon and Porto and charming small towns like Obidos.
Unique architecture
Manueline, a unique architecture that can only be found in Portugal, is an interesting mix between Gothic and Morrocan.
Friendly people
If you know a few Portugal phrases and words, Portuguese will go out of their way to help you. It’s a very friendly and safe country to travel to.
Wine region
Another thing you may think about Portugal is Port wine. In addition to port wine, there’s a wide variety of table wines that you never heard of.
Most of its are small production, so you can’t find it outside Portugal. You can drink good wine very cheaply in Portugal.
Portugal is the largest producer of cork in the world. Whenever you open a wine bottle, most likely, the cork comes from Portugal.
The titles
You’ll see the Azulejo tiles all over Portugal. Mostly blue and white tiles, but you’ll see other colors too. The entire building is covered in titles.
Fado music
Fado music is a unique feature of Portugal. It’s a sad, soulful, and longing type of music. The best place to hear Fado is in Lisbon, but you can listen to it anywhere in Portugal.
