Make Portugal Your Next Vacation Destination

It's time that you took a Portugal vacation. In the last 5 years, Portugal has steadily been rising as a hot vacation destination for Europeans. Tourists from the U.K., Spain and Germany comprise the larger groups of non-Portuguese visitors. These vacationers have been coming to Portugal for the beauty of the land, the friendliness of the people and the value. Europeans have known for many years that Portugal is a great vacation destination, but outside of Europe, especially in North America, Portugal is virtually unknown. One of the reasons for this is that there is just not enough known about Portugal, and since Portugal doesn't hit the front-page news often; it doesn’t always come to mind.

Portugal has been very low key about promoting itself, relying more on word of mouth and staying away from mass marketing, although this too is changing. Due to this fact, many parts of Portugal are virtually unknown by non-Portuguese tourists and this can work to your benefit in choosing Portugal as a vacation destination. Unlike other countries that have a saturated tourism industry like the U.K. and France you often get the feeling that you aren't getting an true sense of culture, but in Portugal you can still get an authentic vacation experience. Furthermore, Portugal remains one of the best value vacations in all of western Europe meaning that your dollar goes much further there than anywhere else.

The Portuguese are graced with one of the sunniest climates in all of Europe, with long summers and moderate winters in the South and more moderate to cooler temperatures in the north.

The cost of living is incredibly inexpensive, and the Portuguese tend to take a life at a more human pace, although you will still find the hustle and bustle of metropolitan life in the big cities like Lisbon and Porto. This means that you can enjoy the fast pace of everything cosmopolitan, or lay on a beach or Quinta in some far away nook, away from the worries of everyday life.

The Portuguese haven’t forgotten that tourists get bored easily and have created a very diverse vacationing experience that includes anything from watercraft, horseback riding and trekking excursions to robust nightlife. If that weren’t enough to whet your appetite, Portugal also boasts some of the best golf courses in the world.

In the next posts I will acquaint you with Portugal, it's people and its history. Please come back to my travel blog often to see why you should make Portugal your next vacation destination.