Before we delve deeper into the discussion, let’s see what ecotourism actually is. The principle of ecotourism describes a recent tendency for travelers to focus on pristine, undisturbed areas instead of “commercial” places open to the masses. Ecotourism also strives to educate travelers to affect the environment as little as possible and to respect nature.

Portugal was quite slow to introduce ecotourism, but once it started to spread, the whole country became “contaminated” by this trend. Let’s look at a few awesome eco sites in Portugal.

Located in Mino, near Braga and close to the Spanish border, Peneda-Geres is Portugal’s biggest national park. Along the steep and rather inhospitable Gres mountains, this outstanding park officially founded in 1971 displays a rich flora and fauna in a landscape of gigantic rocks and fresh springs. Tourists are welcome to explore the regions designated for the purpose, but there are vast areas that are fully protected.

Another salutary project is Pedras Salgadas Eco Resort, also set in Northern Portugal, between Vila Real and Chaves. It contains seven wooden buildings at the highest eco standards that represent in finest detail the countryside environment. Cars are banned from the area, so that the air is fresh and there is peace and quiet for all those who seek refuge from reality for a few days.

Near the capital city, Lisbon, the small town of Setubal is the gateway to the wild, rich ecosystem of the Sado River. Vast rice fields, farms and dolphin sightings are among the things you are in for with a visit to the Reserva Natural do Estuario do Sado.

These are just a few places that give you an insight into an eco-friendly Portugal tourism.

The percentage for last year was 83%, so there’s a clear upward trend there, many families choosing to rent holiday homes from private owners which reflect better value than traveling to a foreign country because overall cost was seen as the main factor in the holiday destination decision making.

As one might expect, the most popular destination for Portuguese tourists was the Algarve region, which hosted a solid 69% of the country’s internal holidaymakers.

The Beira Litoral and Minho regions saw large growths in demand of 72% and 45% respectively.

The overall tourist figures were boosted by the availability of cheap flights towards well-known destinations in the Algarve such as Faro, Lisbon and Oporto. The numbers were also helped by the the fact that the prices in the Algarve where less than if the equivalent purchases would’ve been made in northern Europe for instance. This might’ve also been a consideration behind the growth of Spanish and French visitors.

Portugal proved to be the fourth most popular country in Europe as far as people searching for places to rent, this representing 11% of the total number.

Another interesting data point that the study revealed was that the Portuguese holidaymakers are big believers in the idea of last minute booking, with 52% of Portuguese tourists who booked in July and August traveling in those same months.

As we mentioned earlier, renting private homes for vacations is becoming increasingly popular, the current economic climate making it a much more cost-effective way of ensuring accommodation during a holiday stay.

These numbers coordinate with those coming from various Algarve sources which has seen an increase in foreign visitors as well.

A group of property owners from Ericeira – north of Lisbon – is contesting an ancient law which concerns waterfront properties being transferred to the Portuguese State unless one can prove in court that the land has been in private hands for at least 150 years.

Now if you think a little back, we talked about a controversial ruling which obliges owners of property in waterfront locations – such as those along the entire Algarve coastline – considered by the State as ‘hydric land’ in the public domain, to prove the public ownership of said land for at least a century-and-a-half in court before January 1, 2014, or it would revert to the ownership of the state.

The properties affected by this ancient law are those located on land within fifty metres from the sea or clifftop edge and within thirty metres in the case of a riverbank.

In the case of Ericeira, it is a coastal town – like so many in Portugal – with a history that goes back many hundreds of years and clifftops lined with very old properties, but not that many legal documents proving the ownership for such a long period of time.

The Ericeira group was formed back in 2005 – when this old law was reviewed – and comprised of twenty property owners.  The group is now made up of more than 80 owners who with the assistance of lawyers and historians, meet regularly to discuss their actions against this preposterous measure.

Earlier this year the group sent a formal letter to the Ministry of the Environment, which apparently has dismissed the subject by passing it onto the Secretary of State for the Environment and no satisfactory reply to the letter was ever received.

Several political groups have also contested the complexity of the process for property owners to legalize their situation, but haven’t really said anything about completely abolishing this old law.

This all-embracing programme will include fifty new measures designed to produce more financial aid, increase the potential to expand business at the international level, streamline the training of employees linked to the two sectors while at the same time boosting the rate of employments.

The official document of commitment was signed in Lisbon, after which the Minister of Employment, Alvaro Santos Pereira, made a very inspirational statement saying that this day marks a change in an important sector to the country’s economic reform. He continued to say that this pledge is not a return to the past but a road to a more sustainable future.

The rescue package comes in response to the glaring need for more competitive and sustainable forces in the construction sector. The Minister added that the Portuguese Government is not going to adopt the defeatist policy of seeking bailout assistance from the outside.

The Governmental pledge to aid municipal authorities pay their debts to builders stays firm, and in order to achieve this 750 million Euros have already been contracted.

The Government is aware of the importance of the real estate and building sectors, the Minister mentioning this as well as the fact that it is necessary to consolidate public spending while helping them.

As we mentioned earlier the programme will also include various project for urban rehabilitation, internationalization and professional training within these sectors.

The Government rescue package is focused on real estate and construction because these two sectors are crucial to the recovery of growth in Portugal, they employ more than six hundred thousand people and account for 18% of GDP.

One of the measures in the rescue package programme, meant to curb unemployment, is to retrain people from other areas of work to transfer them to the construction and real estate sectors, or their ramifications.

Another of the measures also wants to provide companies in those sectors access to credit lines and EU funding.

The workers of the Portuguese airline company TAP, including pilots and cabin crew have agreed to strike between March 21 and 23 to protest against wage cuts.

The Union of Civil Aviation Pilots – SPAC – was the first to decide on striking and the remaining six airport workers’ unions decided to join them.

In the meanwhile, TAP workers protested on Monday in Largo de Camoes in Lisbon against governmental policies and carried a three-metre-wide plane ticket replica on which the name of Alvaro Santos Pereira was inscribed – the Minister for the Economy – in a not-so-thinly-veiled suggestion that he should be taking a one-way trip back to Canada, country in which he lived before being a Portuguese minister.

He is accused by the TAP workers of being responsible for the current situation of the company, which has lost some of its most qualified personnel in search of better career opportunities.

According to the union, this departure of qualified personnel will jeopardize the company in both the short and medium term by compromising passenger safety as well as the Portuguese airline’s reputation and image.

The three-day strike the week before Easter was unanimously approved at a general meeting that was held on March 1.

This has been the aftermath that followed February’s wage cuts – anywhere between 3.5% and 10% on gross salaries above 1,500 Euro per month – so as to fall in line with the Portuguese budget criteria set for 2013.

The President of TAP made an appeal for ‘common sense’ among workers because a strike at this moment will not be beneficial for the Portuguese airline’s image however, what it has to be done to send a message.

We tout the idea of visiting the Algarve during the winter a lot on this website because of the reduced prices, considerably smaller crowds and milder temperatures however we’ve also talked about how the tough economic times are battering the area, and today is going to be one of the latter types of articles.

Almost half of the Algarve hotels associated with the AHP have decided to suspend their activities during the low season, for at least three months – 48% to be exact.

AHP representatives have admitted that this move is going to be bad for the region as a whole and that there is definitely a seasonality trend taking place in the Algarve, which a few years back wasn’t that prevalent. On the other hand it is a clear sign that there just aren’t enough customers for all of these hotels to continue operating through the winter season.

This seasonality phenomenon is having some effects in other regions of the country as well, not only the tourist-heavy Algarve. For instance in the Alentejo region – which is just North of the Algarve – fourteen percent of their hotels shut down during the winter, while none of them did so in 2011.

This issue isn’t the only one hitting the hotel industry in the region, with a sharp drop in prices being yet another critical matter to consider.

Between January and September of 2012, the average price of a hotel room was of 40.48 Euros, while the occupancy level overall averaged at 59.39 percent.

The capital, Lisbon, stood out by far with the biggest of price drops with the average room price dropping in September by 15.77 percent.

Or at least that’s what a recent ‘tourist satisfaction study’ released by Turismo de Portugal says. The overall level of tourist satisfaction is very high, stating that 34% of respondents enjoyed a holiday that was above their expectations, and a solid 85% percent of those asked said that they would certainly or probably return to Portugal within the next three years.

The Brazilians are the happiest of nationalities who visited the Algarve, however it is the Brits who are most likely to return, but this can be due to the fact that the United Kingdom is closer to Portugal.

When it comes to the reasons why tourists like it here, eighty-four percent answered with ‘nature and culture’, and that the landscapes and beaches are top notch, which is rather true it has to be said, with hospitality coming in second thanks to the ‘pleasant nature of the local population’.

The other tourism-related areas, which include activities, infrastructure and tourist information, rate somewhere about fifty percent, however the study does highlight that ‘tourist information’ and ‘rent-a-car’ companies were actually ‘below expectations’. This view of the Algarve car rental companies might be in part due to the introduction of the A22 toll taxes and such, since those have created quite a bit of issues when it comes to contracts.

The Algarve received forty-six percent of total region tourists, while Lisbon forty-two percent, so the capital is a major pull still, and for good reason.

When it comes to planning their break, forty percent of visitors found the Internet to be the main research tool, followed by recommendation of acquaintances, friends and relatives with thirty-one percent.

The study involved asking more than eight hundred individuals at national airports with tourists from Spain, UK, Germany, France, Holland, Ireland and Brazil.

One of the main reasons why Portugal is such a popular holiday destination is its absolutely wonderful climate. The average summer temperature hovers around thirty degrees Centigrade and while that may not sound like anything special since in the summertime it’s hot in most temperate zones and most of Europe.

The great weather is just part of Portugal’s popularity

There are so many other factors which make it a great holiday destination

Portugal Beach

It deserves mention that in those regions the average temperature might jump well over thirty and that makes for a solid amount of discomfort so an average summer temperature of thirty is great. Also coupled with this is the average winter temperature in Portugal which never falls below fifteen degrees Centigrade very often, and while that may not sound like anything special, one has to consider the average temperature in the rest of Europe during the winter months in order to truly appreciate it.

Now the great weather would be enough of a pull to visit a foreign country but that’s hardly the only thing that attracts people to Portugal, its other great feature is its eight hundred and fifty kilometers of coastline which offer some of the best beaches and resorts on the globe.

While the entire country has many attractions and interesting sights, when it comes to the best combination of weather and geography, that would be the Algarve region, which is situated in the southernmost part of the country.

The Algarve itself is possibly the most visited region in Europe, if not the world, and for good reasons because it features the most spectacular beaches possibly on the entire Mediterranean coast.

There are several places where you can start your Portugal adventure, however some of the more popular arrival destinations are Lisbon, Faro and Madeira. Their airports are very accessible from pretty much anywhere else in Europe or the rest of the world so that is part of why they are popular. The other part has to do with the fact that they themselves are interesting places to visit on their own, Faro for instance being used as something of a gateway to the Algarve for many tourists but it is also an attraction on its own.

The whitewashed buildings and cobbled streets coupled with plenty of museums make for a great introduction to the country as well as a good stepping-off point for other destinations in the Algarve region.

Portugal offers a lot of holidaying option to its visitors and it has something for everyone, it all depends on what it is that you are looking for when traveling to a foreign country. If you’re interested in lounging on a beach, soaking in the sun and enjoying some water sports then surely you can find it here; if you’re interested in having a more family-oriented relaxing trip in which you can explore the country’s culture, traditions and history, Portugal has that as well; if you happen to be a golfer, the Algarve region especially has over thirty world-class golf courses which await your swing.

Whether it’s summer or winter in your home country you can rest assured that the weather in Portugal will be at least fair and depending on what your goals and preferences are you can surely find a region or a particular place in the country that satisfies them, so make sure to strongly consider Portugal as the destination for your next holiday.

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Algarve2U Blog

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Visit Portugal

Lisbon is the capital of Portugal, a city located on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean and set on seven hills, as the legend says. The city is characterized by a particular type of charm which stems mostly from it’s strong links to its past as well as the presence of water as a defining element.

A charming city… built on seven hills

Lisbon Portugal

Lisbon’s weird and wonderful mix of cultures and architecture sets it apart from most other European capitals, with its cobble-stoned pavements, narrow streets and Art Nouveau cafes almost guaranteeing that there are many hidden things waiting to be discovered.

Keeping in mind its link to the past, you’ll be astounded at the sheer number of renovated palaces and fabulous churches that you’ll encounter during your stay, not to mention the impressive castle that overlooks the city from a hilltop.

The city is also home to a large number of great museums which focus on both ancient and modern art, most prominent among them being:

• - the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum: this is where you can find an interesting assortment of Egyptian artifacts alongside paintings from masters such as Rembrandt and Renoir;
• - the National Museum of Contemporary Art;
• - the National Coach Museum: housed in what used to be the palace’s riding school, the building now houses the largest collection of coaches and royal vehicles in the world;
• - the Berardo Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art;
• - the Carmo Archaeological Museum.

We mentioned earlier that water is a defining characteristic of the city and that is so because Lisbon is one of the very few European capitals to feature both a coastline and a river, the city boasts a very long maritime history. The Maritime Museum, or Museu de Marinha, focuses on the long naval history of the city and the country as a whole, featuring model ships, uniforms and nautical instruments. Interestingly enough the museum features the polished private quarters of the 1900 UK-built royal yacht Amelia as well as a series of ornate royal barges; just as a side-note to this, the city also has a Water Museum.

However Lisbon is so much more than museums, culture and architecture, it is also a modern European capital with all the bells and whistles that come with it, such as a very vibrant nightlife on the one hand, with bars and clubs catering to the current music scene, as well as establishments which feature the melancholic traditional Portuguese music called Fado.

When you get a bit tired of visiting museums and churches, take your time and enjoy a stroll through one or more of Lisbon’s parks and gardens, whether it’s the Zoo, or the Lisbon Botanical Garden which is actually one of the oldest such gardens in Europe and most likely the first one in Portugal.

The city is also a great place for shopping opportunities, especially when you consider that you can find the Centro Commercial Colombo which is in fact the largest shopping mall in the entire Iberian Peninsula and of course you can get to experience the more local way of doing things by shopping at the local markets and especially the flea market at Campo de Santa Clara.

One has to realize that this is simply a very general look on what Lisbon has to offer its visitors, rest assured that once you are there, you will not spend one moment doing nothing.

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Travel Guide – Lisbon, Portugal

Being located in the rather well-known Duoro port-wine region of Portugal, the city of Porto or Oporto as it is very oftentimes referred to as, is the second-largest city in Portugal and wildly different from the country’s capital. Lisbon is a very elegant place, focused on showing off its assets, Porto on the other hand is a busy industrial and commercial center, it’s a much more down to earth type of place.

Porto – A place with a rich history

And a varied array of sights and attractions

Porto Sightseeing

The city of Porto is not only responsible for naming a world renown type of wine after it but also the entire country is named after it. Centuries ago, the Lusitanian settlement of Cale was on one side of the Duoro and the Roman settlement of Portus was on the other and they were known as Portus-Cale. In time the two settlements merged and the resulting town acted as the capital or the Portucale lands between the Rio Duoro and Rio Minho. After the Reconquista the entire kingdom took the name of Portugal.

While it is highly likely that you will be landing in Porto for your trip there, if you happen to already be in the country and in a nearby city, you should definitely consider approaching the city via the Duoro train line or river cruise. Both of these options will take you through extremely beautiful scenery and most tourists would consider them an end in themselves. Regardless of the method that you will choose to get in the city, once you reach Porto you’ll see how active the city is, especially if you’re coming from Lisbon. There’s a local saying which boils down the characteristic of Portugal’s main cities which says: “Coimbra studies, Braga plays, Lisbon shows off and Porto works”.

The commercial success of the city is very well attested to through the five spectacular bridges which span the Rio Duoro. The Ponte Luis I joins the main town with the suburb of Vila Nova de Gaia – this is where the port wine lodges can be found and as a result this is where many tourist head to first.

However one must keep in mind that Porto is a rather ancient city and it features quite a few ancient monuments which are also of great interest to visitors. The place is very interesting to see especially from the architectural point of view because it features a mix of styles, with the medieval and the modern coexisting side by side.

One example of medieval architecture is the 16th century Capela ou Emida de Sao Miguel-O-Anjo. This monument was built on a rocky island in the river. On the inside the building is octagonal in shape but the chapel has a traditional cupola featuring spiral stairs to its top.

On the other hand, examples of modern architecture can be found especially when it comes to Porto’s commercial centers which are extremely varied and always busy, keeping in line with the city’s reputation.

Of course this short description doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of what it would be to visit Porto, the best you can hope for is to get some good Porto car hire services so that you can have a car at your disposal in order to better explore the city and all of its offerings on your own schedule.