Highlights of Portugal

Leaving the capital, the itinerary follows a trail of medieval monasteries in Alcobaça and Batalha, where soaring Gothic stonework attests to Portugal’s quiet devotion and 12th- and 14th-century wealth. Coimbra, once Portugal’s medieval capital and home to one of its oldest universities, reveals quieter backstreets and the centuries-old university library, before a scenic journey through the Douro Valley’s baroque Lamego and on to Porto.

Porto arrives with a welcoming pint of port wine beside the Ribeira quayside, under the Dom Luis I Bridge. The city’s blue-and-white azulejos adorn churches and marketplaces, while streets crammed with old houses draped with laundry recall a port trade that was never quite as grand as the city likes to think. The final day is free to wander or take a boat trip beneath six bridges before the tour ends at breakfast.

New to Portugal? Our Portugal guide has the practical essentials: money, plugs, visas and when to go.

These are the places the trip visits, in order. Explore Worldwide publishes the day-by-day itinerary on its own site.