We have many (many many) countries we could/would immediately pack to fly to and then live in for a long (long) time here at Pitchup.com, but we have a particular fondness for fab fab Portugal.
For how could one not. Especially when one is always adding Portugal campsites and then gazing slack-jawed at the accompanying Portugal pics. Oh my how we love this land. As do many other clever and tasteful peeps: Portugal is among the top 20 visited countries in the world and has been named as Europe's top country by smart travelling sorts.
And so, where do we start. Historical highlights? Rome and Caesar's hordes got to these here parts a couple of thousand years ago, of course, and these days one can hike around all manner of Roman ruins and remains as well as the remnants of other parts of Portugal's past like the Umayyad conquest and the Reconquista (really, we could wander around these parts for years).
We'd also recommend (we're typing really quite quickly now) trips around Portugal's protected nature spots to see wild goats, roe deer and boars oh my; the simply splendid – and ancient – cities of Lisbon, Porto and Coimbra; the vast valley of the Douro river (here be vineyards); the mountains and skiing of the Serra da Estrela; the plains and cork oak trees of Alentejo...
Beaches and coast? Go AWOL from all responsibilties and stay for weeks on end around the Algarve; the Portuguese isles of Madeira and the Azores; the Costa Azul and the Costa Verde; the Costa da Prata and the Costa de Lisboa: Portugal has around 1,200 kilometres of coastline to get stuck into, so really, do go AWOL for quite a while.
And (we really are typing ever so quickly now), we also must mention Portuguese cuisine. While you're there for your year or so, be sure to sample some of the hundreds of dishes of dried cod known as bacalhau, along with the country's varied fish, meat and seafood, its stews and soups, many gloriously whiffy cheeses and – oh of course – the wines of Madeira and the port of old Porto.
