Lisbon → Porto

01 Abbey

Jerónimos Monastery

Mosteiro dos Jerónimos

Begun in 1502 by Manuel I, the Jerónimos Monastery took a century to build, from Diogo de Boitaca to João de Castilho. Read in its lioz limestone, carved with ropes and foliage, the high point of Manueline art. Before it, a chapel on this shore hosted Vasco da Gama's vigil.

02 Castle

Belém Tower

Torre de Belém

Look at the Torre de Belém on the bank of the Tagus, a sentinel of lioz stone stamped with the crosses of the Order of Christ. Francisco de Arruda raised it between 1514 and 1520 on a rock surrounded by the river, to guard the entrance to Lisbon. The shore has since advanced on the water and joined it to the land.

03 Rock formation

Boca do Inferno

You'll hear the Boca do Inferno before you see it: in this chasm open in the side of the Cascais cliffs, the ocean rushes in and strikes the rock. The scene fascinated early, as a British film of 1896, A Sea Cave Near Lisbon, already captured its waves. On days of heavy swell, the spectacle grows more violent still.

04 Coast

Cabo da Roca

Walk out to the stone marker at the westernmost point of mainland Europe, above cliffs more than a hundred metres high. The Romans called this cape Promontorium Magnum, and a lighthouse has kept watch here since 1772. All around, low vegetation bends in the wind, and mist often rises from the ocean in summer.

05 Castle

Pena Palace

Palácio Nacional da Pena

See the Pena Palace crowning the Serra de Sintra, its yellow and red towers rising from the rock. Ferdinand II bought a ruined convent in 1838 and, with Baron von Eschwege, turned it into a deliberate blend of Gothic, Manueline and Islamic motifs. Queen Amélie spent her last night in Portugal here in 1910.

06 Castle

Castle of the Moors

Castelo dos Mouros

Follow the wall walk of this double enclosure clinging to the rocks of the Serra de Sintra, facing the Atlantic. Built by the Muslims between the 8th and 9th centuries, the fortress passed to Afonso Henriques in 1147. Ferdinand II, enamoured of the Middle Ages, rescued it from ruin in the 19th century.

07 Castle

Sintra National Palace

Palácio Nacional de Sintra

Spot from afar the two conical chimneys, 33 metres high, that define the palace's silhouette in the heart of Sintra. A royal residence until 1910, it saw Manuel I learn of the discovery of Brazil and Afonso VI live here as a captive. Across the ceilings follow 136 magpies, 27 swans and the coats of arms of 72 noble families.

08 Museum  · Family

Quinta da Regaleira

The millionaire Carvalho Monteiro entrusted this Sintra estate to the Italian set designer Luigi Manini. Deliberately aged stone, neo-Manueline turrets, grottoes and lakes form a route full of allusions to alchemy and the Templars. Descend the initiation well by its spiral staircase, down to the underground galleries.

09 Village

Azenhas do Mar

Clinging to the Atlantic cliff, Azenhas do Mar takes its name from the watermills that ground wheat along the Cameijo stream. Watch its white houses tumble down to the beach, where a pool dug in the mid-20th century receives the surf. The Sintra tram reached it as early as 1930.

10 Village

Ericeira

Ericeira's fishermen appear as early as the charter of 1229, and it was from its harbour that the royal family left for exile in 1910. Follow the coast to Ribeira d'Ilhas, at the heart of Europe's first World Surfing Reserve. In the village, white houses trimmed with blue tumble down towards the beach.

11 Museum

Palace of Mafra

Palácio Nacional de Mafra

Begun in 1717 by John V, this Baroque palace-convent lines up some 1,200 rooms and more than 4,700 doors and windows around its basilica. In the basilica, count the six organs, designed to sound with a single voice. José Saramago told the story of this royal project's excess in a novel.

12 Castle

Castle of Óbidos

Castelo de Óbidos

Afonso Henriques took Óbidos by cunning in 1148, and King Dinis later gave the town to Queen Isabel as a wedding gift. Follow the wall walk of the ramparts, which enclose the entire village, to the castle at the north-west end. The castle itself became a pousada in 1948.

13 Village

São Martinho do Porto

Walk along the bay of São Martinho do Porto, an almost closed shell that the ocean reaches only through a channel a few metres wide. Its calm waters and fine sand have welcomed holidaymakers since the late 19th century. Near the quay, a narrow pedestrian tunnel leads you from the still water to the Atlantic waves.

14 Castle

Fort of São Miguel Arcanjo

Forte de São Miguel Arcanjo

On the headland overlooking Nazaré beach, the fort founded under King Sebastião in 1577 took its present form under João IV, in 1644. Picture on the gateway the stone archangel from that year, thrown onto the sand by the Liberals in 1834. Open since 2014, it draws watchers of giant waves.

15 UNESCO

Alcobaça Monastery

Mosteiro de Alcobaça

Pledged by Afonso Henriques to the Cistercians after the capture of Santarém, this monastery begun in 1178 was the first fully Gothic building in Portugal. Its church closely follows the plan of Clairvaux, in Cistercian bareness. Look in the transept for the tombs of Peter I and Inês de Castro, facing each other.

16 UNESCO

Batalha Monastery

Mosteiro da Batalha

Look up at the star vault of the Chapter House, which shelters the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. John I pledged this monastery in 1386 in thanks for the victory at Aljubarrota, and seven kings followed its construction. Henry the Navigator is buried here, and the Unfinished Chapels, an incomplete rotunda, have remained roofless.

17 Church

Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary

Basílica de Nossa Senhora do Rosário

Completed in 1953 in local limestone, the Basilica of the Rosary was the first great church of the Fátima sanctuary. In its transept lie Francisco, Jacinta and Lúcia, the three shepherd children of the apparitions. Look up at its 65-metre bell tower, topped by a bronze crown and a cross lit at night.

18 Abbey

Convent of Christ

Convento de Cristo

Founded in 1160 by the Templar Gualdim Pais, this castle became the seat of the Order of Christ, governed by Henry the Navigator. At its heart, the Charola, the knights' rotunda, opens onto the Manueline nave begun by Diogo de Arruda. Outside, look for the Chapter House window, covered in carved ropes, coral and knots.

19 Nature park

Conímbriga

Ruínas de Conímbriga

Walk slowly between the walls of Conímbriga, a Roman city of Lusitania that became a true town under Augustus. At ground level, mosaics conserved since 1953 unfold their patterns in the open air. A wall some two kilometres long encircled the city, and the nearby museum holds the objects recovered from the excavations.

20 Heritage

Biblioteca Joanina

Commissioned by John V from 1717, this Baroque library of the University of Coimbra keeps some 60,000 volumes behind walls 2.11 metres thick. The gilded, wood-panelled rooms in sequence lead the eye to the king's portrait by Domenico Duprà. Beneath these shelves, think of the bats that, at night, hunt the insects that threaten the books.

21 Church

Old Cathedral of Coimbra

Sé Velha de Coimbra

It could almost be a small castle, with its high crenellated walls and few narrow windows, the imprint of the warlike times of the Reconquista. The only Romanesque cathedral of that period left almost intact in Portugal, it saw Sancho I crowned in 1185. Inside, some 380 carved capitals mix interlacing, foliage and beasts, with almost no human figures.

22 Abbey

Monastery of the Holy Cross

Mosteiro de Santa Cruz

Founded in 1131, Santa Cruz holds in its choir the tombs of Afonso Henriques and Sancho I, the first two kings of Portugal. Recognise on their effigies the chisel of Nicolau Chanterene, who also carved the pulpit in the nave. The young Fernando, the future Saint Anthony of Lisbon, studied within these walls before becoming a missionary.

23 Museum

Mosteiro de Jesus, compreendendo o túmulo de Santa Joana

Step into the former Dominican convent where Princess Joana, daughter of King Afonso V, lived as a simple nun from 1472 until her death in 1490. Her tomb of polychrome marble, designed by João Antunes, is among the masterpieces of the Baroque. All around, the church gleams with gilded wood and azulejos.

24 Beach  · Family

Costa Nova do Prado

Between the Atlantic and the Ria de Aveiro lagoon, Costa Nova lines up its palheiros, former fishermen's huts striped in white and blue, red or green. On the ocean side, the beach draws windsurfers and water sports enthusiasts. Walk along the lagoon shore at the end of the day, when the low light brightens the stripes.

25 Abbey

Monastery of Serra do Pilar

Mosteiro da Serra do Pilar

From the forecourt, look across the Douro to Porto, its historic centre and the Luís I Bridge. Begun in 1538 for Augustinian canons, the monastery sets a round church beside a circular cloister of the same diameter. The site was fortified during the Siege of Porto, in 1832 and 1833.

26 Church

Porto Cathedral

Sé do Porto

Approach this Romanesque cathedral which, between its two square towers and beneath its rose window, has kept the look of a fortified church. John I married Philippa of Lancaster here in 1387, and in the 18th century Nicolau Nasoni grafted on a Baroque loggia. In the Gothic cloister, blue azulejos unfold scenes from the Song of Songs.

27 Church

Torre dos Clérigos

This Baroque granite tower, completed by Nicolau Nasoni in 1763 and long the tallest in Portugal, can be spotted from almost everywhere in Porto. Douro boats once used it as a landmark to guide them. More than 240 steps lead to its top, which offers a wide panorama over the city.