When your birthday is in the middle of winter — like mine — it’s hard to want more than just some sunshine and warmth. So when my friend and I were searching for somewhere to celebrate our birthdays, Portugal in winter checked all the boxes. And after a week there, we discovered Portugal is the perfect place for a winter trip. The weather is warm, the food is incredible, and there’s plenty to do.
After being under the radar until recently, Portugal is now a popular tourist destination. And with good reason! It’s beautiful and affordable, and easy to get around. It’s a perfect blend of cities and beaches, not to mention wine and good food, all with friendly and funny locals.
And the best part is Portugal in winter is no different.
Why Portugal is the Perfect Place for a Winter Trip
The weather in winter is perfectly warm.
Sitting on the edge of the Atlantic ocean, Portugal stays relatively warm in winter. The temperatures drop, but only to about high 50s/mid 60s. Supposedly winter sees lots of rain, but during our February trip we had nothing but sunshine. We only needed light jackets, and even removed those when sitting in the right spot in the sun! It felt like spring and some of the trees were even starting to bloom (like magnolias!).
Within minutes of arriving at our hotel in Lisbon, we enjoyed a glass of Portuguese rosé wine in the garden patio, surrounded by green trees and flowers. It was such a contrast to the colorless, cold Chicago that I left the day before!
After refueling with wine and cheese, we set out to see Lisbon. My first thought was how colorful the whole city is: buildings brightly painted in yellows and reds or lined with intricately painted tiles. The hand-painted tiles, known as Azulego, added decoration and helped control temperature inside buildings. Introduced in the 16th Century, the tiles were introduced by the Persians (who mimicked Byzantine and Roman mosaics) and, later, inspired by the blue and white tiles of Delft, the Netherlands.
The tourist crowds die down in winter.
On our second day we set out to explore the Alentejo region, about an hour outside of Lisbon. Our first stop was touring a cork factory, which was surprisingly interesting, before spending the afternoon in the small city of Évora. Ruled by the Romans in 57 BC then conquered by the Moors before the Portuguese, the entire city of Évora is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Roman ruins still remain alongside Moorish architecture and Portuguese buildings, but Évora is most famous for the Chapel of Bones, decorated from floor to ceiling with human remains.
Évora was peacefully quiet in the heart of winter, with hardly any crowds — tourist or otherwise. We visited the Church of St. Francis and the Chapel of Bones before wandering up the tiny winding streets to the ruins of a Roman Temple built in the first century AD. We stopped for an incredible lunch of the Alentejo region’s famous black pork before visiting a winery nearby. And the best part was the Évora Day Trip we booked was supposed to be a small group, but no one else signed up so it ended up being private!
Related :: Why You Should Take a Day Trip to Évora
There’s still plenty to do in Portugal in winter.
Because Portugal’s winter weather never dips too low, attractions around the country stay open year long. So everything available to do in summer is open during winter, even surfing (with a wet suit and some determination)! Turns out life doesn’t slow down in winter there, it only gets less crowded.
After covering everything to do in Lisbon we took a day trip to Sintra, home to one of Portugal’s most iconic attractions, Pena Palace. The brightly colored palace is an architectural masterpiece drawing inspiration from Romanticism mixed with Moorish influences. And the details are simply stunning, with intricate carvings and colorful tiles everywhere you look. Plus the palace sits at the top of a mountain (let’s not talk about getting to it!) so the views from the terraces are equally amazing.
Our Sintra adventure continued with the Quinta da Regaleira, a large estate with a palace, 88 foot well surrounded by a spiral staircase, and garden grounds. After lunch in the adorable town of Sintra, we stopped at the Cabos de Roca Cliffs, the westernmost point in continental Europe, before a quick stroll through the beach town of Cascais. Everywhere we went was peacefully uncrowded — just like I like it!
Related :: Tips for Taking a Day Trip to Sintra
It’s easy to get around.
Getting around Lisbon is incredibly easy. The city is relatively walkable, except for some extremely steep hills. We quickly learned how convenient the metro is and that many stations have steep escalators to traverse the hills. While that’s the locals’ route, the tourist route can be fun, too: taking the 150-year old trams or funiculars. The famous Tram 28 reaches all the tourist spots and was too convenient not to take. (The metro passes include tram and bus access, too.)
The long distance trains are equally convenient and manageable. After three days in Lisbon we took the three hour train to Porto for a completely different feel and experience. While the architecture of Lisbon is inspired by the Moors, Porto has a more European feel to it.
Needless to say, it’s easy to get around Portugal any time of year, but worth noting the ease of navigating Portugal in winter, too. (Anyone who lives in a snowy city understands the struggles of winter transportation!)
The scenery is stunning, even in winter.
After exploring Porto we set out for a day trip to Douro Valley, a mountainous region covered in vineyards with a river running through it. Another World Heritage Site, the Douro Wine Region Valley is the oldest demarcated wine region in the world. Even though Portugal was on the brink of spring, the vines were still bare. But the neat rows stepping up the mountains were still beautiful.
Our 2-hour drive from Porto wound through canyons covered in rows of grapes and olive trees, under and over bridges, along a wide river until we reached Pinhão. The first stop was Croft Port’s vineyard, Quinta da Roêda, for a tour of the vines, grape-stomping room, and a Port tasting. After we took a boat tour up the river to admire the steep slopes of vineyards, each with their namesake brands prominently displayed on building-wide signs within the vines, then had a wine pairing lunch at Vintage Theory.
We finished the day with an olive oil tasting and munched on fresh almonds straight from their shells. Each view was more stunning than the last, and the wine was just as good! (More on our day trip to Douro Valley coming up.)
The food is amazing, no matter the season.
Throughout our week in Portugal we covered a lot of ground and one thing was common no matter where we were: the food was fantastic. From small towns to big cities, during lunch in tiny spots or tasting menu dinners at Michelin-starred restaurants, everything we ate was delicious. Portuguese food is heavy on seafood, with giant red shrimp and luscious octopus being favorites. But the black pork, from the Alentejo region, was especially memorable, and of course the Pastel de Nata pastries that I’m still craving.
We book-ended our trip with tasting menus at Michelin-rated restaurants, starting with an interpretation of Portuguese dishes at Eleven and finishing with an entire X courses of local ingredients at Feitoria. And while I don’t recommend a 4-hour dinner after a red eye flight or one lasting til midnight before waking up for an early flight, both meals were incredible. But so was almost every one in between, making the food in Portugal yet another reason the country is such a great place. (Here’s what to eat in Portugal.)
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We picked Portugal in winter because we knew it’d be sunny, warm, and full of good wine. And indeed it checked all those boxes. But it was also full of stunningly unique architecture, adorable towns with interesting history, and one delicious meal after the next.
Stay tuned for more on Lisbon, Évora, Sintra, Porto, and Douro Valley.
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Brilliant post! Your personal experiences of the Portugal trip are certainly a treat to read. My husband has already applied for a Portugal Visa from UK and we hope to get the visa pretty soon once we clear all the formalities. Meanwhile, we will try to prepare an itinerary by referencing your blog and a few other interesting travel guides. Hoping to make our Portugal trip fun-filled and memorable.
In depth and interesting article. I have been wanting to visit Portugal and after reading this, it seems like winter (also when I have a birthday) would be a perfect time. Thanks for the great article.