From old forts to former hospital ships, ex convents to renovated theatres, Portugal has countless memorable places to stay. Matthew Hancock picks his favourites. 1) Forte de São João da Barra, Cabanas, Algarve If you thought the Algarve was overdeveloped, this stylishly-renovated seventeenth-century sea fort will make you think again. Sitting in an olive grove, it is just…
The first few years of having children takes its toll on your finances, but that doesn’t mean you have to ditch dreams of travelling. Following a family road trip through Europe with her pre-school boys, Hayley Spurway shares some experiences and tips on budget family travel. Many families put off a ‘big trip’ before their…
A van trip can be an exciting, rewarding, and, at times, thoroughly testing way to travel as a family. After a month on the road with a one- and three-year old, Hayley Spurway learned some valuable lessons about family van life. At the end of a wet Cornish summer we decided to load up the…
You’ve probably heard of La Tomatina, Spain’s annual tomato fight, but there’s plenty of other strange contests that take place around the world. Here’s five of our favourite oddball activities, all featured in Make The Most Of Your Time On Earth. Robot riders on camels, Kuwait A stampede of two-year-old camels tears down the racetrack,…
The Beira Baixa is a land of burning plains and granite visions, isolated in one of the most remote corners of Western Europe, where the Spanish border blurs under a broiling sun. Here, if you search hard enough, you’ll find at least two of the most startling medieval villages in Europe: Monsanto – Mon Sanctus…
Just as you should arrive in Venice on a boat, it is best to arrive in Lisbon on a tram, from the point where many people leave it for good: at Prazeres, by the city’s picturesque main cemetery. Get a taxi to the suburban terminus of tram 28 for one of the most atmospheric public-transport…
On Lisbon’s Rua do Arsenal, whole window displays are lined with what looks like crinkly grey cardboard. The smell is far from alluring, but from these humble slabs of cod the Portuguese are able to conjure up an alleged 365 different recipes for bacalhau, one for each day of the year. Reassuringly, none of this mummified fish dates back…
Neil McQuillian explores a new network of trails in Portugal My ankle rolled to the side and I tumbled over. Our guide, José Granja, came over to check I was OK. “You know, you need to taste the floor,” he said, peering at me as we set off again. “I fell off my bike once,…
Twenty thousand revellers each year come to Boom, Europe’s greatest outdoor dance-music festival, which takes place for a week over the August full moon on a lakeside ranch about 60km from Lisbon. In true summer-of-love fashion it combines non-stop dance music with eco-idealism: here you’ll find sustainability workshops, recycling and composting bins, a permaculture garden…
