Explore Lisbon and Alentejo

From a few nights in lovely Lisbon, we set off for the nation’s bread basket: The Alentejo. Open, airy, and vibrant, the Alentejo rolls west from Portugal’s colorful capital to the border with Spain. Its name “beyond [além] the Tagus [Tejo]” locates it to the Iberian Peninsula’s longest river. Much of the year, its fields are endless waves of gold, int erupted on occasion by olive and cork groves and vines. In the long, hot, dry season, sheep and cattle hug what patches of shade they can find as do the cheerful Alentejanos who live in its sprightly whitewashed towns and stately walled cities.

Between bites and sips, we immerse ourselves in the region’s rich human and natural history through guided walks with local storytellers, visits to olive oil, cork, and wine producers, a cooking demonstration of traditional recipes, and explorations of a marble quarry and an enclave of heritage potters. A feast for all the senses, the Alentejo awaits! Come with us to discover this lesser-known part of Portugal.

See here for more info on Portugal and Alentejo region.

Dates & Pricing

DATES (7 days)

September 3-9, 2024 | September 2-8, 2025
For more info and availability please contact us.

TOUR PRICE

Per person in double occupancy: from $3,790 (from $3,890 in 2025)

Single Supplement: $790

For travel in 2021 and beyond, your tour is carbon neutral! In addition, we donate more than 1% of your trip price to food-literacy and environmental non-profits that share our values. (Details here)

Tour Highlights

Full immersion into local culture and history with experienced Tour Leaders
Delicious meals emphasizing Portuguese cuisine and the Alentejo area
Traditional, and charming accommodations in 4- and 5-star hotels
Exposure to local wines, cheese, olive oil and other local products
Personalized experiences to learn about the local cork, and ceramic productions
Strolls through Lisbon, the UNESCO sites of Évora, Sintra and Elvas, and the charming villages of Monsaraz and Vila Viçosa
Discover the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage of Fado (popular music)
Traditional, local recipes to bring home such as gazpacho Alentejano and bacalao a bras

What's Included

6 nights of accommodation in 4- and 5-star hotels
6 breakfasts, 1 lunch and 5 dinners each with either a 3-course menu
Guided visits in Évora, Lisbon and Vila Viçosa and to Forte de Graça
1 visit to a pottery center; 1 visit to a cork factory
1 visit and tasting to an olive oil producer
1 visit and tasting to an historic winery
Entry fees to Forte de Graça and Palacio da Pena
Exploration on foot of the UNESCO sites of Evora, Elvas and Sintra, and the towns of Monsaraz, and Vila Viçosa
1 cooking class followed by dinner with what you prepared!
1 exhibition of Fado music live performance, a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage
Comfortable transportation and assistance by private vehicle for all travel on tour as cited in the itinerary
Professional Tour Leaders
Group transfers to Lisbon Delgado airport at the end of the tour
Local taxes and gratuities for luggage porters and restaurant servers during tour

What's Not Included

5 lunches and 1 dinner on your own
Alcoholic beverages at group meals (including wine, beer, and spirits)
Round-trip airfare and expenses to/from the tour
Transfer to first hotel at the beginning of the tour
Trip cancellation, baggage loss or travel delay insurance (this optional coverage is highly recommended. See more info here)
Gratuities for your Tour Leaders. (Info here)
Personal expenses, such as, but not limited to, phone calls, laundry, emails, gifts

Itinerary

Day 1 & 2– Lisbon and Sintra
Day 3 & 4 – Évora and Monsaraz

Then we continue our journey to Évora, capital of the Alentejo. Another UNESCO World Heritage site, Évora is surrounded by 14th-century walls and is one of Portugal’s best preserved medieval towns, affording us a chance to slip back through time and into the unique colors, smells, flavors, and feelings of the good life in Alentejo.

From Évora, we explore the area of Monsaraz featuring refreshing panoramas from this perched fairytale town out across the plains and the Great Lake, the largest artificial lake in Europe, resulting from the Alqueva dam on the Guadiana river. While in the area we stop by a local winery for a visit and tasting over lunch, and then we continue to São Pedro do Corval to visit some of the potters of this parish. São Pedro do Corval has the highest concentration of traditional potters anywhere in Portugal.
Day 5 & 6 – Vila Viçosa and Elvas

Our last two nights will be spent in elegant Vila Viçosa with its oblong town center punctuated by its wonderfully preserved castle. Compared to tourist, treasured Évora and Monsaraz, Vila Viçosa has a decidedly different vibe. Just as charming, it belongs more to its own people than to any visitor, which affords us the chance to weave ourselves more deeply into local Alentejo life. Here we learn more about local quarries exploited since Roman time and the local Castle and Ducal Palace respectively dating back to the 14th and 16th centuries, when the powerful Bragança family ruled this area.

From Vila Viçosa, we also take a field trip to Elvas, a mere five miles from the Spanish border. Another UNESCO World Heritage site, Elvas is an enduring example of a bastion fort. We cannot miss the Amoreira aqueduct towering over the road and out across the plain. A 16th-century masterpiece nearly four and a half miles in length, it was built to water the frontier city, enabling the citadel to withstand lengthy sieges.
Day 7 – Lisbon airport

To request the itinerary as a PDF or to ask us any questions please contact us today!