The Lonely Planet Guide to Portugal

Major Industries

Textiles, footwear, wood products, metalworking, oil refining, chemicals, fish canning, wine, tourism, agriculture

Trading Partners

EU (esp. Spain, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands & the UK), US

Getting There and Away

You can jet in from overseas to several airports in Portugal, most notably Lisbon, but if you're coming in from neighbouring Spain or other proximal countries, then bus, train or car/motorcycle will suit you just fine.

Getting Around

If time is a consideration, Your best bet for circumnavigating the country by public transport is the efficient bus system. The train network is slower but more relaxing. Hire cars and planes are both expensive propositions.

Parque Nacional da Peneda-Gerês

The horseshoe-shaped park is blessed (or cursed) with more rain than anywhere else in Portugal, swelling its rivers and five sizable reservoirs. Within the southern park in particular, you'll find exceptional hiking through forests and over high plateaus dotted with beehives and archaeological sites. The northwest is known for its idyllic rural accommodation in far-flung cottages and stone shelters.

Villages are dwindling as young residents leave for the cities, but so far they're still able to offer a glimpse into a vanishing way of life. Meanwhile, the heights close to the Spanish border (especially in the Serra do Gerês, where several peaks rise over 1500m/4921ft), are almost free of human activity, other than the shifting of livestock to high pastures in summer.

For more information visit: http://www.adere-pg.pt

Museu Calouste Gulbenkian

The 1500 pieces on permanent display include an exquisite 2700-year-old alabaster bowl, a 2400-year-old Attic vase, luminescent Roman glassware, 16th- and 17th-century Turkish faïence glowing with brilliant greens and blues and Armenian manuscripts.

European Art sweeps from medieval ivories and jewel-like manuscripts to 15th- to 19th-century masterpieces. Outstanding works include two atmospheric La Tour portraits, turbulent Turners, a passionate Spring Kiss by Rodin and a pretty Renoir.

The grand finale is the incredible collection of René Lalique glass and jewellery. Here are fabulous, unique fantasies, such as the outrageous, otherworldly Dragonfly, glittering with gold, enamel, moonstones and diamonds.

For more information visit: http://www.museu.gulbenkian.pt

Conimbriga Ruins

The Conimbriga site actually dates back to Celtic times but the Romans developed it into a major city. To get your head around Conimbriga's history, begin at the small but well-organised and informative museum. Displays present every aspect of Roman life from mosaics to medallions. There's a sunny cafe-restaurant at the back that was being remodelled at the time of writing.

Igreja de São Roque

Commissioned in 1742 by Portugal's most extravagant king, Dom João V, this chapel was designed and built in Rome over eight years using the most expensive materials possible, including amethyst, alabaster, agate, jade, lapis lazuli and Carrara marble. The four mosaics representing events from the saint's life are as elaborate as oil paintings.

After its consecration by Pope Benedict XIV it was dismantled and shipped to Lisbon at outrageous cost.

The adjacent Museu de São Roque contains more evidence of flash ecclesiastical cash, with lavish devotional items, weird reliquaries, and 16th- and 17th-century paintings.

Mosteiro dos Jerónimos

The Mosteiro dos Jerónimos is a supreme example of the Manueline art form, a type of post-Gothic architectural fanfare that embraces sculpturally dense portals and cloisters busy with intricate arches. While this church was ostensibly a paean to da Gama, Manuel I also made it double as a vainglorious self-monument and a mausoleum for his family.

Pre 20th Century History

The Iberian Peninsula has been occupied for around 500,000 years. Paleolithic art dating back 22,000 years has been discovered on rocks in the Vale do Côa. About 5500 BC Neolithic fortified hilltop villages appeared in the lower Tagus valley.

Portugal's history goes back to the Celts, who settled the Iberian Peninsula around 700 BC. The region soon attracted a succession of peoples and was colonised by the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans and Visigoths. In the 8th century, the Moors crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and commenced a long occupation that introduced their culture, architecture and agricultural techniques to Portugal. But resistance to the Moors grew and they were finally ejected during the 13th century.

In the 15th century, Portugal entered a phase of overseas expansion due to the efforts of Prince Henry the Navigator. Mariners set off to discover new trade routes and helped create an enormous empire that, at its peak, extended to India, the Far East, Brazil and Africa. This period marked the apogee of Portuguese power and wealth, but it faded towards the end of the 16th century when Spain's Felipe II claimed the throne. Although Spanish rule lasted only a few decades, the momentum of the empire declined over the following centuries.

In 1755, someone in Lisbon broke a bathroom mirror as a black cat crossed their path while opening a new umbrella. The city was subsequently destroyed by three major earthquakes, tremors, a fire and a tidal wave.

At the close of the 18th century, Napoleon sent expeditionary forces to invade Portugal but they were forced back by the troops of the Anglo-Portuguese alliance.

Modern History

During the 19th century the economy faltered and republicanism took hold. National turmoil led to the abolition of the monarchy in 1910 and the founding of a democratic republic.

Portugal's democratic phase lasted until 1926, when a military coup ushered in a long period of dictatorship under António de Oliveira Salazar. His reign came to an end in 1968 when he had a stroke. Anachronistic attempts to hold onto colonies in the face of nationalist independence movements resulted in costly wars in Africa and led to the Revolution of the Carnations, a nearly bloodless military coup on 25 April 1974.

During the 1970s and early 1980s, Portugal underwent some painful adjustments: the political climate vacillated between right and left, and the economy suffered from wrangles between government and private ownership. The granting of independence to Portugal's colonies in 1974/75 resulted in a flood of over 500,000 refugees into the country. Entry into the European Community (EC) in 1986 restored some measure of stability, which was buttressed by the acceptance of Portugal as a full member of the European Monetary Union in 1999. Portugal's last overseas territory, Macau, was handed over to the Chinese in 1999.

The Alqueva project on the Guadiana river become Europe's largest artificial lake when it was completed in late 2001, to howls of protest from environmentalists who claimed it was a destructive and unnecessary folly. In August 2003, forest fires killed 18 people, destroyed an area the size of Luxembourg, cost a billion euros and prompted the government to declare a national disaster.

Recent History

The year 2005 was similarly catastrophic. Portugal witnessed the worst drought in living memory in most of the country; it devastated agriculture and slashed the sector's financial projections by 35%. It was a critical year for bushfires, as well, with 200,000 hectares (about 494,000 acres) burned, mainly in the central Coimbra region and surrounds.

Socialist José Socrates took the prime ministership at the 2005 election after the previous coalition government had burned through two PMs in the one term. Socrates inherited a familiar raft of problems, including ballooning budget deficits, rising unemployment and stagnant growth. The 2004 enlargement of the EU hasn't helped, as countries with much lower labour costs have overturned Portugal's former competitive advantage.

In 2007 Sócrates took over the rotating presidency of the EU. In an unusual turn of events, his role brought him face-to-face with his former political opponent José Manuel Barroso, who was now serving as president of the European Commission (Portugal's first appointee to the post). Together, the two brought much attention to Portugal. They championed the rights of smaller states, oversaw the drafting of the Treaty of Lisbon (an agreement designed to bring more unity to the EU) and played a prominent role in discussions about climate change and energy-reduction targets among EU members. On the domestic front, Sócrates has focused much of his efforts on renewable energy and education.

This is the best general overview of the country and is very readable.

A good read which follows the experiences of a whole host of travellers from medieval times to the 19th century.

This epic about Vasco Da Gama's 1497 voyage to India is the cornerstone of classical Portuguese literature.

This is an excellent, detailed book of hiking routes.

Keen walkers should pack this series, which features both car tours and treks in various regions.

A noteworthy, recent and very compelling 'whodunnit'.

A collection of work by Portugal's greatest poet.