What's New: An Online Update for Frommer's Portugal

Planning Your Trip to Portugal

Before you go you might pick up a DVD of Fados, a 2007 documentary about the soul music of the Portuguese working class. The film comes at an opportune time as fado music is enjoying a renewed vogue in the night clubs of Portugal, with the best and most prolific number of dives located in Lisbon. The film, written and directed by Carlos Saura, traces the birth of fado in the slums of Lisbon in the 1820s. Originally, the music expressed the longing for the homelands of the immigrants who had settled into Lisbon from far-flung Portuguese colonies. Fado also sang of lost loves and unfulfilled hopes. The film pays particular homage to the late Amalia Rodrigues, greatest of all fadistas.

A smoking ban went into effect in Portugal on January 1, 2008. You can't light up in restaurants, bars, clubs, public transport, or shopping malls. The smoking ban is more lenient than most countries of Western Europe. In pubs or restaurants that measure less than 100 square meters, owners can choose whether to be smoking or nonsmoking. Bigger establishments will be required to impose the ban or open up separate smoking areas. Smokers who break the law can face a fine of up to $1,300.

Pousadas are a chain of first-class government-affiliated inns scattered at strategic locations throughout Portugal. Click on the website, www.pousadas.pt for each pousada in the country, with a description of what it is like. Inns are as modern as today or else built on foundations going back to the 12th century. It is more economical if you're touring Portugal to purchase a Pousada Passport for €360 (US$576). This entitles you to a double room for 4 nights at a pousada, plus another €35 (US$56) supplement for Saturday nights. There are restrictions, of course. For example, some pousadas won't accept the passport during August, and others charge a small surcharge. In lieu of the passport, some pousadas themselves make special offers throughout the year, but not, of course, during peak travel periods.

Lisbon

The recently opened Lisbon Inside Tours (Avenida Forças Amadas 95; tel. 21/793-3511) has immediately made new friends with its offerings. Patrons are transported around in small vans and then taken on different walking tours through the most colorful and historical zones of Lisbon. A popular summer addition is a twice-weekly pub crawl. The tours are given in English and enough free time is provided to explore each district in some depth. Only 8 people at a time are taken on a tour. The labyrinths of the Alfama are the most desirable and intriguing of the tours.

Many American brides-to-be, often with mothers in tow, are shopping for their bridal gowns at Linea Raffaeli (rua Serpa Pinto 12A; tel. 21/325-8960; www.linearaffaelli.com) often at a fraction of what they might pay in their native land. This tiny boutique is dedicated to not bankrupting the prospective parents of the bride. Each wedding dress is designed by Antonio Rebelo, a former employee of Lanvin in Paris. He specializes in Edwardian designs, a slightly gauzy overlap of ruffles and flourishes, sometimes enhanced with lacy bustiers. His favorite color seems to be "purer than snow."

The Café Bar at the Hotel Bairro Alto (Café Bar B.A., Praça Lúis de Camões 8; tel. 21-340-8262; www.bairroaltohotel.com) has become a night-time hotspot, with its hip minimalist décor. Shared tables only add to the conviviality, as DJs spin the latest hot music. If you descend to the lower level, you'll find a lounge whose vaulted ceiling once sheltered alchemists mixing up brews for an age-old pharmacy.

Cascais

A new and very affordable restaurant has opened in this otherwise pricey resort along the Costa do Sol. B&B Restaurant (rua do Poco Novo 15-17; tel. 214/820-686) is not a bed and breakfast. In Portuguese, B&B stands for "Bom & Baratos," meaning "good and cheap." The chef specializes in the most tender octopus we've had in Cascais. It's slow cooked for about 2 hours and then lightly grilled with virgin olive oil and fresh herbs. Other seafood dishes are also delectable, and meals come with a selection from a small but choice wine list.

Estremadura

Fátima, a famous pilgrimage site, attracts some 5 million visitors annually but has never had an atmospheric or romantic hotel until now. Only a 12-minute drive from the famous religious shrine of Fátima is the Casa Alta Royal Lodge, in the village of Ourem (tel. 249/543515). This former royal lodge offers the grandest accommodations in the area, with beautifully furnished rooms with antiques, embroidered sheets, and even robes and slippers. A full English-style breakfast is included in the rates. Candlelit dinners with sterling silver table service are just part of the allure of this charmer.

The Algarve

The popular resorts are becoming so overcrowded that savvy visitors are seeking more remote villages off the beaten path. Such a village is Salema, in the Western Algarve. Here you will discover Romantik Villa Vivenda Felicidade at Salema (tel. 282/695670). It offers a swimming pool and a garden overlooking the ocean. Each bedroom comes with a small veranda opening toward the garden with the ocean as a backdrop. Well-furnished doubles and suites cost €80 to €100 (US$128 to US$160), with breakfast included.

Alentejo & Ribatejo

In the walled city of Évora in Alentejo, a National Monument has been turned into one of the coziest inns in the province. Convento do Espinheiro (Évora 7000; tel. 26/6788229) was converted from a monastery dating from 1458. Lying on the edge of town, it has a huge outdoor as well as an indoor pool, plus a tennis court and a full spa that's the best in Alentejo. You have a choice of rooms in the former monk cells or else in a series of recently created units, making for a total of 59. The on-site chapel is covered with a stunning collection of handpainted azulejos (tiles).

More and more vacationers are discovering the remote village of Marvao, about 2.5 hour drive northeast of Lisbon and only 6.5km (4 miles) west of the Spanish border. It's an ancient walled town, with a 13th-century castle that is the town's main attraction. The panoramic views are among the most spectacular in Eastern Portugal. Part of the countrywide network of pousadas, Pousada de Santa Maria (tel. 245/993-201) is the place to stay, a bit of luxury in this remote outpost on the plains. The double rooms cost €155 (US$248) a night, but the views are priceless. The on-site restaurant serves a finely prepared Alentejo cuisine, a dinner for two, with the regional wine, going for about €75 (US$120).

Douro Valley

A small winery has opened that will allow you to visit its vineyard and also enjoy an overnight stopover, as it also functions as a bed-and-breakfast. In the heart of the port-producing region, it offers not only top-quality ports but virgin olive oil from the Estate. The quinta (farmhouse) has been in the Bergqvist family for more than a century. This little treasure can now be enjoyed by visitors. The contact is Quinta de la Rosa (Pinhão 5085-215; tel. 252/732254).

The Minho Region & Tras-os-Montes

Called the cradle of Portugal, the town of Guimarães lies 226 miles (364km) north of Lisbon. A lovely modernist restaurant, Val Donas has opened here at Rua de Val Donas (tel. 25/3511-4111). Decorated with whitewashed walls and black and white photographs, it is a very modern place but the menu is regional and hearty. Begin with such dishes as cabbage soup, invariably going on to the catch of the day for a main course. A dinner for two with a carafe of the local wine comes to about €50 (US$80).

Madeira

On this African island belonging to Portugal, the famous Quinta Palmeira Gardens have reopened at rua da Levada de Santa Luzia 31A (tel. 291/221091), lying five miles north of the town center of Funchal, capital of the island. The gardens were once owned by the well-known sugar industrialist, Harry Hinton, and most of the gardens were designed at the beginning of the 20th century. Today they have undergone an extensive restoration and are more gorgeous than ever, featuring a large collection of exotic plants, some unique to Madeira. The gardens are filled with curiosities, including a stone window salvaged from the house where Columbus once lived on island.

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