Alentejo

Portugal’s soulful province is a beautifully languid, time-turning region wide open for discovery

Time seems to tick by at a different pace in Alentejo. Portugal’s vast region has many threads that have been knitted over centuries – a tapestry of olive groves, cork oak forests, white-gold ‘marble towns’, Roman ruins and rippling hills punctuated with megalithic monuments. This is a place that wears its heritage and traditions proudly. Where dining is a journey back in time and each ribbon of coastline has a character all of its own.

Things to do

LANDMARKS
Évora opens a UNESCO-protected window into the ancient past. Beyond the medieval walls, get contentedly lost in its tangle of cobbled streets. They could lead you to the Gothic cathedral, the soaring Corinthian columns of the Roman temple, or simply a praça where azulejo-tiled pastelerias serve syrupy pastries and charm that’s just as sweet. Giraldo is the main square, perfect for early evening wine poured from talhas.

BEACHES
When it comes to beaches, Alentejo is the definitive triple threat – with untouched-by-time fishing coves, cosmopolitan (but uncrowded) resorts and water sport-friendly Atlantic waves. The Tróia peninsula is for those picturing porcelain sands and ombre seas – and, if you’re lucky, dolphins. Comporta and Carvalhal are becoming favourites with sandy-footed families, and dune-backed Praia do Malhão and Almograve suit surfers. While Odeceixe is the stuff that beach idylls are made of. Navigate to the port of Sines to see where Vasco de Gama was born. Or to sublime Cape Sardão, where storks nest above waves breaking over the furrowed cliffs.

CULTURE
The ‘marble route’ also flows through the Alentejo region, where skylines are a living sculpture gallery in ivory tones. Vila Viçosa is famed for its ornate royal Ducal Palace and Estremoz for its tower. Swapping the white marble towns for the white wine capital, pause at Vidiguera. Here, Antão Vaz grapevines have been cultivated over centuries, and many winemakers still use talha clay pots to turn them into ‘carved wine’. From oenology to astronomy, at hilltop Monsaraz you can walk the castle ramparts by day and spend nights stargazing at Alqueva Lake – a designated Dark Sky Reserve.

Top Tip from SLH

Arrive early (skirting the very deep potholes) to see the megalithic stones of Cromeleque dos Almendres in a more peaceful light. Near to the site, many visitors miss the menhir positioned to mark the rising of the sun at summer solstice