Set your sail and off you go to the country of Fedinand Magellan and Vasco da Gama, where the patchwork of color is as dazzling and surreal as Mário Cesariny’s palette. The emerald waters of Algarve, the red-tiled roofs of Madeira, the soothing whiteness of Belem and the luscious greenness of the Azores are all for the taking. And so is the tranquility Alentejo’s sleepy fishing villages, the rambling of trams in the narrow, ascending streets of Lisbon, the nostalgic tunes of fado, and the blissful intoxication with Vinho do Porto. Portugal has everything you need plus a bunch of things to surprise you.

Things to do in Portugal by Open Travel Vacations

10 Top Portugal Attractions by Open Travel:

1. Belem
2. National Palace of Pena (Palacio Nacional da Pena)
3. Costa Vincentina National Park
4. Fado Bars in Alfama
5. Azores
6. Historic Center of Porto
7. Ponta da Piedade
8. Historic Center of Evora
9. Nightlife of Bairro Alto
10. Monsaraz

The armed forces have three branches: Army, Navy, and Air Force. The military of Portugal serves primarily as a self-defense force whose mission is to protect the territorial integrity of the country and providing humanitarian assistance and security at home and abroad. As of 2002, the total armed forces of Portugal numbered 43,600 active personnel including 2,875 women. Reservists numbered 210,930 for all services.The army had 25,400 personnel with equipment including 187 main battle tanks. The navy of 10,800, including 1,580 marines, had two submarines, six frigates, and 28 patrol and coastal combatants. The air force of 7,400 was equipped with 50 combat aircraft. Paramilitary police and republican guards, the Guarda Nacional Republicana (GNR), number 40,900. GNR is a police force under the authority of the military, its soldiers are subject to military law and organization. It has provided detachments for participation in international operations in Iraq and East Timor. The United States maintains a military presence with 770 troops. Portugal participates in peacekeeping operations in several regions. Defense spending in 1999–00 was $1.3 billion, representing 2.2% of GDP.

The Greater Metropolitan Area of Viseu has 21 municipalities (largest to smallest): Viseu, Tondela, Seia, Mangualde, São Pedro do Sul, Castro Daire, Gouveia, Nelas, Sátão, Santa Comba Dão, Vouzela, Moimenta da Beira, Oliveira de Frades, Carregal do Sal, Penalva do Castelo, Tarouca, Aguiar da Beira, Sernancelhe, Vila Nova de Paiva, Fornos de Algodres and Penedono. Viseu is the capital and the largest city. Most of the Gam de Viseu, except for the cities os Viseu, Mangualde and Seia, are actually rural or semi-urban. By the 2001 census, its population was 354,162 inhabitants.

District of Évora (port. Distrito de Évora IPA: / ‘ɛvuɾɐ /) – an administrative order of the first in southern Portugal. District administrative center is the city of Évora, in other major cities are Montemor-o-Novo and Estremoz. It is located in the Alentejo region, on the north border with dystryktami Santarém and Porto, to the east of Spain, in the south of the district and the Beja in the east district of Setúbal. Area district is 7,393 km ², it resides 173 408 people, the population density is 24 Pers. / km ².

includes two types of universities:

* University colleges;
* Polytechnic universities.

University education offers the following academic degrees:

* Bacharel – after a three-year training program with the technical, cultural, the right to perform certain professions;
* Licenciado – a four-year cycle of training, with the technical, cultural and professional in the field;
* Mestre – depth knowledge of the area and the ability to carry out scientific research;
* Doutor – a high level of cultural, and the ability to conduct research in specific areas of knowledge.

Portugal has an administrative structure of 308 municipalities (Portuguese singular/plural: concelho/concelhos), which are subdivided into more than 4,000 parishes (freguesia/freguesias). Municipalities are grouped for administrative purposes into superior units. For continental Portugal the municipalities are gathered in 18 Districts, while the Islands have a Regional Government directly above them. Thus, the largest unit of classification is the one established since 1976 into either mainland Portugal (Portugal Continental) or the autonomous regions of Portugal (Azores and Madeira).

The European Union’s system of Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics is also used. According to this system, Portugal is divided into 7 regions (Alentejo, Algarve, Açores, Centro, Lisboa, Madeira, and Norte), which are subdivided into 30 subregions.

Peak tourist season is roughly from mid-June to September, except in the Algarve where it really only quietens down in the dead of winter. Carnaval and Easter are two holidays celebrated with gusto all over the country and are worth going out of your way for.