This Is the Most Outdated Piece of Portugal Travel Advice

An estimated 30 million people visited Portugal in 2024, marking a record year for tourism in the European nation that has just over 10.5 million full-time residents. As one of those people living here permanently, I’m often asked for my advice on what to see and do while visiting Portugal. The one thing people always seem to be surprised to hear is “get out of Lisbon.” 

Don’t get me wrong. Lisbon is an incredibly special city that you should explore while you’re here. However, I strongly believe that it’s an outdated piece of advice to only visit Lisbon, and to really get to know Portuguese culture, you’ve got to get out and see more. And I’m not alone in this thinking. 

“Lisbon and Porto are amazing, but Portugal’s soul is often found in the smaller towns and rural regions where life moves much more slowly,” Sheree M. Mitchell, a Travel + Leisure A-List Travel Advisor, shared. “We send clients all over the Alentejo, Douro Valley, Minho Region, as well as the Azores and Madeira, where the real local magic happens.” 

Indeed, Portugal is filled with fantastic places to explore, including plenty of gorgeous beach towns, inland national parks, and historic towns. And that leads to another piece of outdated advice—and that’s that you can see and do it all within just a few days, 

“The most outdated piece of travel advice to Portugal is that you can see Portugal in a week,” Alvaro Diez Diaz, a Portugal experience designer at luxury travel company Butterfield & Robinson shared. “From the granite peaks of the north, where the Portuguese Camino winds toward Santiago, to the cork forests and whitewashed villages of the Alentejo, and from the vineyards of the Douro to the volcanic landscapes of the Azores and Madeira, each region has its own pace and personality. Portugal isn’t a country to rush. It’s one that rewards you for slowing down.” 

Joao Carvalho, also a Portugal experience designer at Butterfield & Robinson, said he believes the most outdated advice is that it’s a small country that’s easy to see in one go. However, he also noted that the price of a vacation here is certainly changing with all its popularity, too. 

“The most outdated piece of travel advice about Portugal is that it’s a small, cheap destination. That image might have drawn people here years ago, but it no longer reflects the Portugal of today, and holding on to it can lead to experiences that aren’t the best,” Carvalho shared. 

Mitchell agreed, noting that prices have gone up across the board, and while Portugal still offers great value compared to other Western European countries, “it’s no longer a budget destination. As a local tour operator, we’ve seen hotel rates steadily increase by over 30 percent each year over the past five years.”

As Carvalho added, a lot of this added price has come with Portugal’s evolution, now offering so much more than what first put it on the travel map. 

“The food scene has flourished, design-forward hotels have opened across the country, small towns are enjoying a cultural revival, and world-class experiences are now found well beyond the usual postcard views,” Carvalho said. “The interior and each region have become destinations in themselves, each with its own pace, flavors, and stories.” 

Though Portugal is no longer “Europe’s best-kept secret,” Carvalho said—it’s even better than that. “It’s a place that has grown into itself, and is ready to be discovered in all its depth,” he said.