Page 141 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Portugal

ESTREMADURA Best for
Historic buildings and
PAGE 166 AND RIBATEJO buffeted beaches
Home to
Between the Tagus and the coast lie the rolling hills,
rugged cliffs and sandy beaches of Estremadura. In
Santa Maria da Vitória, Tomar’s
contrast, vineyard-strewn Ribatejo is a vast alluvial Alcobaça, Batalha’s Mosteiro de
plain lying along the riverbanks. Here, Portugal’s finest Convento de Cristo
medieval monasteries bear witness to an illustrious, if Experience
turbulent, past. Ancient Tomar and picture-perfect A surfing lesson at Baleal,
Óbidos are congenial bases from which to visit the the ideal spot for beginners
great abbey at Batalha or the modern shrine at Fátima.
There are beach resorts aplenty, too.

THE BEIRAS Best for
Unspoilt, mountainous terrain
PAGE 190 Ranging from the Spanish frontier to the sea, the Home to
Beiras is a bulwark between the cool green north
Aveiro, Coimbra and its
and the parched south. Here you’ll find the country’s
highest mountains in the Serra da Estrela, the flat salt university, Buçaco,
Serra da Estrela
marshes of the Ria de Aveiro and the busy seaside Experience
resort of Figueira da Foz. Use stately old university city A boat trip in a colourful
of Coimbra as a base for visiting the Roman ruins of moliceiro on Aveiro’s
Conímbriga and the magical forest of Buçaco, with atmospheric waterways
its crumbling grottoes. Inland, the charming town of
Viseu is an ideal stopover on the way to the medieval
strongholds of Guarda, Almeida and Monsanto.

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