CRUISE DESTINATIONS
Cruise to Portugal and Madeira
Cruise to Portugal and Madeira
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira.
The word Portugal derives from the combined Roman-Celtic place name Portus Cale. Portugal occupies an area on the Iberian Peninsula and two archipelagos in the Atlantic Ocean: Madeira and the Azores.
Portugal is mainly characterized by a Mediterranean climate. It is one of the warmest countries in Europe. Portugal is among the top 20 most-visited countries.
Roman Catholicism, which has a long history in Portugal, remains the dominant religion.
✳️ Legend of icons used:
- ☑️ 🔴travel tip
- ☑️ 🟢place mentioned in popular culture
- ☑️ 🔵turistic sites, monuments
- ☑️ 🚩interesting information
Commentaries on Cruise Ship stops at some destinations in the Portugal and Madeira
Image Gallery
Madeira
Cabo Girao Skywalk
Curral das Freiras
Cabo Girao Skywalk
Tobbogan rides
Sao Vicente
Ribeira brava, main square
Ribeira brava,colorful street
Madeira is green, subtropical paradise of volcanic origin, its soils formed from lava and ash, completely different in character from
the Portuguese mainland.
Blessed with an equable daytime temperature that varies only by a few degrees either side of 20 degrees Celsius, the island has all year-round appeal.
The islands Laurisilva, or laurel forest, is a UNESCOs world heritage site.
Madeira is becoming a gastronomic hotspot. Two Funchal resturants are Michellin-starred while several others are Michellin-reccommended.
Madeira is great exporter of wine. Locals are growing bananas, flowers, grapes, although tourism is the main industry.
Most of the madeira agricultural crops are grown on the sunny side of the coast. The cooler, north side has fewer settlements and more cattle.
Many parts of mountainous interior remains wild and some are accessible only by foot.
TOP 10 THINGS TO DO IN MADEIRA
🔵 Jardim Botanico
The botanical gardens display plants from all over the world. Desert cacti, rainforests orchids and South African proteas grow here as well
as Madeiran dragoon trees. There are contrasting sections: formal areas of bedding plants, quite carp ponds and wild wooden parts.
🛳️ The Monte Toboggan
Sliding in a wicker basket mounted on wooden runners, it is possible to cover the 2km descent from Monte to Livramento in 10 minutes.
The trip is made by thousands every year, fascinated by the experience of travelling at speed down a public highway on a wooden sled.
Ernest Hemingway once described it’s “exhilarating”. A cushioned seat softens the ride and passengers are in the safe hands of the
toboggan drivers, who push and steer from the rear, using their rubber-soled boots as brakes.
Madeiran tobogganing was invented as a form of passenger transport around 1850s.
🔵 Monte Palace Tropical Gardens
These landscapes gardens feature areas devoted to Madeiran flora, South African proteas, plants from Japan and China, azaleas,
camellias and orchids. The museum exhibits a collection og contemporary Zimbabwean sculpture and downstairs, minerals and precious
stones from all around the world.
They are open from 9.30 am to 6 pm, closed only on Christmas day, December 25th.
🛳 Sao Vicente
This agricultural town has grown prosperous over the years by tempting travellers to break their journeys here as they explore Madeiras
northern coast. To see how the village looked before development began, visit the Igreja Matriz and look at the ceiling painting of
St Vincent blessing the town. He appears again over the elaborately carved main altar, blessing a ship.
Around the church, cobbled traffic-free streets are lined with boutiques, bars and shops selling sweet cakes, including the popular
Madeiran speciality bolo de mel, the so-called honey cake (made of molasses and fruit).
Nearly 20 m below the grounds is a network of caves, the Grutas de Sao Vicente, that formed 850,000 years ago during a volcanic eruption. Visitors can walk the 1km trail of excavated lava channels dripping with stalactites. By the caves ‘entrance is the Volcanism Centre.
Around 8 km northeast is Seixal. Despite the storms that batter the coast, this village occupies a remarkably sheltered spot,
when vineyards cling to the hillside terraces, producing excellent wine.
🔵 Risco waterfall
At this magnificent spot, a torrent of water cascades from the rocky heights down into the green depths of the Risco valley far below.
🛳 Santana
Named after St Anne, mother of the Virgin, Santana has more than 100 thatched triangular houses, several of which can be visited.
The surroundings hillsides are also dotted with thatched byres. The Parque Tematico da Madeira has a maze, a water mill and exhibits
on various aspects of Madeira. Santana valley is farmed for fruit and vegetables, and osiers- the willow branches that are the
raw material for the wicker workers of Camacha.
🛳️ Posto Florestal Fanal
This is an ancient laurel forest in northwestern Madeira. It looks very special and mystical in the fog. If you can catch this place
when the clouds are low, it has a really unique atmosphere that many find worth the long drive.
🔵️ Ribeira brava
Is a small, attractive resort town, situated on the sunny south coast of Madeira. It has a pebble beach and a fishing harbour,
which is reached through a tunnel to the east of the main town.
Overlooking the principal square, Sao Bento remains one of the most unspoiled churches on Madeira. Despite restoration and reconstruction,
several of its 16th-century features are still intact. These include a stone-carved font and ornate pulpit decorated with wild beats such
as wolves, and the Flemish painting of the Nativity In the side chapel. The engaging Museu Etnografico da Madeira has a collection
of exhibits illustrating Madeiran culture and society.
🛳 Cȃmara de Lobos
This pretty fishing village was several times painted by Winston Churcilll, who often visited Madeira in the 1950s. Bars and restaurants
are named in his honour and a plaque marks the sport on the main road, east of the harbour, where the great statesman set up his easels.
This is one of Madeira’s main centres for catching scabbard fish (pesce spada), which feature on every local menu. Long lines are baited with
octopus to catch this fish that dwell at depths of between 800 m and 1,600 m. The fishermen live in dwellings, along the harbour front, and their
tiny chapel dates from the 15th century, but was rebuilt in 1723. The chapel is dedicated to St Nicholas, the patron saint of seafarers,
and is decorated with scenes from the saints life, as well as vivid portrayals of drownings and shipwreck.
🔵 Curral das Freiras
Curral das Freiras means Nuns refuge and the name refers to the nuns of Santa Clara convent who fled to this idyllic spot when pirates
attacked Funchal in 1566. The nuns have left now, but the villages remain. Visitors, first glimpse from a viewpoint knows as the Eira do Serrado,
perched some 800m above the village.
The valley is surrounded on all sides by jagged mountain peaks. Until 1959 the only access to the village was by a step zigzagging path,
but road tunnels now make the journey much easier and allow local people to transport their produce to the capital. Television arrived in 1986.
The sweet chestnuts that grow in profusion around the village are turned into sweet chestnut bread, best eaten still warm from the oven,
and licor de castanha (chestnut liquer). Both can be sampled in local bars.
🔴Extra bonus:
Visit Mercado dos Lavradores, the town of Funchal, Porto Muniz, Pico Ruivo (only accessible by foot), Pico do Ariero
(third hghest mountain at 1,810 m). Madeira has good wines, go for a local tasting.
Portugal
View on the 25 de Abril bridge
View on the 25 de Abril bridge
Public park
Monasteiro dos Jeronimos
Street and houses
Tram 28
Belem Tower
Monument of the discoveries
District of Baixa
Soup
Meat
Portughese prosciutto
Lisbon is the capital of Portugal.
The borders of the nation of Portugal were defined in 1139, making it not only one of the oldest nations in the world but arguably
in all of Europe. Portugal appointed King Afonso Henriques as its king that year.
Around 8 million travel to the site of the miracle of Fatima every year.
Portugal decriminalized all drugs in 2001, the first country in the world to do so.
Country lived under a fascist dictatorship for over 40 years.
Nazaré is the go-to for surfing huge waves as it has set world records, making it a permanent spot on the World Surg League Big Wave Tour. In 2013, McNamara broke
his world record by serving an estimated 30-meter wave off the coast of Nazaré.
THE BEST OF LISBON
🛳️ Belem
Commissioned by Manuel 1, the tower was built as a fortress in the middle of the Tagus in 1515-21.
The starting point for the navigators who set out to discover the trade routes, this Manueline gem became a symbol of Portugal great
era of expansion. Adorned with rope carved in stone, it has openwork balconies, Moorish-style watchtowers and distinctive battlements
in the shape of shields. The gothic interior below the terrace, which served as a storeroom for arms and a prison, is very austere but
the towers private quarters are worth visiting for the loggia and the panorama.
🔵 Monasterio dos Jeronimos
A monument to the wealth of the Age of Discovery, the monastery is the culmination of Manueline architecture. Commissioned by Manuel 1
in around 1501, after Vasco da Gamas return from his historic voyage, it was financed largely by pepper money, a tax levied on spices,
precious stones and gold. Various master builders worked on the building, the most notable of whom Diogo Boitac, replaced by Joao de Castilho
in 1517. the monastery was cared for by the Order of St Jerome until 1834, when all religious orders were disbanded.
🛳️ Monument of the discoveries
Standing prominently on the Belem waterfront, this massive angular monument, the Padrao dos Descobrimentos, was built in 1960 to mark
the 500th anniversary of the death of the Henry the Navigator. The 52m monument, commissioned by the Salazar regime, commemorates the marines,
royal patrons and all those who took part in the development pf the Portuguese age of Discovery.
The monument is designed in the shape of a caravel, with Portugal's coat of arms on the sides and the sword of the Royal House of Avis
rising above the entrance. Henry the Navigator stands at the prow with a caravel in hand.
In two sloping lines either side of the monument are stone statues of Portuguese heroes linked with the Age of Discovery, such as Dom Manuel
2 holding an armillary sphere, the poet Camoes with a copy of Os Lusiadas and the painter Nuno Goncalves, as well as famous navigators,
cartographers and kings. On the monuments north side, the huge mariners compass cut into the paving stone was a gift from South Africa in 1960.
The central map dotted with mermaids and galleons, shows the routed of the discoveries in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Inside the monument a lift whisks you up to the 6th floor where steps then lead to the top for a splendid panorama of Belem.
The basement level is used for temporary exhibitions, but not necessarily related to the Discoveries.
🔵 Palacio de Belem
Built by the Conde de Aveiras in 1559, this palace once had gardens bordering the river in the 18th century it was bought by Joao V,
who radically altered it, rendering the ulterior suitably lavish for his amorous liaisons.
When the 1755 earthquake struck, the king, Jose 1, and his family were staying here. Fearing another earth terror in the place grounds and
the building was used as a hospital. Today the elegant palace is the official residence of the President of the Portugal.
The Presidential Museum contains personal items and state gifts of former presidents, as well as the official portraits gallery.
🛳️ Ponte 25 de Abril
Suspension bridge, is also one of the most iconic landmarks in Lisbon. The bridge spans the Tejo Estuary at its narrowest point and
is the only bridge leading south of the city.
This impressive bridge closely resembles Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco, with its name commemorating Portuguese Carnation Revolution
of 25 April 1974. The suspension bridge connects Lisbon, on the north bank, with the computer district of Almada on the south bank.
Characteristics: Length 2 277,64m; Height 190,5m; has two decks, the upper one with six car lanes and the lower one two train tracks
Construction started in November ’62 and ended august ‘66
The name of the bridge was Salazar’s Bridge (Salazar was a dictator) and it was changed after independence, that occurred on 25th of April 1974.
⚓ Portugal-Sintra
CAROUSEL Sintra
National palace
View on the village
View on the village
Main hall-inside
Old furniture
Old desk
Garden
Kitchen
THE BEST OF SINTRA
🛳️ Palacio nacional do Sintra
At the heart of the old town of Sintra, a pair of unusual conical chimneys rises high above the Royal Palace. The main part of the palace,
including the central block with its plain Gothic facade and the large kitchens beneath the chimneys, was built by Joao I in the late
14th century, on a site once occupied by the Moorish rulers. The Paco Real, as it also known, became the favourite summer retreat for the court,
and continued as a residence for Portuguese royalty until the 1880s.
Additions to the building by the wealthy Manuel 1, in the early 16th century, echo the Moorish style. Gradual rebuilding of the palace
has resulted in a fascinating amalgamation of various different styles.
The palace consists of Sala dos Brasoes, a chapel, sala das Pegas, sala dos Cisnes, sala das Sereias, the kitchen and the Torre dos Brasoes.
Its open from 9.30 am to 6pm all year except Christmas day.
🔵 Palacio da Pena
On the highest peaks of the Serra de Sintra stands the spectacular palace of Pena, an eclectic medley of architectural styles built in the
19th century by the husband of the young Queen Maria II, Ferdinand Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who personally designed many of its elements.
It stands over the ruins of a Hieronymite monastery founded here in the 16th century on the site of the chapel of Nossa Senhora da Pena.
Ferdinand appointed a German architect, Baron von Eschwege, to build his summer palace filled with oddities from all over the world
and surrounded by a park. With the declaration of the Republic in 1910, the palace became a museum, preserved as it was when the
royal family lived here. You need at least one hour and a half to visit this enchanting place.
🛳️ Palacio Queluz
In 1747, Pedro, younger son of Joao V, commissioned Mateus Vicente to transform his 17th century hunting lodge into a Rococo summer palace.
The central section, which includes a music room and chapel, was built and the palace was further extended after Pedros marriage to the
future Maria 1, in 1760. French architect Jean-Baptiste Robillion then added the sumptuous Robillion Pavilion and gardens, cleared space
for the Throne Room and redesigned the Music Room. During Maria's reign, the royal family kept a menagerie and went boating on the
azelejo-lined canal.
Rooms: sala dos Exbaixadores, don Quixote chamber, throne Room, music room, corridor of the Tiles. Palace has a big garden filled with statues,
fountains and topiary, which were often used for entertaining.
🔵 Cascais
Having been a holiday resort for well over a century, Cascais posseses a certain illustriousness that younger resorts lack. Its history is
most clearly visible in the villas along the coast, built as summer residences by wealthy Lisboteas during the late 19th century,
after King Luis 1 had moved his summer activities to the 17th century fortress here. The military importance of Cascais, now waned,
is much older as it sits on the north bank, of the mouth of the Tagus.
The sandy, sheltered bay around which the modern suburb has sprawled was a fishing harbour in prehistoric times. Fishing still goes on,
and it was given a municipal boost with the decision to build a quay for the landing and initial auctioning of the fisherman’s catch.
But Cascais today is first of all a favoured suburb of Lisbon, a place of apartments with a sea view and pine-studded plots by golf courses.
It may sometimes seem more defined by its ceaseless construction boom than by any historic or even tourist qualities, but the beautiful,
windswept coastline beyond the town has been left relatively undeveloped.
The Museu do conde de Castro Guimaraes is perhaps the best place to get a taste of Cascais as it was just over a century ago.
A castle-like villa on a small creeek by a headland, its grounds are today part of a park. The house and its contents were bequeathed
to the municipality.
Across the road from the museum is marina, one of the most emblematic developments of Cascais. With its small shopping centre,
restaurants and caffes it is becoming a weekend magnet for todays car-borne Cascais residents and tourists.
Discover Portugal and Madeira
🔵 The Most Popular Dishes 🔵
🧿 Bacalhau a Bras
🧿 Ameijoas a Bulhao Pato
🧿 Francesinha
🧿 Bifanas
🧿 Sardinhas assadas
🧿 Cozido à Portuguesa
🧿 Pastel de nata
