Wine Tours in Portugal
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	About Portugal

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Portugal Flights
and Airports

Portugal Beaches

Portugal Climate

Portugal Culture
and History

Portugal Currency

Telecommunications

Douro

Ribatejo & Alentejo

Facts About Portugal

Portugal Time Zones

Mainland Portugal: GMT + 1 hour
PDT: GMT – 7 hours
EDT: GMT – 4 hours

Madeira Islands: GMT + 1 hour
Azores Islands: GMT – 1 hour

Portugal’s exceptional location makes it an almost inevitable stopover point for anyone travelling to Europe or bound for Africa, America or Asia. That’s why many airline companies have flights to Portugal.

Portugal has 5 main airports that cover both the continental mainland as well as the Madeira and Azores islands:

Lisbon - Portela Airport
Oporto - Dr Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport
Faro - Faro Airport
Funchal, Madeira - Funchal Airport
Ponta Delgada, Azores - João Paulo II
Beja Aiport

Information on departure and arrival of flights can be obtained in www.ana.pt

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The South of mainland Portugal is well known for its beautiful coastline and beaches. Starting off with the beaches near Cascais and Lisbon, the further south you go, the warmer the water gets and the weather, specially in the summer, invites for long days at the beach.
Temperatures in the South, Algarve region, can be in the average of 25 ºC (77ºF)and reach highs of over 40 ºC (104 ºF).

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Overall, Portugal has a mild weather all year round, when compared with most European countries, which makes it an almost perfect holiday destination.

But, although small in size, climate may vary from place to place. You’ll find that in mainland Portugal temperatures tend to be higher down south, in the Alentejo and Algarve regions. North of Portugal tends to be colder. November until February can bring heavy rain and cold weather in these central and northern mainland regions.

Algarve maintains all year round mild temperatures, as well as the Azores and Madeira Islands. These three are the most sought after destination for those who like the warmer weather.

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Portugal’s official language is Portuguese and it is spoken by over 200 millions people worldwide, mostly in Brazil and African countries. This is explained by the fact that Portugal was a vast empire, back in the XVI century, and it comprised Brazil, Angola, Mozambique and several other smaller countries all over the world.

In fact, Portugal was the richest European country in the XVI century, due to the great amounts of gold, sugar and spices that it brought from America, Africa and Asia.

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Portugal is a member of the European Union and its official currency is the Euro (€).

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The Portuguese Telecommunications industry has been transformed immensely in the past twenty years. This modernization period insured that Portugal now has a very good nationwide coverage of broad band Internet and wireless Internet hotspots, mainly in Airports, hotels and shopping malls.

Pay phones are a breeze to use, and are operated by coins or cards which are sold in many shops, including the post offices. To place a call to Portugal you need to use the international acess code “00” and then the country code “351” followed by the 9 digit phone number.

There are 3 main mobile phone operators. By order of importance: TMN, Vodafone, and Optimus. You can pick up a pre-paid mobile phone for as less as 30 €, usually with 10 € in calls already included.

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DOURO

Portugal's Douro Region climate

Located in northeast Portugal, the Douro Valley region is world famous for producing the authentic Port Wine. And the precious flavour of this wine comes from the harsh conditions in which it grows.

The Douro has quite an inhospitable climate, with very cold, even sub-zero winters that can bring severe frosts and prolonged summers, very dry and hot. The rainfall is scarce, about half of that of the Oporto region. This is because the surrounding mountain ranges prevent the humidity from the Ocean to reach the Douro Valley.

RIBATEJO & ALENTEJO

Ribatejo and Alentejo Climate

Ribatejo is located in central Portugal. It’s a fertile area known for its rice fields and lush grass, which is host to the breeding of the fighting bulls used in the traditional Touradas (Bull Fights).

Alentejo is just south of Portugal’s capital Lisbon and has a slightly drier and hotter climate. The landscape is very beautiful with vast planes scattered with wheat fields and olive trees which produce some of the best olive oils in the world.

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Portugal’s official language is Portuguese and it is spoken by over 200 millions people worldwide, mostly in Brazil and African countries. This is explained by the fact that Portugal was a vast empire, back in the XVI century, and it comprised Brazil, Angola, Mozambique and several other smaller countries all over the world.In fact, Portugal was the richest European country in the XVI century, due to the great amounts of gold, sugar and spices that it brought from America, Africa and Asia.