The nearest faraway place is this way

Remember maps? Real maps, printed maps, not those on a smartphone app. They’re still around. They’re hidden away on a shelf at the bottom of the travel guide section in bookstores. Find one for Portugal. Take it home. Open it all up on the kitchen table. Identify the main cities, like Porto, Lisbon, Coimbra or Faro. Pick one. Then, follow any road from it that leads towards a Portugal you don’t know yet. That’s where we’ll meet.

Just an hour south of Porto is the Costa Nova Beach. It’s a kind of micro-Miami Beach but filled with vivid Portuguese folk traditions. Old fishermen’s houses and workshops line the sand. Built of wood, they vibrate in their colorful pinstriped façades. Costa Nova is Aveiro’s beach, a city noted for its art nouveau architecture and the canals that run through it. When here, there’s nothing like staying at the excellent Aveiro MS Collection. The impressive hotel is actually the 150-year-old Valdemouro Palace. It was once the family home of the great 19th century novelist Eça de Queirós.

Beautiful and aristocratic Santar is a Garden-Town near Viseu and Coimbra. It’s a wonderful destination for wine lovers. It also boasts a remarkable 5-star boutique hotel, the Valverde Santar. It’s right in the heart of the Dão wine region, a nectar that’s becoming more and more an international sensation. The Valverde offers a high level of privacy and attention to guests. There are only 21 rooms and suites available. Once a palace, it used to be the residence of Miguel de Bragança, Duke of Viseu. Don’t miss the four hectares of vineyards and the romantic gardens. It’s a great stopover if you’re on your way to the Douro Valley.

Canoeing, climbing, abseiling and rope slides. River beaches with crystal clear water. Out of the ordinary bike trails. The charm and adventure is in the pure nature. Welcome to the lands of the Lousã Mountain Range. It’s a world where time passes more slowly. Where the hospitable people always have the time to welcome visitors and share stories, crafts and traditions. And where you can explore the 27 Schist Villages network. The various shades of this rock mingle seamlessly into the colours of the natural landscape. Halfway between Lisbon and Porto, Lousã is quite the unexpected adventurous Portuguese countryside. (And don’t forget to check into the beautiful Octant Lousã hotel.)

The vast plains of the Alentejo hold places like the almost forgotten Vila Nova da Baronia. Such a place will make you stay there for quite a while. And can you resist this description? “We’re perfectly located in the heart of true Alentejo, right in the center of a completely unspoilt village, Baronia. People here are kind, and life is still slow and of another time. The countryside is beautiful and peaceful. A perfect place to rest, unwind and be pampered”. True to the heart, these are the warm words from the people of The Green House hotel, assuring you a way to disconnect from the craziness of modern times. And to find a genuine Portugal. Their just six elaborate suites say everything on how they keep it perfect.

The Algarve 125 mile coastline is a stunning Portuguese jewel. Spreading all the way over to the Spanish border, it’s an ideal mixture of Atlantic and Mediterranean spirit. Its virtues lie not only in its irresistible beaches and warm waters. Millennia-old history, dating back to before Christ, blends with traditions and rural purity. The small city of Tavira, alongside the Formosa Lagoon, is a beautiful example of all this. And if you go a little further into its countryside, you’ll find the Casas da Quinta de Cima (which means something like The Uphill Farmhouses). A hidden paradise in the last stretch of unspoiled Algarve. An idyllic vacation retreat by the Cacela Velha village, just two kms from the Algarve’s best beaches. A boutique hotel with only nine suites and a private house with its own swimming pool. It’s all about the real and rural Algarve.