On this first day you'll have the contrast between the Medieval and the new modern architecture, and the only things that still binds them, the Portuguese tiles(Azulejos).

LISBON: On the right bank of the broad Tagus river estuary, the capital of Portugal graciously reclines over rolling hills. This is a spectacular geographical location and does much to explain the cosmopolitan history of the city. Its exceptional natural light, which has long inspired writers, photographs and filmmakers.

With the arrival of the Moors from the 8th century, it was renamed Aschbouna. The city fell to the Portuguese in 1147, when conquered by the first king of Portugal, Afonso Henriques. It became the national capital in 1255.

On this first day you’ll have the contrast between the Medieval and the new modern architecture, and the only things that still binds them, the Portuguese tiles: Azulejos.

BAIXA (DOWNTOWN), Sites: Park Edward VII, Avenida da Liberdade, Squares of Rossio and Restauradores, St. Dominic's Church (18th century), Ginjinha, Baixa Pombalina (Pombaline Downtown), Praça do Comércio.

QUARTER ALFAMA, Sites: Lisbon Cathedral (12th century), Viewpoint Portas do Sol, St. George Castle.

Visit the modern art district of PARQUE DAS NAÇÕES / EXPO: This is the most modern quarter of Lisbon. A quarter with lots of contemporary architecture. We’ll have a stroll around and a cable car ride to take pictures of Lisbon Oceanarium, Alameda dos Oceanos, Lisbon Casino, Portugal Pavilion, Oriente Train Station from Architect Santiago Calatrava, Atlantic Pavilion where major concerts are hosted, Europe’s biggest bridge Vasco da Gama.

Hotel | Lisboa

QUARTER BELÉM (UNESCO): Belém Tower (16th century), Monument of Discoveries (20th century), Traditional Milk Custard Tarts of Belém "Pastéis de Belém" (19th century)

MONASTERY OF JERÓNIMOS (UNESCO): Built in the 16th century, an impressive example of Manueline architecture. It was King Manuel I who ordered the construction of the Monastery and its endowment to the Order of the Friars of Saint Jerome. The sheer magnificence of the building reflects the universal vision of its founder and the scale of the wealth available to the Crown. This was the starting point of the Portuguese discoveries.

Inside the church, a masterpiece of the Manueline style, with beautiful transept vaults supported by palm tree column, an ambitious approach by the Portuguese architect. On entry, there are the tombs of the poet Luís de Camões, author of the epic masterpiece Os Lusíadas. As well as the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama, commander of the armada that set sail for India in 1497, completing the first such naval voyage in history. You can also find in the lateral chapels and in the chancel, tombs of Portuguese Kings during the Golden Age of the discoveries.

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QUARTER BAIRRO ALTO (photo stop): Viewpoint São Pedro de Alcântara.

Hotel | Lisbon

OBIDOS is a charming and picturesque medieval village, with white washed houses decorated with flowers. Captured from the Moors by the first king of Portugal, D. Afonso Henriques, in 1148, though already occupied before the Romans reached the Iberian Peninsula, the village became prosperous from the time it was chosen by the royal family, when the King Dinis offered it as wedding gift to his wife Isabel, in the 14th century. Full of flowers, many medieval monuments and beautiful panoramic views are found here, relax yet in a medieval bar while enjoying the famous local liqueur "Ginjinha".

NAZARÉ is blessed with magnificent light, pleasing sun, fine white sand and hospitable locals. The seven colorful skirts worn by Nazaré women have been worn since the days when they used to wait for their husbands to return from the day's fishing trip. But today the town is defined more by the waves that attract surfers and body-boarders and the beautiful underwater landscapes that attract divers. The lovely cove is protected by high cliffs, atop which the Sítio da Nazaré offers a memorable view.

ALCOBAÇA: Monastery or Royal Abbey of Santa Maria, founded by the Order of Cistercians in 1153. Building began in 1178 on land donated by Dom Afonso Henriques, the first King of Portugal to the Order of Cistercians, in fulfilment of a vow made after the Christian reconquest of Santarém. Testify the magnificent gothic tombs of the two lovers King Pedro and Ines de Castro.

BATALHA: Built in 1386 to keep a vow by Portuguese King Dom João I to the Virgin Mary that he would build it if Portugal defeated Castile at the Battle of Aljubarrota on 14th August 1385. The Monastery of Batalha, a masterpiece of Portuguese Gothic, is a magnificent piece of architecture that combines various influences from its lengthy period of construction, which lasted several reigns. Outstanding in the interior are the Founders' Chapel with its fine stained-glass windows, the cloisters, the Unfinished Chapels with their Manueline and Flemish Gothic features and the Chapter House.

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Hotel | Tomar

The ALMOUROL CASTLE is one of the most emblematic monuments of the Christian reconquest of the 12th century. Almourol Castle is also one of the most significant military Medieval monuments, which best evokes the memory of the Knights Templar in Portugal.

Its history reminds us of the Reconquest of the Portuguese territory during the Middle Ages. When the Christians arrived here in 1129, the castle already existed under the name of Almorolan, having been incorporated immediately afterwards into the land that was placed under the protection of the Knights Templar, whose Master at that time was Gualdim Pais. According to an inscription at the entrance to the castle, its reconstruction work began in 1171.

Former seat of the Order of the Knights Templar, TOMAR (UNESCO) s a city of great charm for its artistic and cultural wealth, whose greatest expression is in the Convent of Christ, one of the chief works of the Portuguese Renaissance. The development of Tomar is closely linked to the Order of the Templars, which received these lands in 1159 as a reward for the assistance they gave Dom Afonso Henriques (the First King of Portugal) in the Christian reconquest of the territory.

It was Dom Gualdim Pais, the first Grand Master of the Order in Portugal, who founded the castle and the remarkable CONVENT OF CHRIST inside. Enlarged and altered over the centuries, this retains the influences of various architectural styles; it is the centrepiece of the city and classified as a World Heritage site by UNESCO.

The Order of the Templars was suppressed in France in the early 14th century, but in Portugal it was transformed into the Order of Christ on the initiative of King Dom Dinis. This was subsequently approved by the Pope, and it was decided that the immense wealth they possessed should pass to the Order of Christ, which came to play an important part in the historic Portuguese Discoveries.

MONSANTO, It is said that, from this bulwark, the village was able to withstand the siege imposed by the Romans in the 2nd century BC for as long as seven years. This extraordinary feat is commemorated by the villagers in their Festa das Cruzes (Festival of the Crosses), every year on 3 May. The village offers visitors some of the most interesting human landscapes in Portugal. It spreads along the hillside, making use of the granite boulders to form the walls of the houses. In some cases, a single block of stone forms the roof, which is why the houses are popularly said to have "only one tile". The steep climb up to the castle is rewarded by one of the most breathtaking views in the whole region.

Hotel | Monsanto

Successive settlements of the region by different civilizations have left IDANHA-A-VELHA with a most valuable historical heritage.

This village was once one a very important backstage of battles between Christians and Muslims in the first century of Portuguese nationhood, when the first king of Portugal, gave the city to the Order of the Knights Templar in order for it to be repopulated.

Surmounted by a 12th century castle, the Templar Knights of SORTELHA built here a formidable crag at an altitude of 760 meters, Sortelha still retains its mediaeval appearance intact through the architecture of its rural granite houses. The village’s name derives from the nature of its terrain, being surrounded by rocky escarpments in the shape of a ring (sortija, in Castilian), its walls also having been built in a circular fashion. 

We end the day in BELMONTE. Hometown of the navigator Pedro Alvares Cabral, discoverer of Brazil. Belmonte retains much of the medieval atmosphere of times when the Jewish community would have to practice its prayers, traditions and customs in secrecy even if Belmonte is now more than proud to be home to the Bet Eliahu synagogue.

Hotel | Belmonte

The first hilltop castle will be MARVÃO. One of the most beautiful and impenetrable fortresses in the country. It is so high, that one can see the backs of the birds flying by.

This medieval walled town is one of Portugal’s treasures, where the battles of Independence between Portugal and Spain took place in 1640, it came to be regarded as the "most unconquerable stronghold in the whole kingdom." Today, however, it is a place of peace and quiet.

Second is CASTELO DE VIDE. A superb quaint village. The castle is surrounded by whitewashed houses stands out in the landscape and comes as a surprise. A greater surprise, however, is in the town itself, where one of the best preserved Jewish quarters in Portugal can be found.

You will be easily enchanted by the charm of the mediaeval setting. Visit the old synagogue, now a museum, and walk through the labyrinthine streets, where you will see the Jewish presence in the street names and the signs of the faith of generations of Hebrews on the granite doors. Rua das Espinosas, for example, refers to the famous 17th century philosopher, Spinoza, who was the son of an inhabitant of Castelo de Vide.

Hotel |  Castelo de vide / Marvão

ÉVORA, classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage City, due to its excellent preservation along the centuries. Walk in its historical center and feel the atmosphere of this walled city. Beautiful iconic monuments await your visit like the enigmatic church of St. Francis and its Bones Chapel, the narrow streets of the old town reaching the Geraldo square where the Inquisition once had its headquarters, the millennium old Roman Temple, the 12th century gothic cathedral and the old university.

Hotel | Lisboa