There isn’t a wrong way to explore Portugal – except to make too many plans in advance. Train services here are efficient and the buses adequate, and slow travel has a charm of its own, but a car will allow you flexibility and make it easier to access the more remote places.

Belém’s Aviation Memorial.

Lydia Evans/Apa Publications

The roads are good and a motorway links Lisbon with Porto in the north, two hours’ drive away, and goes on to Galicia in Spain. The roads south from Lisbon cross the Tejo and head for Alentejo and Algarve. Away from the national highways, east–west motorways help you leap distances but north–south roads tend to be narrower, more winding.

Lisbon and its environs are the best starting point for a first taste of Portugal. From there, if the weather is fine, you may want simply to head south, to the glorious beaches of Algarve. After relaxing for a few days, you could start exploring the countryside. Begin by meandering through the expanse of Alentejo, which largely consists of spectacular plains, with the entrancing ancient town of Évora in their midst.

Cutting back towards the Atlantic, still heading north, you could visit the old university town of Coimbra and the surrounding sights. Look in on some of the traditional fishing communities along the coast: to the north is Porto on the Rio Douro and the wine districts of Douro and Minho. Here, world-famous port, delicious vinhos verdes and other wines are produced.

Bite-size sweets, or doces.

Lydia Evans/Apa Publications

The far interior north of Portugal is called Trás-os-Montes, a remote and hauntingly beautiful area. South of here, and still ruggedly hilly, is the Beira Alta; below that, the plains of Alentejo creep up into the province of Beira Baixa. And if you have time to visit Madeira and the Azores, you will discover lush, mountainous islands, rich in dramatic landscapes and subtropical flora.

Capela das Malheiras chapel, Viana do Castelo.

Lydia Evans/Apa Publications