While neighboring Spain often steals the limelight as a foodie destination, Portugal shouldn’t be overlooked. Michelin has recently awarded three restaurants in Portugal with their first star. The country now boasts twenty restaurants with one star, and six with two stars, demonstrating that exceptional cuisine is served in restaurants across the nation.
To give travelers a taste of the country’s gourmet cuisine, the national airline TAP Air Portugal has introduced a ‘Taste the Star’ programme, through which Michelin star chefs create exceptional local cuisine which is served to business class passengers.
Now is the time to visit, as Portugal’s food scene steps out of the shadow of Spain, and before the best culinary destinations become tourist hotspots. The new customizable trip from Insight Guides has been planned by a local expert with insider’s knowledge of the finest foodie options in the country – from exquisite codfish tasting menus in Aveiro to typical Portuguese snacks, known as petiscos, in Alentejo.
Insight Guides provides a personalized trip planning service that utilizes the expertise of local experts across the globe. The local experts live in their destinations and use this knowledge to create fully customizable cultural excursions to over 70 destinations. The latest trip visits Portugal, where travelers can experience the burgeoning food scene in the vibrant cities of Porto and Lisbon, and visit the rolling hills of the Douro Valley wine region and the UNESCO world heritage listed cultural landscape of Sintra.
As the trip is planned by local experts who know the country better than anyone else because they live there, all the details are taken care of – from reservations at the best restaurants to exclusive wine tastings. Travelers can expect:
- A premium vintage port tasting at a prestigious Porto winery
- A picnic and boat trip in the verdant Douro Valley wine region
- Culinary walking tours sampling gastronomic treats in Lisbon and Porto
- Guided tours of Sintra’s forested terrain and the coastal resort town of Estoril
- Optional lunch and dinner reservations at Michelin-starred restaurants
Vanessa, the Insight Guides local expert in Portugal, said,“Nowadays, Portugal is one of the most amazing and dynamic showcases in terms of food in Southern Europe: a bunch of new restaurants opens daily in any corner of this beautiful country. Markets such as La Ribeira in Lisbon or Bolhao in Porto are full of starving souls looking for the best bite. Don’t miss out petiscos (appetizers) paired with a glass of vinho verde or its outstanding seafood if you are near the Atlantic sea. Be impressed in 2019 for this lovely land!”
The trip can be viewed and modified here.
What are Insight Guides Trips?
Travel guide publisher, Insight Guides, uses local experts based all over the world to create and book customizable cultural guided trips to top locations. The trips are designed to help travelers experience the best of a location whilst taking away the stress of planning what to do and how to get around; everything will be planned and booked by the local expert in close contact with the traveler. The traveler can customize the trip as much as they like and pays just one lump sum for everything.
About Insight Guides
Insight Guides is also a pioneer of full-color guidebooks with almost 50 years’ experience of publishing inspirational and visual travel guides with user-friendly, modern design. The Insight Guides list comprises over 650 full-color print guidebooks, maps, as well as phrasebooks, eBooks and apps that meet different travelers’ needs, from pre-trip planning using the inspirational guidebooks to easy on-the-road exploration using the free accompanying eBooks and apps.
