The best times to visit Portugal

In recent years, you may have noticed more and more of your friends booking trips to Portugal, and it’s not hard to see the appeal: In a country roughly the size of Indiana, you’ll have access to the world-class museums and historic sites of the capital city Lisbon, the sun-drenched beaches of the Algarve, the wineries of the Douro Valley, and the up-and-coming culinary and design scenes of Porto. So when’s the best time to visit? The short answer, surprisingly, is anytime you want. Thanks to its location at the southwestern corner of Europe and its position as a still-emerging destination, Portugal sits in a sweet spot that few European countries occupy: During the winter low season, the weather is still rather lovely; during the summer rush, there are still deals to be found and pockets of the country not yet overrun by tourists. Here, our guide to the best seasons to discover this Iberian gem.

Roughly speaking, the low season in Portugal runs from November to March, excluding the weeks surrounding Christmas and New Year’s Day. Many resort towns will go quiet during the winter, but for deal-seekers, it’s an incredible time to explore Lisbon. Hotel rates plummet, museums are blissfully free of crowds, and you can finally snag a seat at some of the cities’ hottest bars and restaurants. That comes in particularly handy at no-reservation spots like A Cevicheria, where you can sip pisco sours under a giant octopus model, or Taberna da Rua das Flores, where daily specials (like mackerel tartare) are written on a chalkboard.

Temperatures remain surprisingly mild—with average highs in the upper 50s in January, usually the coldest month—but it can get a bit rainy, so this is the season to immerse yourself in culture. Visit museums like the Museu Nacional de Azulejo or the Museu Coleção Berardo, catch a performance of fado music, or eat your way around Time Out Market Lisboa, where the city’s top chefs operate fast-food-style counters. When it comes to hotels, book a night at The Ivens, a Travelers’ Choice Award winner that opened in 2021, blocks from the ​​Praça do Comércio.

The Algarve region is blessed with some of the most beautiful beaches in Europe, centered around bustling resort towns like Albufeira, with its nearby Moorish castle ruins, and Lagos, where sandy coves are hemmed in by dramatic cliffs. From June through August, you’ll be jockeying for position on the sand with beachgoers from all across Europe, who use the network of budget airlines to flood these towns in the high season. But in the shoulder season months of the late spring and early fall, conditions are nearly as dreamy, with a climate that’s dry, sunny, and warm.

It’s an ideal time to explore some of the Algarve’s most adventurous outdoor pursuits, such as searching for dolphins out at sea, exploring Benagil Cave by bodyboard, or cruising out into the countryside in an open-air Jeep. After a day of adventure, relax at one of the Algarve’s fabulous beachfront properties, like the Bela Vista Hotel & Spa, a turn-of-the-20th-century villa overlooking Praia da Rocha, or the family-friendly Martinhal Sagres Beach Resort & Spa.

Last year, United Airlines launched seasonal nonstop flights from Newark, NJ, to Ponta Delgada on São Miguel in the Azores, which run from May through September. The volcanic archipelago is something of Europe’s answer to Hawaii, featuring an otherworldly landscape of geothermal hot springs, emerald-green pastures, and cobblestoned fishing villages. Thanks to the moderating influence of the Gulf Stream, the weather remains temperate throughout the year, but the summer months are particularly sunny and pleasant, with temperatures in the 70s.

The Azores are also known for their abundance of fluffy blue hydrangeas, which line mountain passes in such an ostentatious display that it’s sometimes hard to keep your eyes on the road. Stay among the botanical splendor at the Terra Nostra Garden Hotel, a 1935 Art Deco gem hidden away in the nearly 250-year-old Parque Terra Nostra, a botanical garden and geothermal hot spring in the São Miguel town of Furnas. The hydrangeas hit their dazzling peak in late July, but if you want to see the bursting bushes at their best and brightest, you’ll have to island hop to Faial: Due to acidic soil with high aluminum content, the flowers here are so blue that the place is nicknamed “the Blue Island.” Here, the Pátio Lodge will set you up on horseback rides or hikes to explore the lush surroundings.

One of the most sublime ways of enjoying the country is on a river cruise through the Douro Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage site where wine has been made for more than 2,000 years. The valley and its eponymous river are anchored by the city of Porto and towns such as Peso de Régua, Lamego, and Pinhão. Throughout, the region is brimming with its trademark terraced hillsides, historic quintas (rural estates), and traditional rabelo boats, which can often be seen piled high with port wine barrels on their way to Vila Nova de Gaia's cellars and warehouses.

Douro River cruises used to run from the spring through the fall, but increased popularity means you can now find lines like AMAWaterways offering itineraries as early as March and as late as December. Summers in the country’s interior can get scorchingly hot, and droughts can sometimes lead to low water levels on the river, which may impact your itinerary. For perfect conditions (with a slightly higher price tag to match), you can’t beat the early autumn, which coincides with the festive grape harvest season. The grapevines that criss-cross the hills above the riverbanks in neat rows also make for an exceptional local spin on fall foliage.

When you’re ready to recover from all that vino, check in at the wellness-focused Six Senses Douro Valley or The Wine House Hotel at Quinta da Pacheca, where you can sleep inside a surprisingly spacious wine barrel.

Much like the rest of Europe, Portugal gets into the holiday spirit with a slew of Christmas markets, held everywhere from big cities like Lisbon to small towns like Óbidos, where the Vila Natal fair—complete with an ice-skating rink, character meet-and-greets, and puppet and magic shows—sets up shop within the medieval castle walls. But unlike the rest of Europe, you won’t be freezing cold as you shop for handicrafts and sample seasonal specialties, like bolo rei (king cake, studded with fruits and nuts) and rabanadas (Portuguese French toast).

For a unique twist on the formula, head to the country’s unofficial Christmas capital, the hilltop village of Cabeça, near Serra de Estrela Natural Park in the country’s mountainous interior. Here, artisans in the town of about 170 residents craft a magical and sustainable holiday display, where all the decorations are made with natural materials, such as moss, ferns, pinecones, red berries, and wool.