These are the best places to travel this summer

The Alentejo

Portugal Travel Guide

Shop

Get even more with a Lonely Planet guide.

Shop Book
Overview of hilltop citadel of Marvao in Serra de Sao Mamede mountains.

Matt Munro

LONELY PLANET’S RECOMMENDED eSIM

Stay connected in The Alentejo

with

Saily is an affordable eSIM service that helps you stay connected and secure, anywhere in the world.

Get your eSIM

Overview

You'll be bewitched – Portugal’s largest region, covering a third of the country, truly captivates. Think dry, golden plains, rolling hillsides and lime-green vines. A rugged coastline, traditional whitewashed villages, marble towns and majestic medieval cities. Plus a proud if melancholic people, who valiantly cling to their local crafts.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

  • EVORA PORTUGAL- October 20, 2015:The Capela dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones), Church of St. Francis.The Chapel gets its name because the interior walls are covered and decorated with human skulls and bones; Shutterstock ID 530589013; Your name (First / Last): Tom Stainer; GL account no.: 65050 ; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial ; Full Product or Project name including edition: Best in Europe 2017

    Capela dos Ossos

    Évora

    One of Évora’s most popular sights is also one of its most chilling. The walls and columns of this mesmerising memento mori (reminder of death) are lined…

  • Roman temple of Diana, Evora, Portugal

    Templo Romano

    Évora

    Once part of the Roman Forum, the remains of this temple, dating from the 2nd or early 3rd century AD, are a heady slice of drama right in town. It's…

  • Cais Palafítico da Carrasqueira

    The Alentejo

    Built in the 1950s and 1960s, this ramshackle, zigzagging, interlocking pier on wooden stilts is one of Europe's last surviving of its kind. At sunset, it…

  • Panoramic of Almendres Cromlech, Evora, Portugal.

    Cromeleque dos Almendres

    Évora

    Set within a beautiful landscape of olive and cork trees stands this huge, spectacular oval of standing stones, 15km west of Évora. It is the Iberian…

  • Great Dolmen of Zambujeiro. Portuguese: Anta Grande do Zambujeiro, is a megalithic monument located in Nossa Senhora da Tourega, near Valverde, in the municipality of Evora.; Shutterstock ID 553023091; Your name (First / Last): Tom Stainer; GL account no.: 65050 ; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial ; Full Product or Project name including edition: Best in Europe 2017

    Anta Grande do Zambujeiro

    Évora

    The Great Dolmen of Zambujeiro, 13km southwest of Évora, is Europe’s largest dolmen. Under a huge sheet-metal protective shelter in a field of wildflowers…

  • Sé

    Évora

    Guarded by a pair of rose granite towers, Évora’s fortress-like medieval cathedral has fabulous cloisters and a museum jam-packed with ecclesiastical…

  • Convento dos Lóios

    Convento dos Lóios

    Évora

    The former Convento dos Lóios, to the right of Igreja de São João, has elegant Gothic cloisters topped by a Renaissance gallery. A national monument, the…

  • Igreja de São João

    Évora

    The small, fabulous Igreja de São João, which faces the Templo Romano, was founded in 1485 by one Rodrigo Afonso de Melo, count of Olivença and the first…

View more attractions
Advertisement

Plan with a local

Get a book. Get inspired. Get exploring.

Explore all books

in partnership with getyourguide

Book popular activities in The Alentejo

Go Beyond

The Alentejo and beyond

Beyond The Alentejo
Advertisement