• Discover the historic university city of Coimbra, Portugal’s first royal capital

• Captivating medieval, renaissance & baroque art and architecture

• Visits to vineyards & private houses in the Dão Valley

• Private visits, lunches & dinners to house museums & palaces in Lisbon, Sintra & Santar

• Explore Lisbon’s galleries, museums & collections

• Comfortable 5* hotels in Coimbra & Lisbon

Portugal’s crusading ethos preceded its epic naval voyages of discovery when in the eleventh and twelfth centuries the twin objectives of the Christian Reconquista from the Moors and the end of its status as vassal of the Kingdom of León had been achieved. Independence was declared in 1128 and King Afonso I elevated Coimbra as royal capital. Pressing south, and with help of English crusaders, Lisbon was taken from Moorish control in 1147, replacing Coimbra as capital of Portugal in 1255.

Portugal began the Atlantic potential of the Iberian peninsula, settling Madeira in 1420. By the end of the century its navigators had mastered the compass and advances in mapmaking and ship design as their caravels reached the east coast of Africa, India and South America. By 1514, they had reached China and Japan. Portugal’s huge empire and trading networks brought vast wealth, which inevitably attracted its rival, Spain, who took Portugal as a prize between 1580 and 1640. Now ruled by the House of Braganza, Lisbon flourished, bolstered by Anglo-Portuguese trade and diplomatic harmony that have remained a constant ever since. Patronage and building before and after the terrible earthquake that struck Lisbon and the south in 1755 transformed it into a cultivated home port of its Atlantic Empire.             

Our own voyage of discovery awaits in the medieval royal capital Coimbra, with visits to the Dão Wine Valley and the monastic centre of ecclesiastical power at Alcobaça. Sophisticated and worldly Lisbon offers our party the opportunity to consider its remarkable patronage and how Portugal changed the world, and the world changed Portugal.      

James is joined by Helena Lemmonier, an experienced guide who has led cultural tours all over Portugal for many years. We shall stay at the 5* Quinta das Lágrimas located just outside of Coimbra. This eighteenth-century former manor sits in fine grounds and has an outdoor and indoor swimming pool, spa, restaurant and bar. Lower Coimbra, bars and restaurants are a fifteen-minute walk away. In Lisbon, we stay at the 5* Portobay Liberdade. Its amenities include a roof top bar, restaurant, indoor pool and spa. Located off Avenida da Liberdade, plenty of restaurants, shops and bars are within comfortable walking distance. Complimentary Wi-Fi is included in both hotels.

Day 1: Saturday 19 September – We fly to Lisbon from Heathrow, arriving mid-afternoon. We shall drive northwards to central Portugal and the city of Coimbra to check-in to our hotel, the Quinta das Lágrimas for 3 nights. Later in the evening we shall dine in our hotel restaurant - wine, water and coffee are included with all group lunches & dinners.

Day 2: Sunday 20 September – We spend the day in upper Coimbra. The city’s university was founded in 1290 and we shall visit an ensemble of interiors including the Baroque Joanina Library, created by King João V in 1717, the seventeenth- century Throne Hall and the Chapel of São Miguel. After coffee, we visit the Museu de Machado de Castro, an excellent chronology of Portuguese art from the twelfth to seventeenth centuries with a remarkable Roman cryptoporticus in its basement! We pause for a group lunch and conclude with the Gothic Old Cathedral, dating to 1184 and the richly decorated Church of Santa Cruz. We return to the hotel where the evening will be free.

Day 3: Monday 21 September – Today, we drive north-east of Coimbra along the vine-covered Dão Valley to the pretty village of Santar in the Beira region. We shall be the guests of the wine-making Counts of Santar e Magalhães, visiting their elegant mansion, private gardens and culminating in a private lunch and wine-tasting. In the afternoon, we continue to nearby Mangualde to visit Palacio dos Condes de Anadia, a fine eighteenth century town house still lived in by the building family with some of the finest examples of Azulejo blue tiles in the country.  We return to Coimbra and our hotel. The evening will be free.

Day 4: Tuesday 22 September – We depart Coimbra mid-morning with our luggage and travel by coach southwards to visit the former Cistercian Church and Monastery of Alcobaça, Portugal’s first entirely Gothic building whose adjoining Baroque church contains the tombs of notable Portuguese monarchs. Following lunch (not included) in the pretty town, we continue southwards to Lisbon to check in for 4 nights at the Portobay Liberdade. Later that evening there will be a group dinner in a local restaurant overlooking the historic centre down to the river Tagus.

Day 5: Wednesday 23 September – We travel to Belém in Lisbon’s western outskirts. We begin at the magnificent Jerónimos Church and Monastery, raised by King Manuel from 1502 after the return of Vasco de Gama from his inaugural voyage to India whose tomb lies within. After a coffee break, we explore the Belém Tower, the symbol of Portugal’s embrace of the New World. We return to Bairro Alto to visit the richly decorated Jesuit Church of São Roque. Lunch (not included) and the remainder of the afternoon will be free. In the late afternoon, we walk across from our hotel for an after-hours visit to the Medeiros e Almeida Museum, Lisbon’s most opulent house museum displaying superlative decorative arts, exquisite furniture and paintings, bequeathed to the city by art connoisseur, Antonio Medeiros e Almeida. Our private visit will be led by the museum’s director. The evening will be free.

Day 6: Thursday 24 September – We spend the day west of the city, beginning at Monserrate, the neo-Moorish and Italianate palace created by the English merchant Sir Francis Cook and garlanded with a richly planted park. We shall have a very agreeable private visit at the Quinta de São Sebastiao, where the owner will host us for lunch. In the afternoon, we have some free time in the village of Sintra used by the Portuguese royal family as a summer retreat. We return to Lisbon via the picturesque coastal route through Cascais, after which the evening will be free.     

Day 7: Friday 25 September – Our half-day is spent in the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Portugal’s ‘national gallery’ with a strong accent on Portuguese painting, decorative arts and an impressive collection of European Old Masters. Lunch (not included) and the afternoon will be free for private explorations. Our final dinner will be in a private palace in the Alfama district, hosted by the owning family.  

Day 8: Saturday 26 September – On our final day, we travel the short distance to the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum. The immensely wealthy Armenian oil magnate originally housed his remarkable collection in his Parisian residence. Now in Lisbon and soon-to-be reopened after a long refurbishment, we shall discover his taste for magnificent decorative arts, antiquities and Old Master paintings. We have our final, festive group lunch and conclude with a visit to the Palacio Fronteira, a seventeenth villa with fine gardens still lived in by the building family. We continue the short distance to Lisbon Airport for an early evening return flight to London Heathrow.

Price £4650pp Without Flights £4375pp Deposit £495 Single Supplement £395 (Double for Sole Use)

Hotels

3nts inc breakfast at 5* Quinta das Lágrimas, Coimbra

4nts inc breakfast at 5* Porto Liberdade, Lisbon

Flights British Airways

Outward: BA504 Depart London Heathrow (Terminal 5) 1245 arrive Lisbon 1535

Return BA507 Depart Lisbon 1855 arrive London Heathrow(Terminal 5) 2140

Price includes 3 dinners & 4 lunches with wine, water & coffee, all local transfers, entry fees & gratuities, the services of James Hill & our local guide/lecturer Helena Lemonnier

Not included Travel to/from Heathrow, 4 dinners & 3 lunches

Please note our tours generally involve a significant amount of standing and walking, sometimes across uneven ground, or over cobbled streets, or up and down steps and inclines. We do not have an upper age limit for participants, but we require you to have a level of fitness which does not affect other participants' enjoyment of the tour. Please also note that many palaces, gardens, villas, museums and galleries have limited seating and perhaps do not have lifts. You should be able to walk at a reasonable pace and/or stand for at least twenty minutes without aid or requiring a rest. If you are in any doubt, please do contact us for advice on the tour’s suitability for you.