Portugal

Following the news that Portugal, including Madeira and the Azores, has a place on the UK’s green list, many of us are writing off other destinations and eyeing up its travel potential for the first time. There's more to Portugal than the Algarve: whether you’re in search of vines, hiking trails or secluded shores, it's possible to pull off an extremely varied break here.  The Coast As popular as Portugal is for its beaches, its long Atlantic coastline and wealth of islands means there’s plenty of coastal seclusion to be found. The Serra da Arrábida Natural Park near Lisbon covers more than 100 square kilometres and is the setting for several sandy stretches and smaller coves including Praia de Galapinhos.

On the morning of November 1755, Lisbon was struck by one of the deadliest earthquakes in history. It measured between 8.5 and 9.0 on the Richter scale, split the city center with fissures 16 feet wide, and killed perhaps 40,000 people (out of a population of 200,000). Shocked survivors gathered by the docks on the River Tagus, which had turned to a giant mudflat, littered with wreckage, as the sea mysteriously retreated. Many of them were killed by the tsunami that engulfed the city center 40 minutes later. Still, every cloud has a silver lining.