Top Reasons To Go

Travel back in time: Wander amid megaliths erected 2,000 years before Stonehenge, Roman ruins, Moorish forts, and medieval monasteries in the province where Portugal’s history is best preserved.

Wide-open spaces:Stand atop a well-preserved medieval fortress and gaze out at undulating cork and wheat fields.

Traditional rural festivals: From Portuguese-style flamenco and bullfighting along the border with Spain, to autumn chestnut roasts in northern hill-town squares, and sardine festivals on the coast, every weekend offers another reason to celebrate in rural Alentejo.

Food and wine: Alentejano cuisine is considered Portugal’s best, with centuries-old farming practices that were organic long before it was trendy. The highlight is porco preto, free-range black pigs that graze on acorns under Alentejo’s ever-present cork trees. Also here are fields of vineyards mostly producing sturdy reds.