My husband and I are planning an October 2005 trip to Portugal. We stayed in a few paradores in Spain in 2001 and fell in love with the history and true charm of each. If you had to pick one pousada to stay in while touring Portugal, which would it be? And has anyone had any luck booking these directly, or must you use a travel agent or booking company? Thanks to all you Fodorites! Claire

I would recommend the posadsa in Setubal just outside of Lisbon. It is a restored castle, top notch and has some of the most spectaculare views of the water. We spent many hours relaxing on the balcony drinking coffee or port on both of our trips to Portugal.

We enjoyed the pousadas in Belmonte and Crato. We also stayed in Almeida but that is not an historical pousada. I would not recommend the pousada in Obidos.

We made some reservations directly through their website. Keep checking back for specials based on season, day of the week and age. Other times we had the pousada we were at call ahead to make the next reservation. We were traveling in the off season so availability was not an issue.

We liked P. do Monte de Sta. Luzia in Viana do Costelo and P. de Sta Marinha in Guimaraes. The latter was described as the best of the pousadas by www.discoverportugal2day.com on threads last Sring.
We booked through the "government-sponsored" web site, got great rooms and the 35% senior discount.
We really liked the parador in Baiona (Galicia) SP.
M

I have only stayed in 5 and enjoyed them all. My favorite was Viano do Castello because of the location, but the nicest one was Estromoz.

Thank you to all posters. This is quite interesting - the one I assumed would be best isn't recommended even (Obidos). I'll get working on these now! Claire

We stayed in the pousada in Evora, and it was absolutely wonderful. Booked it directly on their website.