Portugal is a relaxed wonder of Europe. The world-renown Algarve coast offers highly developed stretches of beach while Lisbon is known as Europe?s laid-back and affordable capital city. Its features impressive architecture, UNESCO World Heritage sites, a diverse population, delicious seafood and a non-stop cosmopolitan night-life. Sit in a street cafe with a bica (espresso) or a glass of port and watch the world go by. Following its heyday as a world power during the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal lost much of its wealth and status with the destruction of Lisbon in a 1755 earthquake. Now Portugal is revered for its laid-back lifestyle and landscape wreathed in olive groves, vineyards and wheat fields. Apart from the Algarve, the coast remains relaxing, totally Portuguese and isolated. There is a host of UNESCO World Heritage sites, including Porto, one of the oldest cities in Europe. Upstream is an open-air prehistoric art gallery composed of the Rock Engravings of the C?a Valley. Nearby breathtaking Douro valley is where they grow the grapes used to produce another of the world's great heritages, Port wine. The city of Tomar is dominated by the Convento de Cristo and the Castelo Templario, both of which bear witness to the history of the Order of the Knights Templar. The Azores and Madeira Islands offer landscape of unparalleled natural beauty.This is Portugal.