Portugal tops holiday destination list with tripadvisor.com
7 October 2008
Portugal made the Top Destination list produced by tripadvisor.com. In fact, Portugal is also on Tripadvisor.com’s Featured Destination, Best Beach Vacations Recommended Vacations, and Trip to Europe lists.
This news was welcomed by Portugal’s National Tourism Office (PNTO) who announced that, despite the fact that the high summer tourist season has ended, the country still has a lot to offer to visitors and opened a new campaign to promote Portugal as an excellent tourist destination for the winter season. According to PNTO, the holiday season in Portugal really gears up on November 1, when Portuguese families celebrate All Soul’s Day with commemorations of the dead. Flowers are laid at family graves, cemeteries are spruced up and special masses and processions are held. The day is a national holiday. As the calendar turns to December, Christmas festivities begin.
On the island of Madeira, where the weather is mild year-round, the capital city of Funchal comes alive with holiday lights, fireworks and celebrations from the beginning of the month until January 6, considered the end of the Christmas season. In the city of Lisbon, the season is marked by street theatre and festivities at the Belem Tower.
Many hotels offer special packages that include gala dinners. In the Algarve, on New Year’s Eve, hotels and the town’s streets are the scene of many parties and elaborate displays of lights. At Lisbon’s Belem Tower site, a musical extravaganza is staged, plus fireworks and a mega disco.