Harvest Packages at Herdade da Malhadinha Nova Country House and Spa

The Herdade da Malhadinha Nova Country House & Spa located in the heart of the Alentejo blends the traditional with a modern flare. The country inn includes a panoramic swimming pool and spa surrounded by vineyards, Bvlgari amenities, and a new trendy gourmet restaurant. Other activities include learning to be a shepherd or a miner for a morning or do a picnic in the country side. During August and September this boutique hotel is offering its guest a variety of ways to enjoy Harvest Season in Portugal that include enjoying the “Alentejo Tapas and Malhadinha Wines” with a Harvest and kit, dinner in the winery restaurant – Typical meal with Monte da Peceguina wines, Ice wine: Then, the Harvest starts early in the morning - Jeep Safari tour round the estate, Visit the winery, lunch in the winery restaurant, Wine tasting, Dinner in the winery restaurant: Next day you get to stomp on the grapes, Lunch in the vineyards, Massage and wine therapy, Dinner in the restaurant with tasting menu.

Dates offered:
18 to 21 August 2008 - Includes: 3 nights’ accommodation in a double room with breakfast, all the harvest experiences, Price: €1,200 – experience per double room
August 19 to 23 or September 19 to 23 2008 - Includes: 3 nights’ accommodation in a double room with breakfast Price €1,200 –per double room
August 24 to 26 2008 - Includes: 2 nights’ accommodation in a double room with breakfast, Price: 800 € - per double room
For more information on these promotions visit http://www.malhadinhanova.pt/spa/ing/index_ing.htm

Private Royalty Lusitano Horseback Riding Lessons are available near Lisbon

Private lessons in riding and grooming the Lusitano breed of horses are now being offered by Dom Francisco de Bragança, cousin to the heir to the Portuguese throne and whose family ruled Portugal from 1640 to 1910. Lessons can be in dressage, work-in-hand, or lunge, and all are taught at his estate at Quinta do Archino, 45 minutes outside of Lisbon. Lodging and full board at the resort are included, and guests join Dom Francisco for continued learning over dinner or by the pool. Price is 200 Euros per day for private lessons; 6-day public lessons are 1150 Euros. Click here for more information.

Beat the US Dollar in Portugal ...

How to take an inexpensive vacation with all the luxury comforts ? Go to Portugal. Portugal remains one of the few affordable and cool European destinations for US dollar holders.
Terracottajourneys offers a discount of up to $300 savings per person, when group travel occurs. Of course offers depends on tour and group size while enjoying an active vacation. To learn more about other ways you can save and enjoy a luxury vacation go to http://www.terracottajourneys.com/specials-and-promotions
A six night package to the Azores on Azores Express, cost a mere $759 per person, and that includes roundtrip air from Boston, 6 nights at a hotel, and breakfast. www.Azores-Express.com

The Pousadas Touring Unlimited special package offers 7 nights and rent a car from 607.60* USD per person in double room With the Touring Unlimited Package, visitors save money when staying in Portugal’s Pousadas. www.pousadas.pt

Solares de Portugal, a network of 96 manor houses, family homes, and stately palaces that offer a personal lodging From 65 euros double room per night with breakfast included. All their houses have been arranged into three distinct groups: Casas Antigas (Historic homes), Quintas e Herdades (Farms and Estate) and Casas Rústicas (Rural homes). Many Solares de Portugal have been in same family for hundreds of years and often date back to the 17th and 18th centuries. http://www.solaresdeportugal.pt/EN/condicoes.php

Blue Coast Bikes offers a 3-day/2-night Coastal Express tour so that you can enjoy a cycling adventure in the coastal Arrabida Park region, through vineyards and castle courtyards, within a shorter time frame. You’ll stay in first-rate accommodations: an historic castle, a traditional manor home or a countryside villa. You’ll taste regional wines and spend time in the shady olive groves as you rest between rides. Tour dates are offered for reservation throughout the year at 485 Euros for self-guided; 635 Euros for guided; plus 180 Euros supplement for single. www.bluecoastbikes.com

According to Fiona Lake Waslander, director of Yahoo! Travel, "Lisbon is the last affordable European city and was our top mover in 2007," Waslander told the Associated Press. Recently concierge.com considered Portugal one of the top dollar friendly destinations 2008 and the New York Times considered Lisbon the second best place to visit in 2008 . Also Sherman Travel and MSN ranked the Portuguese capital third in the world, and also the top city. Its pluses were its affordability, as well as its hip enclaves and cuisine.

Portimao cruise port offers regular ferry to Funchal in Madeira

Portimão will see 40 cruise ships docking at its port by the end of 2008. The addition of its new ferry crossing to Madeira is sure to continue to establish the destination as one of Europe’s most up-and-coming ports-of-call. As of June 15th, Naviera Armas is offering regular ferry crossings between Portimão and Funchal, Madeira. Cape Verde is also a port-of-call and the Canaries are being considered. It will be the first regular sea-crossing between the country on the continent and the island region in 30 years. A round-trip will start from approximately $900. Bookings can now be made on www.navieraarmas.com. Currently, around six thousand tourists visit Portimão annually on excursions organized while their cruise ships are docked at the city.

New Quinta de Bispos ecological hotel just opened in Centro de Portugal

The new Quinta de Bispos country house opened in June 2008 in central Portugal on the site of a former citrus farm. The orange grove of about 800 trees is being rejuvenated and guests of hotel will be able to use the grounds. The hotel is near the Caramulo mountains and a footpath leads from the hotel grounds directly into the mountains. The resort is seeking a designation as a European Ecological hotel, with its “green” activities in conservation of heating and water, eco-friendly lighting and reduced oil and gas carbon emissions. When the label is awarded, the hotel will be the first with the designation on the Portuguese mainland. http://www.quintadebispos.com

Get private and authentic portuguese cooking lessons in Lisbon

“Visiting Portugal Vacation Homes” is offering cooking lessons in a private apartment in Lisbon. The cooking coach will help you decide on a dinner menu of regional favorites, then guide you through a morning of shopping in the Lisbon’s centuries-old Mercado da Ribeira for fish, meat and fruit, and then to the gourmet shops for wine, cheese, bread and dessert.The program includes one meal and 3 nights stay at a private apartment for $930 for up to 3 people. For more detailed information visit http://www.visitingportugal.com/lisbon-cooking-classes.htm

Garranos Unique Breed - the only wild portuguese horses

About 1,600 of these wild, small but hardy mountain-living horses still roam free in the Peneda-Geres National Park in northeastern Portugal. Unfortunately their numbers have dwindled because of wolves preying on the young horses. The garrano breed was only officially recognized in 1993. The chestnut brown males stand about four feet high at the most. The garranos are well equipped to survive the mountainous terrain found in the northern hills. The pint-sized horses are believed to be the descendants of prehistoric horses such as the Equus Caballus, which roamed the northern Iberian Peninsula 1 million years ago. But, garranos have only one foal a year with the maximum life expectancy of the breed averaging 30 years. The breed almost disappeared at the start of the 20th century, but in 1945, 21 garranos in captivity were selected and freed into the wild in the Serras Amarela and Geres, with the objective of creating a reserve for them. In 1970, the Peneda-Gerês National Park was created with the aim to protect the last wild group of garranos horses in existence. In 1994 the breed was classified by the European Union as a “breed under threat” and registration began of all remaining horses. Read more about the gerranos breed at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrano