Portugal was once one of the richest and most powerful nations in the world – commanding the oceans and opening trading routes across the globe. Today sees the country adopt a much more sedate pace, with the people of the country happier to recant tales of past glories, rather than pushing forward to keep up with modern Europe. That’s not to say the country is backward in any way – far from it – but the juxtaposition between the bigger cities and rural villages could easily lead a traveller into thinking they’ve entered a time warp.

Sitting at the lowest point of Southwest Europe, Portugal is home to a surprising amount of differing landscapes, especially considering its size, with the South home to climates and scenery akin to Central Spain and the North home to a much milder, greener scene. Portugal shares one border with Spain, which stretches from the North around to the Southeast and is one of the longest-standing borders in Europe today. The coastline of the country stretches 1,793km and – despite the sometimes Mediterranean climes – is completely made up by the Atlantic Ocean.

Whilst the Iberian peninsula has been occupied by people for nearly 500,000 years, the seeds of what is now modern Portugal were sown from around 700BC when the Celts, Germanics and Romans moved into the area, amongst others – the contrasting influences these civilisations had on different areas of the country are plain for all to see nowadays, with the Roman influence clear in the South and the Celtic and Germanic influences holding steady in the North. It wasn’t until the 15th century, however, that Portugal began its expansion over the seas – the highest point of this seafaring glory saw the country at the head of a huge empire spanning East Asia, Africa, Brazil and India amongst countless others and plonked Portugal firmly in the top five richest countries in the world. This meteoric rise didn’t last, however, and by the end of the 16th century and thanks to a number of reasons – a major one being the huge earthquakes that nearly destroyed Lisbon – the empire dwindled and Portugal entered a seemingly dormant state, which it still appears to hold to this day. The 20th century was not incredibly kind to Portugal and the majority of it saw the people living under the dictatorship of António de Oliveira Salazar, from 1926 until his death in 1968 – the loss of many colonies followed and set in motion the revolution of 1974 when the country was finally claimed back for the people. Slowly but surely things were getting back on track for Portugal, with entry to the EU in 1986 set to push the country forward and get things back to how they were in the glory days. Unfortunately things haven’t exactly turned out that way, and Portugal finds itself languishing near the bottom of the EU’s rich list – a string of bad luck, including terrible droughts, have caused havoc on the country’s economy, leaving those elected into power doing their best to sort things out and make Portugal an economic powerhouse once more. Though the country isn’t in the greatest of situations economically, things are looking up. As has been for the last fifty-plus years tourism is incredibly popular in the region and the country is a hotbed for foreign investors looking to pick a home in a prime European location that also happens to be surprising value for money.