So, I've been following this sub for quite some time, but never really contributed much. However, I've come to realize that what I'm hoping for here is some more background information and maybe less instagramm-y photos without any context. That's why I'm doing this more as a text post with a few photos in between (also, I'm not a photographer person and my phone camera is kinda shitty).

Enough with the preface, let's get going...I recently spent two months living in northern Portugal for work and in this time I absolutely fell in love with the country. The people are really nice, the younger ones all speak english, it's rather cheap, the food is good (try Francesinha!), and the weather is great. Before I went, Portugal always kinda flew under the radar for me and I never gave much thought into going there one day, but now, after spending my summer there, I'm completely amazed and can't wait to go back there. I'm by no means an expert when it comes to Portugal and I've only seen a tiny bit of what is to see there, but let me share my enthusiasm with you guys. Plus, I want to remind you to not just visit the main tourist hubs. While I'm glad that Lisbon and Porto seem to be getting more love here recently because they're amazing cities, I'm going to talk about three smaller places that I really liked.

So, I was based in the city of Braga, which is around 50 kilometres to the north-east of Porto. The few free days I've had I spent exploring the city and travelling mostly in the surrounding areas in northern Portugal (+ Lisbon). As opposed to Lisbon (and also Porto), Braga gets way less tourists, which I think is a shame, because it really is perfect for a daytrip if you're already in Porto. Taking the train for around four euros, you can get there in an hour and the city easily offers enough to see for one day. The most famous sight is probably the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte on a hill overlooking the city. It offers a great view and to get there, you have the choice of either taking the beautiful baroque stairway or, if you hate stairs as much as I do, the water-powered funicular, which actually is the world's oldest of its type. Behind the church, there's a small park with a lake, where you can relax or have a picnic. Btw, on the hill, there's another church, just a kilometre down the road. It's less visited, but also offers a nice view and a lot of stairs (no funicular, though :/ ). If you've already made it up the hill, you might want to check it out, too. Back in the city centre, there are a lot more churches to visit (incredible, how many churches they fit in one city), most notably the cathedral, and quite a few other remnants of the city's long history.

Another city to do a day trip to from Porto is Guimarães. It's considered to be the birthplace of the nation of Portugal and, like Braga, has a pretty long history, as indicated by the many old buildings. For me, the most impressive was the castle, which was built as early as the 10th century, but there's loads of other stuff to see. You can also take the cable railway (? don't know the right word for that in English, sorry) to get to a church on top of a hill just outside the city. IMO, the church is not all that interesting, but similar to Braga, you can catch a nice view of the city and there's a park, too, to relax.

My favority place however, was not a city, but Peneda Gerês, Portugal's only national park, right at the border to Spain. It's another 30 or 40 kilometres from Braga and there's busses going there every day. It's really, really great if you're into hiking. For me as an introvert, there's nothing better than just sitting at a place like this for five hours and doing nothing but enjoying the view and reading a good book, not seeing a single person the whole time. Seriously, check it out. Supposedly, you might even be able to see wild horses, but I only saw their tracks.

Obrigado for reading this. I hope I could convey my love for Portugal at least a bit (and I also hope I didn't butcher the english language too much and that it's somewhat readable).

TL;DR: Go to Portugal. If you're going to Portugal, visit the North. If you're going to the North, do not just visit Porto.