Christmas & Winter
Traditions
Handcrafted nativity scenes, traditional pig gatherings, consoada supper and solstice rituals. Winter in Portuguese villages preserves the country's most intimate traditions.
Portugal in quietude
Portuguese Christmas has a rural depth that cities have lost. In Tras-os-Montes villages, the Festa dos Rapazes keeps rite-of-passage rituals with masks and bonfires. In Beira, traditional pig gatherings follow ancestral calendars.
From Madeira — with its lapinha nativity scenes and Europe's most spectacular New Year — to snow-touched inland villages with consoada supper by the fireplace, winter is the most authentic season to experience Portugal.
Madeira Island
Portugal's most famous New Year's celebration, traditional nativity scenes and Madeiran lapinhas
Braganca
Festa dos Rapazes and winter solstice rituals in remote highland villages
Viseu
Traditional pig slaughter gatherings, live nativity scenes and Christmas markets in Beira Alta
Guarda
Christmas in Portugal's highest city, snow-covered villages and granite nativity scenes
Vila Real
Douro Christmas traditions, highland consoada supper and New Year festivals in villages
Castelo Branco
Christmas in Beira Baixa with handcrafted nativity scenes, winter cuisine and historic villages
Lisbon
Christmas markets, nativity scenes in historic churches and festive lights in old quarters
Porto
Christmas market in the historic centre, northern nativity scenes and consoada with salt cod
Start with Portugal's most spectacular Christmas.
Explore Madeira