Portugal

Portugal is small enough to see properly in two weeks and varied enough to justify longer. Lisbon and Porto anchor the country at either end of a three-hour train line, with the Douro valley, the walled town of Obidos and the university city of Coimbra in between. The Algarve draws the summer crowds to its cliffs and beaches; the Alentejo immediately inland stays quiet, hot and agricultural. The Atlantic keeps coastal temperatures moderate even in August, and the sea is genuinely cold year-round. Portugal remains noticeably cheaper than Spain, France or Italy for food and accommodation, though Lisbon has closed much of that gap in recent years.