Porto will become Emirates' second destination in Portugal after its capital, Lisbon

Emirates announced last 19th February,  that it will launch a four times weekly service between Portugal’s second largest city, Porto, and Dubai, from 2 July 2019.

Porto will become Emirates’ second destination in Portugal after its capital, Lisbon, which the airline currently serves with two flights a day. The flight will be operated by a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in a three class cabin configuration, offering eight private suites in First Class, 42 lie flat seats in Business Class and 310 spacious seats in Economy Class.

The flight between Dubai and Porto will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, and depart Dubai as EK197 at 0915hrs and arrive in Porto at 1430hrs. The return flight, EK198, will depart Porto at 1735hrs and land in Dubai at 0415hrs the next morning. 

Situated along the coast and on the Douro River, Porto is world famous for its Port wine production and historical city centre, a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. Besides offering a rich cultural heritage and variety of tourist attractions, Porto is also an important trade and industrial city, attracting business travellers.

“Porto is currently enjoying increased levels of tourism, which is also reflective of the growth in the number of visitors to Portugal as a whole. The introduction of this new flight, along with our twice daily Lisbon service, will help meet this growing demand from both leisure and business travellers, as well as provide them with more choice, flexibility and connectivity when travelling to and from Portugal,” said Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airline.

Source: Emirates

European Cycle Tourism Week 2019

At the end of June, Portugal will host the European Cycle Tourism Week, a major event promoted by the European Cycling Federation, represented in Portugal by the Portuguese Cycling Federation (Federação Portuguesa de Ciclismo).



In 2019 Belmonte will be the base for this event, whose purpose is to promote leisure cycling, unhurriedly and without races, where the intention will be to discover the extensive region of Historic Villages showing Portugal as an important destination for those who like cycling, whether professional or not.

All week long, there will be three daily rides - short, medium and long - which will start and finish in Belmonte; 10 in-line routes to the Historic Villages furthest away; 2 harder challenges including mountain stretches and long distances, and 1 GPC [‘Grande Percurso de Cicloturismo’], a Long Cycle Touring Route of the Historic Villages, covering about 600 km.

In addition to the rides there will be another programme with activities for children and tours of the Historic Villages.

Find more information at:
- http://sect2019.fpciclismo.pt/en/
- https://www.facebook.com/sect2019/
- https://www.instagram.com/xvsemaineeuropeenne/
- https://www.youtube.com/ Semaine Européenne de Cycloturisme 2019

February 2019 "Follow Me": Lisbon monthly tourist Guide for visitors

Before you visit Lisbon, check "Follow me Lisboa" and discover what´s happening in the Lisboa region during the month of February. "Follow Me Lisboa" is a monthly tourist Guide for visitors.

A bilingual guide in Spanish/English, and in Portuguese/French, it is a pocket-sized publication containing the main cultural and other events to interest to the tourist and a complete itinerary to museums, monuments, parks, gardens, hotels and restaurants.

Find more about Lisboa region at:
- https://www.visitportugal.com/DiscoveringLisbon
- http://www.visitlisboa.com/
- Brochure "Lisbon City Breaks"
- Brochure Lisbon: " A whole world to explore"
- 10 things to do and to see in Lisbon 

Algarve Events Guide for February 2019

Going to the Algarve during the month of February? So discover here what’s happening in the Algarve region.

The Algarve is known for its beaches, natural landscapes, bars and golf courses. And for its restaurants, hotels, monuments, and of course, for entertainment.

The offer of entertainment destination is diversified and includes events of public and private partners that invite you to enjoy emotions and traditions, sounds and regional flavors, that the Algarve Tourism organizes in this guide leaflet.

Find more information about the Algarve at:- Algarve Region
- Algarve
- Algarve Brochure
- Brochure Algarve, Ideas & Inspirations - Algarve Guides
- Algarve Map
- Program Algarve 365

Porto will have more direct flights from TAP

TAP's new destinations from Porto, Brussels, Lyon and Munich are European cities to which TAP will offer direct flight in 2019.

Flights to the capital of Belgium begin on July 1 with two daily flights. Departures from Porto are at 7:00 a.m. and 5:35 p.m., arriving in Brussels at 10:30 a.m. and 9:05 p.m., respectively.

TAP operations to Lyon, France and Munich, Germany, will begin on September 1. Flights to Lyon will be twice daily: departure from Porto at 6:30 a.m. and arrival in Lyon at 9:35 a.m. and departure from Porto at 6:30 p.m. and arrival in the French city at 9:35 p.m.

For Munich, TAP operations will begin with a daily flight departing from Porto at 12:15 p.m. and arriving in the German city at 3:55 p.m.

This increase in routes from the Porto Airport allows TAP to operate 19 direct routes from Porto to airports in Europe, the United States and also Brazil, in a total of 288 weekly flights.

Source: Tap Air Portugal

Held every four years, the next edition of Festa dos Tabuleiros (Festival of the Trays) will be held from June 29 to July 8, 2019

Unique in the world, the Trays Festival is held every four years in Tomar. The next festival will be held from June 29 to July 8, 2019. Do not miss this unique event!

The blessing of the trays, the street decorations, the quilts in the windows and the throwing of flowers over the procession of the trays carried by hundreds of young girls on their heads, is an unforgettable sight.

The Procession of the Tabuleiros, heralded by pipers and fireworks, is led by the Banner of the Holy Ghost and the three Crowns of the Emperors and Kings. They are followed by the Banners and Crowns from all the parishes, and the girls carrying the trays. In the rear are the cartloads of bread, meat and wine, pulled by the symbolic sacrificial oxen, with golden horns and sashes.

The girls who carry the trays have to wear long white dresses with a coloured sash across the chest. They are helped by boys, who also wear a formal costume, white shirts with rolled-up sleeves, dark trousers, a black tasselled cap and a tie matching the girl´s sash. The tabuleiro (tray headdress), which must be of the same height as the girl, is made up of 30 loaves of bread, specially shaped and each weighing 400 grams, threaded at equal spaces on 5 or 6 canes. The canes are tied to a wicker basket, and at the top there is a Crown with the Cross of Christ or the Dove of the Holy Ghost. The decoration is completed by paper flowers, greenery and wheat sheaves.

Find more information at:
- http://www.cm-tomar.pt/festa-tabuleiros
- https://www.visitportugal.com/Festival of the Trays
- Poster of the Festival dos Tabuleiros 
- Flyer of the Festival dos Tabuleiros
- https://www.visitportugal.com/Tomar

New routes from TAP: Starts flights to Naples and Tenerife in June 2019

TAP has two more routes coming into service in 2019. 

After announcing flights to Tel Aviv, Basel, Dublin, Chicago, Washington and San Francisco, the company has added another two destinations to its list for the coming year. Naples, in Italy, and Tenerife, in Spain, are now available for purchase, with inaugural flights scheduled to begin on 15 June 2019. 

There will be one flight a day to Naples, departing Lisbon at 7:15 am and arriving in the Italian city at 11:15 am, except Saturdays, when the flight leaves Lisbon at 9:05 am and arrives in Naples at 1:05 pm.

The company will also operate seven flights a week to Tenerife, departing Lisbon at 9:30 am and arriving in the Canaries at 12 pm.  

Naples is TAP’s sixth destination in Italy. Tenerife is the company’s 11th route to Spain and its second to the Canaries following the launch of the service to Gran Canaria in 2017.
This investment in the European market enhances the company’s European network, increasing the flow of passengers between continental and intercontinental flights, which is helping consolidate Lisbon’s position both as an important European tourist destination and a hub for onward flights to the Americas and Africa. 

Find more information at:
-https://www.flytap.com/

Source: Tap Air Portugal