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Costa Verde (English: Green Coast) is a tourist and coastal region of northwest Portugal, delimited by the river mouths of Minho in the north and Douro in the south. [1]
The name of the region comes from the dominant colour of the dense vegetation of the land, the green (Verde in Portuguese), supported by abundant precipitation. The climate is classified as Mediterranean (Köppen climate classification: Csb). As a result, its climate shares many characteristics with coastal southwestern Portugal: warm, dry summers and mild rainy winters.
In the coastal area, along with Porto, there are cities and towns with a strong tradition of beach tourism, and in fisheries, most notably Espinho and Póvoa de Varzim, both cities have popular casinos, hotels and golf courses. Other relevant coastal towns, with less urban development, include Esposende, Viana do Castelo, Vila do Conde, and Caminha. Several beaches in these municipalities are worthy of note, such as Moledo, Apúlia, Fão and Vila Praia de Âncora. The Porto area includes Matosinhos, Maia, and Vila Nova de Gaia which are relevant urban destinations.
Inland towns are growing in popularity recently, mostly due to historical importance, namely Braga, Guimarães and, occasionally, also Barcelos and Amarante.
White Vinho Verde, especially those from the grape varieties of Alvarinho, and Alvarinho-Trajadura and sweeter Loureiro, are the typical and popular wines of the region. Inland, Ponte de Lima is notable as a touristic destination and the popularity of its red Vinho Verde, along with the one from Ponte da Barca, which is drunk not in a glass but using a bowl, made out of potter's clay, known as malga.
Aveiro is a city and a municipality in Portugal. In 2021, the population was 80,880, in an area of 197.58 square kilometres (76.29 sq mi): it is the second most populous city in the Centro Region of Portugal. Along with the neighbouring city of Ílhavo, Aveiro is part of an urban agglomeration that includes 120,000 inhabitants, making it one of the most important populated regions by density in the North Region, and primary centre of the Intermunicipal Community of Aveiro and Baixo Vouga. Administratively, the president of the municipal government is José Ribau Esteves, elected by coalition between the Social Democratic Party and the Democratic Social Centre, who governs the ten civil parishes.
Porto or Oporto is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropolitan area, with an estimated population of just 231,962 people in a municipality with only 41.42 km2. Porto's metropolitan area has around 1.7 million people (2021) in an area of 2,395 km2 (925 sq mi), making it the second-largest urban area in Portugal. It is recognized as a global city with a Gamma + rating from the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.
The Algarve is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of 4,997 km2 (1,929 sq mi) with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities.
Santos is a municipality in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, founded in 1546 by the Portuguese nobleman Brás Cubas. It is located mostly on the island of São Vicente, which harbors both the city of Santos and the city of São Vicente, and partially on the mainland. It is the main city in the metropolitan region of Baixada Santista. The population is 433,656 in an area of 280.67 km2 (108.37 sq mi). The city is home to the Coffee Museum, where world coffee prices were once negotiated. There is also a football memorial, dedicated to the city's greatest players, which includes Pelé, who spent the majority of his career with Santos Futebol Clube. Its beachfront garden, 5,335 m (5,834 yd) in length, figures in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest beachfront garden in the world.
Póvoa de Varzim is a Portuguese city in Northern Portugal and sub-region of Greater Porto, 30 km from its city centre. It sits in a sandy coastal plain, a cuspate foreland, halfway between the Minho and Douro rivers. In 2001, there were 63,470 inhabitants, with 42,396 living in the city proper. The city expanded, southwards, to Vila do Conde, and there are about 100,000 inhabitants in the urban area alone. It is the seventh-largest urban agglomeration in Portugal and the third largest in Northern Portugal.
Lagos is a city and municipality at the mouth of Bensafrim River and along the Atlantic Ocean, in the Barlavento region of the Algarve, in southern Portugal. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 31,049, in an area of 212.99 km2. The city of Lagos proper has a population of approximately 22,000. Typically, these numbers increase during the summer months, with the influx of visiting tourists and seasonal residents. While the majority of the population lives along the coast and works in tourism and services, the inland region is sparsely inhabited, with the majority of the people working in agriculture and forestry.
Peso da Régua, commonly known as Régua, is a municipality in northern Portugal, in the district of Vila Real. The population in 2011 was 17,131, in an area of 94.86 km2 (36.63 sq mi) km².
Vila Nova de Gaia, or simply Gaia, is a city and a municipality in Porto District in Norte Region, Portugal. It is located south of the city of Porto on the other side of the Douro River. The city proper had a population of 178,255 in 2001. The municipality has an area of 168.46 km². and a total population of 302,295 inhabitants (2011), making it the most populous municipality in Norte Region. Gaia along with Porto and 12 other municipalities make up the commonly designated Porto Metropolitan Area.
Figueira da Foz, also known as Figueira for short, is a city and a municipality in the Coimbra District, in Portugal. Practically at the midpoint of the Iberian Peninsula's Atlantic coast, it is located at the mouth of the Mondego River, 40 km (25 mi) west of Coimbra and sheltered by hills, sharing about the same latitude with Philadelphia, Baku and Beijing. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 62,125, in an area of 379.05 km2 (146.35 sq mi). The city of Figueira da Foz proper has a population of 46,600. It is the second largest city in the district of Coimbra.
Alvarinho or Albariño is a variety of white wine grape grown in Northwest Portugal and Galicia where it is also used to make varietal white wines. In Portugal it is known as Alvarinho, and sometimes as Cainho Branco, Albariño is the Galician name for the grape.
Santa Bárbara is a civil parish in the municipality of Vila do Porto in the Portuguese autonomous region of Azores. The population in 2011 was 405, in an area of 15.27 km².
Portuguese wine is the result of traditions introduced to the region by ancient civilizations, such as the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, and mostly the Romans. Portugal started to export its wines to Rome during the Roman Empire. Modern exports developed with trade to England after the Methuen Treaty in 1703. From this commerce a wide variety of wines started to be grown in Portugal. And, in 1758, one of the first wine-producing regions of the world, the Região Demarcada do Douro was created under the orientation of Marquis of Pombal, in the Douro Valley. Portugal has two wine-producing regions protected by UNESCO as World Heritage: the Douro Valley Wine Region and Pico Island Wine Region. Portugal has a big variety of local kinds, producing a very wide variety of different wines with distinctive personality.
The North Region or Northern Portugal is the most populous region in Portugal, ahead of Lisboa, and the third most extensive by area. The region has 3,576,205 inhabitants according to the 2017 census, and its area is 21,278 kilometres (13,222 mi) with a density of 173 inhabitants per square kilometre. It is one of five regions of Mainland Portugal. Its main population center is the urban area of Porto, with about one million inhabitants; it includes a larger political metropolitan region with 1.8 million, and an urban-metropolitan agglomeration with 2.99 million inhabitants, including Porto and a number of urban areas in Northwestern Portugal, like Braga and Guimarães. The Commission of Regional Coordination of the North (CCDR-N) is the agency that coordinates environmental policies, land-use planning, cities and the overall development of this region, supporting local governments and associations.
The Camino de Santiago, also known as the Way of St. James, extends from different countries of Europe, and even North Africa, on its way to Santiago de Compostela and Finisterre. The local authorities try to restore many of the ancient routes, even those used in a limited period, in the interest of tourism.
Póvoa de Varzim, with an area of 82.06 square kilometres, lies between the Cávado and Ave Rivers, or, from a wider perspective, halfway between the Minho and Douro Rivers on the northern coast of Portugal. Although in administrative reforms of 1936, the city was integrated in Douro Litoral, the case for such an administrative integration is arguable, because Póvoa de Varzim is found in a transition region. It has characteristic Minho traditions, historical and demographic bounds with several towns and villages in the region, religiously it is part of Braga archdiocese, and due to that it is perhaps preferable to recognize Póvoa as part of the old region, favouring more Entre-Douro-e-Minho, given its central geographic position in this region.
Tourism in Portugal serves millions of international and domestic tourists. Tourists visit to see cities, historic landmarks, enjoy beaches, or religious sites. As of 2019, Portugal had 27 million visitors. The most popular destinations were Lisbon, Porto, the Algarve, the Portuguese Riviera, Madeira, Sintra, Óbidos and Fátima. The most popular with internationals were Lisbon, the Algarve and Northern Portugal. National tourists prefer Northern Portugal, followed by Central Portugal and the Algarve.
Miramar is a small seaside village near the towns of Gulpilhares and Arcozelo, in the municipality of Vila Nova de Gaia, in the subregion of Greater Porto, Portugal.
Porto Covo is one of the two civil parishes in the municipality of Sines, located along the western Alentejo coast of Portugal, about 170 km (110 mi) south of Lisbon. The population in 2011 was 1,038, in an area of 50.72 km2. Known for its beaches and ties to the ocean, the name Porto Covo likely translates as port of the covos, the term covo referring to a fishing net, used for capturing lobsters and crabs.
The Portuguese Way is the name of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage routes starting in Portugal. It begins at Porto or Lisbon. From Porto, along the Douro River, pilgrims travel north crossing the five main rivers—the Ave, Cávado, Neiva, Lima and Minho—before entering Spain and passing through Pontevedra on the way to Santiago de Compostela.
Vila Nova de Gaia is one of the leading tourism destinations in northern Portugal, located directly opposite Porto, on the South bank of Douro river. These two cities interconnect with each other through several bridges over Douro river. Vila Nova de Gaia is home to several notable attractions, such as the Port wine cellars, Dom Luís I Bridge, the Teleferico, Monastery of Serra do Pilar, Douro Estuary and 18 km long beaches.