The Country

Portugal is located in the most occidental tip of Europe, in a rectangular area with 220 by 560 kilometers (135 by 350 miles). It has a very diversified landscape from the soft plains of Alentejo in the south to the green mountains and Natural Parks in the north. The island of Madeira with 55 by 22 km (35 by 14 miles) is about 480 km (300 miles) from the Portuguese coast, with a exquisite vegetation and scarps. In the archipelago of Azores at 1300 km (810 miles) of the coast we have 9 islands with mild climate.

The population is 10 million inhabitants, 10 per cent are in Lisbon, and 300,000 live in Porto. As the mandatory school includes two foreign languages the majority of the population under 40 years understands and speaks English, many speek French, some German. Spanish is understood by most of the population, but we do prefer to speak Portuguese;-).

In the last years homossexuality has become a subject more accepted by the Portuguese, appearing in news articles, television series and films. The civil partnership debate in the Parliament in 1998 (that did not include couples of the same sex) all the opinion pools had indicated that the majority of the Portuguese supported the extension of the law to the homosexuals and lesbians. This lead to a change in the law to include same-sex partners in March 2001. The country is conservative and still under strong influence of the Catholic Church, and this makes very dificult to come out of the closet in certain areas. The Portuguese attitude is more a less like "it's ok that my friends son is gay, but God forbids if MY son is queer!". At this moment there is no legal protection to prevent the discrimination due to sexual orientation.

No Portuguese company gives special rights to same-sex partners (with the possible exception of the airlines that give bachelors the chance to take anyone in a discount fare as opposed to married ones that can only go with their husband or wife) and is common pratice an homosexual union not being recognized for the purpose of visiting rights in a hospital, by example. The new partnership law may change this in the near future.

Cities

Lisbon is the great metropolis where are concentrated most of services and commerce enterprises. Due to its population consisting of people of diverse points of the country the pressure on the homosexual community is lighter, thus fomenting the participation in the collective life. To be noted the good relations of the city council with the gay and lesbian associations. The Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and the Arraial Pride are the two biggest GLBT events. In 2002 the Pride March took a new boost with floats and about 2000 participants, and promisses to become a major pride event.

Porto is more conservative and is meeting point of the many industries in the north of the Country, even so there are some gay and lesbian bars. However things are changing and in 2001 Porto had its first Pride Week including the Porto Pride event. Porto Pride 2002 gather about 2000 people.

In the remaining country the gay community in more discrete. Some exceptions are Leiria with some bars, same gay-oriented parties in Hit Club at Póvoa de Varzim, and the islands of the Madeira and São Miguel (Azores). In 2002 the Kadoc disco in Algarve had its firs Pride Party.

Working Hours

The banks are opened from 8:30 till 15:00, Monday to Friday.

Shops are open from 9:00 till 19:00, Monday to Friday (with lunch break at about 13:00), Saturdays open only at the morning. Shops in Shopping Centers are open from 10:00 till 22:00 all days.

The museums are open from 10:00 till 12:30 and from 14:00 till 17:00 from Thursday till Sunday. Some places are also closed on Wednesdays.

Holydays

New year (1 January), Carnival (variable: 7 March in 2000), Holy Friday (variable: 21 April in 2000), Passover (variable: 23 April in 2000), Day of the Freedom (25 of April), Party of the Work (1 of May), Day of Portugal (10 June), Body of God (variable: 21 June in 2000), Installation of Nª Sª (15 August), Implantation of the Republic (5 October), All Saints (1 November), of Independence (1 December), Immaculate Conceição (8 December) and Christmas (25 Dezembro).

Normally the commerce is closed in these days and sometimes after Sexta-Feira Saint, the Christmas and the Novo Ano (New Year's).

Take note of the several municipal holidays, many of them related to popular saints. This is the case of Lisbon with Santo António 13 June and in Porto with São João at 24 June. Other municipal holidays: Aveiro 12 May, Braga 24 June, Coimbra 4 July, Funchal 21 August, Leiria 22 May, Ponta Delgada 5 May.

Climate

The climate in Portugal is tempered and varies from the hottest south to the rainy and colder north. In the south zone the summer extends from March till October with temperatures up to 35ºC (95ºF) and sea water with 24ºC (75ºF). The north has more rain and lower temperatures (in the sea shore only few times below 0ºC/32ºF, inlands the climate is more harsh), the seawater varies between 15ºC (60ºF) and 20ºC (70ºF). The climate in the coast is milder than the climate inland. There is snow some times in February in the mountains of north and center.

In Azores the temperatures are mild, but there are frequent rains in winter.

Madeira has a more tropical climate (with great rain falls in winter) and the area of Funchal city has even better climate than the rest of the island.

Money

Portugal is part of the zone of the Europe that adopted the Euro, so the official currency since 1 Jan 2002 is the Euro. The Euro is divided in 100 Cents. There are coins of €0,01, €0,02, €0,05, €0,10, €0,20, €0,50, €1,00, €2,00, and bank notes of €5,00, €10,00, €20,00, €50,00, €100,00, €200,00, €500,00 (the €200,00 and €500,00 will not be provided by the Portuguese National Bank, but bank notes from other Euro countries will be accepted).

For more information see our page about the Euro.

The currency exchange offices offer the best taxes for Traveler's Checks, and there are several automatic exchange machines (with high commissions). The automatic teller machines (ATMs), identified as "MultiBanco" are an easy form of getting escudos and all give Cash Advance for major cards like Visa, EuroCard/MasterCard, AmericanExpress and others. Some European debit cards can also be used. Please take note than in weekends or at late hours (23:00-2:00) it can be impossible to get money from international accounts due the communication difficulties.

You can use your banking card or credit card Visa or MasterCard (in some cases also AmericanExpress, Dinners Club and others) in the majority of the great stores and restaurants, but do not rely on them if you are going to small establishments or when outside the big cities.

The majority of gay discos and bars do not accept cards.

To make currency conversions easier you can use our Currency Converter and the useful Cheat Sheet.

Tips

A tip for taxi and restaurant is normal and varies between 5% and 10% (yes: only ten percent), or the remaining portion of the change if you are in a café or bar.

Taxes

The Value Added Tax (IVA) varies between 5% and 19%, and is included in the majority of the prices of products. For non EU citizen its possible to receive part from the IVA when you leave the European Union, look for stores with the "TaxFree for Tourists" sign.

Measurements

In Portugal the metric system is used in all activities and nobody knows what feet or gallons are.

All temperatures are expressed in Centigrades.

If you have problems just use our Unit Converter.

Electricity

The tension is 220V AC 50Hz (as in almost all Europe). The plugs have two round pins.

Drive

The roads are reasonable in all the country. The transit is in the right and the signs are international or easily understandable ones. The use of security belt is mandatory for ALL the occupants of the vehicle. The maximum speed is 50 km/h in the localities, 90 km/h off localities and 120 km/h in the highways. Most of the highways have a toll except near the city centers. There are tree varieties of gasoline: Super with substitute of Lead ("Super com aditivo"), Super 95 without Lead ("Gasolina sem Chumbo 95") and Super 98 without Lead ("Gasolina sem Chumbo 98"). Gas stations in major cities have the tree variants as well as "Gasóleo" (Diesel). The price is not fixed by law but is generally €0,80 per liter for Super 95 and €0,84 per liter for Gasolina Sem Chumbo 98. If you use your Credit Card in a gas station you will be charged and extra €0,50 (this is the only situation where you pay more if you use the credit card).

Please be carefull with alcool: the law is very restrictive and you can get in prison even if you drink a single glass of wine and drive afterwards.

For more information on Drivers Licenses, Maps and Signs see ACP.

Public Transportation

The Alfa/InterCidades train service connects the main cities of the Country. If you don't find and adequate connection by train you can use the bus services.

For more information on trains go to CP

For more information on bus go to Rede Expressos (in Portuguese) or RodoNorte (in Portuguese)

For more information on urban carriers go to Metropolitano de Lisboa, Carris - Lisboa, STCP - Porto, Metro do Porto

Air Transport

Portugal has three international airports: Lisbon, Porto and Faro, with direct connections to hundreds of international destinations.

There are several flights between Lisbon, Porto and Faro, and less frequent ones to other cities. However the Lisbon-Porto connection takes almost the same time by train (if you count the delays in the airport and getting there by car), and the service is adequate. For more information on air transports check out TAP-Air Portugal, Portugália Airlines or SATA-Air Açores.

For more information on the airports go to ANA.

Lodging

The Hotels and Pensões should have a clean and adequate service in accordance with the Price. The places are officially classified with stars: in a place with 3 stars one should expect a minimum service with private bathroom, phone (and, possibly television in the room), 4 stars are hotels with good service and the 5 stars are reserved for luxury hotels. You should make reservations on advance. The displayed prices include all taxes.

For those who prefer an more relaxing and charming environment there are several "Pousadas de Portugal" (Portugal's Inns), in buildings of historical value spread all over the country. You can also enjoy the Habitation Tourism where you can spend same days in one old farm or masters house far away from the stress of the big cities.

In all these places there is, by law, a claim book that must be presented to all customers who request it (you just have to present your identification). This book has instructions in Portuguese, English and others languages.

Phones

From 31 October 1999 all national phone numbers (except special services) have 9 digits. Even for local connections you must dial the full 9-digit number. The country code for Portugal is +351. To make international calls from Portugal dial 00 followed by the destination number.

There are serveral types of public phone booths that accept coins, pre-paid cards (from PortugalTelecom and private providers), MultiBanco, Visa and MasterCard. In the case of MultiBanco, Visa or MasterCard cards it is not always possible to use the service due to technical problems.

The fixed telephones numbers always start with "2", the cellular telephones with "91", "93" or "96", special service with "1". Free numbers start with "800" or "888", and shared tariff (local call) with "808", pager/bip start with "94" and value added services (very expensive) start with "60".

If you are staying more than 15 days you can consider buying a cellular phone, it's possible to get one for as low as EUR 60,00 with very interesting international rates. Check conditions and prices with each operator (TMN, Vodafone and Optimus).

From 1 of January of 2000 there is also competition in the fixed network, for more information consult the operators. The most important are: Novis, Oni, TOQ, Jazztel.

For more information on the phone public service (including fares) go to Portugal Telecom.

Usefull Phone Numbers

Please note: most of these are Portuguese-only speaking.

For more information on Gay and Lesbian places check out the PortugalGay.PT Directory.

For more information on Portugal in general go to HomePage of Portugal or the Portugal by ICEP

For more information on theater, dance, displays and cinema go to Agenda (in Portuguese) of the Ministry of the Culture or Guia of the Lazer (in Portuguese) of the Público newspaper .

For more information in English on travelling in Portugal go to Planet Out (Gay), Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, Excite or Microsoft Expedia, Nancy's Destination Guide