12 towns to visit in Portugal in 2023 (one for each month of the year)

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The beginning of a new year is always a time of introspection, in which we list the best and worst books, movies, songs, discoveries of the year. It is a moment in which we remember the objectives we set and evaluate what we have managed to achieve. It is also common to make a list of resolutions for the next year . Read more, spend more quality time with family and friends, return to the gym, spend less time online... These are some of the goals that many people set out to achieve. This 2023, let us suggest a New Year's resolution: take more rural getaways in Portugal . That's why we recommend a town for each month of the year. Do you dare to cross the border and discover the neighboring country? January: Pitões das Júnias, a snowy town Snow in Portugal Pitões das Júnias. By Ricardo Why not start the year at 1,200 meters high? Pitões das Júnias , in the municipality of Montalegre , is one of the highest villages in Portugal.

Therefore, it is not surprising that during the cold winter months the town's landscape is painted white, giving it an even more beautiful and picturesque appearance. The origin of Pitões das Júnias is unknown, but it has been associated with the founding of the Monastery of Santa Maria das Júnias , classified as a National Monument. But the truth is Colombia Mobile Number List that the greatest attraction of Pitões das Júnias is its landscape, perpetuated forever in time and marked by the mountains. The town is home to ancient traditions that go deep into Celtic cultural roots. February: Carnival in Podence Podence Carnival Podence Carnival. By Rosino In Portugal, carnival is taken very seriously, even though it is a day of games and fun. Therefore, in February we recommend that you visit a town with a very unique and special carnival tradition. Every year, during this festival, the peace that usually reigns in Podence , a town of about 200 inhabitants in the municipality of Macedo de Cavaleiros , is interrupted by demonic characters who take to the streets to bother people.



The “caretos” is a carnival tradition from the Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro region with Celtic roots. But Podence's “caretos” are different. These are the only ones that have “chocalhos” (a type of bells that make a lot of noise when they move through the town) and that, since December 2019, are on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list. The “caretos” of Podence were part of the winter festivities of these regions and symbolized fertility in a dark season of the year and at a time of great loneliness in rural communities. The carnival was an excuse to commit many exaggerations and the rituals were linked to the arrival of spring and the hope of agricultural societies to have good harvests. On the Sunday before Carnival Day and on Shrove Tuesday, the village boys dress up in striped suits with a brightly colored hood and a mask with a protruding nose made of leather, brass or wood and play mysterious, full characters.