Portugal

Sleep

thumb|Night in Lisbon The youth hostel network has a great number of hostels around the country. There are also many camping places. 'Wild camping' (camping outside camping parks) is not allowed, unless you have the land owner's agreement. Holiday Villas and apartments are another option to investigate.

There's a wide and abundant hotel offering all through Portugal.

If budget is a concern and you want a 'typically Portuguese' experience, don't be shy and try a residencial or pensão, the home-like inn's ubiquitous in cities and most towns. In many places you can get a double or triple room with private bathroom for €25-35 off season or €35-40 in season (2017). Be sure, however, of the quality of the rooms. In smaller cities, "pensões" tend to be near transportation hubs like railway stations and bus terminals. If travelling with friends, haggling in a nice way can yield discounts even during high season.

On the luxury side, you may want to try the Pousadas de Portugal, a network of hotels remarkable for using very beautiful ancient buildings like palaces and castles and also for having consistent excellent service all over the country. Formerly run by the Portuguese State, they are now run by the Pestana Group. You will do well eating out, as the cuisine of Pousadas can be both expensive and boring, although it appears the trend is changing for the better (mid-2008).

The "Casas de Campo" (Turismo de Habitação, Turismo Rural, Agro-Turismo), when travelling through the coun…

Stay safe

The emergency telephone number for police, fire, and medical assistance is 112. This is the national call centre dial in number for any emergency or to report an accident, fire etc etc. Ensure you have this number registered in your means of communication or noted down somewhere in case it becomes necessary to notify authorities or emergency response entities.

Portugal is a relatively safe country to visit, but some basic common sense will go a long way. There are no internal conflicts, no terrorism-related danger and violent crime is not a serious problem, as it is generally confined to particular neighbourhoods and is rarely a random crime.

There are three main police branches. In major urban areas the PSP or Policía de Segurança Pública (Public Security Police) are in charge of law enforcement. Outside major urban centres and in rural areas, the GNR or Guarda Nacional Republicana (National Republican Guards) take over the law enforcement.

Both the PSP and GNR are also responsible for road policing within their territorial jurisdictions. The third branch is the PJ or Policía Judiciária (Judicial Police). These are a crime investigation branch composed of plain clothes detectives. In general, the Portuguese police officers are well trained, educated and polite. Many that are posted in tourist popular areas, have basic communication skills in foreign languages and some are fluent speakers of French, German, English and Spanish, therefore, easy to approach if the need arise…

Stay healthy

Portugal adheres to all international protocols and guidelines concerning consumer products and health care.

Major cities are well served with medical and emergency facilities and public hospitals are at European standards. The national emergency number is 112. The Serviço Nacional de Saúde (National Health Service) 24-hour hotline is 808 24 24 24.

Many municipalities have pharmacies that take turns being open late or even 24 hours. These can be found online.

Portugal's water sources are perfectly safe, but some people may prefer bottled/spring water (água mineral). In so far as restaurants and other food and drink establishments or outlets are concerned, Portugal has a vigorously enforced system of national high standards to ensure a healthy chain of supply from producers to consumers, therefore the risk of food or drink poisoning is negligible. Star ratings are ascribed for levels of establishment luxury (5* to 1*) and not the quality of food or beverage, since those are strictly governed anyway.

Citizens of the European Union are covered by Portugal's National Healthcare System as long as they carry the free European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), obtainable from their own national health care authority. Non European Union travellers are advised to purchase traveller's basic medical insurance to cover serious physical injury treatment costs, in case of an accident.

Connect

To call Portugal from abroad, dial country code 351 before the city code. To call abroad from Portugal, dial 00 before the country code. The city dialling code for Lisbon is 21 and for Porto is 22. All other city codes are three digits starting with 2. Telephone numbers are nine digits long, including the city code. Mobile numbers begin with 9.

The Portuguese postal service is CTT (CTT Correios de Portugal, S.A., formerly Correios, Telégrafos e Telefones). Mailboxes are red. They can be pillar boxes on a street corner or small boxes attached to buildings.