Countries, Deals, Europe, Sustainable Tourism

Lie back and think of Portugal

And because the most important thing about a hotel bedroom is its bed then here’s where it’s best to lie back and think of Portugal.

In the south of the country in tranquil Alentejo, near Lisbon.

Where Amazing Evolution are placing sleep and deep rest at the centre of the travel experience.

With Sleep & Nature Hotel and Gandum Conscious Hotel leading the way.

Surrounded by forests and rolling plains, both destinations offer a powerful antidote to modern fatigue.

Which we have experienced first-hand from getting right into the interior in Portugal Centro.

EaZzzzy living

Tranquil: Gandum Conscious Hotel

Not that we find sleep easy if Britain’s health service is to be believed.

With reports that the average Briton sleeps just six and a half hours per night.

Well below the NHS-recommended 7–9 hours. 

While the 2025 Healthy Ireland Survey, Irish adults average 6.9 hours of sleep on weeknights, with 32% getting six hours or less.

Get some therapy

Sleepy time: Fly and flop

Sleep & Nature Hotel, located near Montemor-o-Novo, is built around the concept of sleep therapy.

Mentored by specialist Professor Teresa Paiva.

Every guest experience is rooted in in nature, good practices, relaxing therapies and sleep hygiene.

Shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing, is among the activities guests can indulge in. 

The hotel features 32 rooms and suites, each carefully designed to actively support better sleep.

Natural materials such as cork and wood help regulate temperature and acoustics.

While blackout curtains, and my Snory One has been pitching for them Casa Murty for six years.

Low lighting, and minimal in-room technology reduce sleep disruption.

Pillow talk

Made in Portugal: And a lovely spread

Beds are selected for ergonomic support and paired with high-quality linens to enhance comfort and encourage deeper sleep.

The hotel’s spa offers treatments specifically aimed at reducing tension and improving circulation.

While indoor and outdoor pools provide quiet spaces for pre-sleep unwinding.

Even dining plays a role, with balanced, seasonal menus designed to support relaxation.

While overstimulation must be avoided in the evening.  

And get this, a pillows menu is available to better adjust ergonomics and rest needs. 

Rooms start from €180 per night. For more information visit Sleep & Nature Hotel

Do the Gandum

Green for go: Ecological living

Now the Gandum Conscious Hotel has put down roots for sustainability with 50,000 trees planted in an agroforestry environment. 

Set within the Alentejo countryside, the hotel blends minimalist architecture with a strong environmental ethos. 

Gandum Conscious Hotel promises organic mattresses, natural pillows and comforters.

Made from sustainable materials and breathable cotton linens, all chosen to optimise comfort.

Thermal insulation and natural ventilation keep rooms cool and quiet, even during the warmer months.

While carefully filtered natural light aligns with circadian rhythms helping guests wake and sleep more naturally. 

Food for thought

Supper’s ready: A nibble before bed

Nutritionally conscious, they follow a farm-to-fork philosophy.

In which mostly only what is available in the vegetable garden, orchard, and henhouse is cooked.

Rooms start from €220 per night. For more information visit Gandum Conscious Hotel

 

 

Countries, Europe, Food

In Portimao where they’re packed in like sardines

And because they never taste as good anywhere else they hold a festival in Portimao where they’re packed in like sardines.

Anybody who has stopped off in a lay-by on a road trip through Portugal will be familiar.

With the smells emanating from the grills.

Off the scales

Festival of fishes: Portimao

Portimao in the Algarve makes a virtue of its fish.

With the Sardine Festival a particular highlight every August.

Where for five nights, the streets are lined with craft stalls and grilled sardines.

There are also concerts and historical reenactments of the unloading of the sardine.

And a ‘sardinhada’ – a classic charcoal grilled sardine – for all visitors.

Around Portimao

Just swimmingly: The Portimao Museo

This year’s event will be the 30th iteration.

And if last year’s is anything to go by then it’ll be right off the scales.

With 2.5 tons of sardines consumed.

Now much of the action will play out around the marina.

And the first of the city’s beaches, Praia da Rocha.

With its towering rock formations, a 17th-century fort.

And a boulevard lined with restaurants, bars, shops, clubs, and hotels with sea views.

It’s no exaggeration to say that Portimao is filled to the gills with sea creatures.

A lesson in fish

Who’s next: For a grilling

All of which you can learn for yourself so that you can look knowledgeable around Festival.

At the town’s award-winning museum.

Which sits on the site of Portimão’s largest sardine canning factory which closed in the 1980s.

But reopened in 2008 and explains the fish canning industry in the area.

It shows the restored production lines and artifacts found around the region (many of them underwater).

Dating back to prehistoric and Roman times.

With everything helpfully labelled in Portuguese and English.

And now that we’ve picked out the bones, it’s over to you to book your flights to Faro and treat yourself to a fishy feast.