‘I used to think it was the poor sister of Spain… not anymore’: Michael Portillo explores Portugal for his latest fascinating TV series – and reveals why ‘it has more to offer than I imagined’

‘I always thought of Portugal as the poor sister of Spain,’ Michael Portillo tells MailOnline Travel. ‘But it has more history, culture and cuisine to offer than I ever imagined – you just won’t discover it in a five-star hotel or golf resort in the Algarve.’

The travel presenter reveals that he had this ‘fantastic revelation’ after travelling the length and breadth of the country for his new Channel 5 show, Portugal with Michael Portillo.

Choosing to skip Portugal’s tourist hotspot capital, Lisbon, Michael started his journey in the country’s second-largest city, Porto, before heading north from there to an ‘underrated’ ancient Roman region, which includes the town of Ponte de Lima and the city of Braga, and then journeying south to Coimbra.

Michael says: ‘I don’t think many people get to the north of Portugal, but Ponte de Lima is very beautiful.

‘It has a Roman bridge, a Roman history, and a fantastic annual festival, which we were lucky enough to attend – The Feiras Novas (The New Fair).

‘I’m very, very drawn to history, and I felt like I was getting at the origins of Portugal here and, nearby, in Braga – which is the country’s oldest city.’

Built into the side of a mountain and known as the ‘Rome of Portugal’, Braga became one of Michael’s favourite stops on his tour.

One must-see ‘hidden gem’ Michael recommends is the city’s Imaculada Chapel, built in 1940 and then refurbished in 2015.

Michael Portillo travelled the length and breadth of Portugal for his new Channel 5 show, Portugal with Michael Portillo. Michael, pictured in Lima Valley, tells MailOnline Travel: ‘I always thought of Portugal as the poor sister of Spain. But it has more history, culture and cuisine to offer than I ever imagined’ 

Michael says: ‘I don’t think many people get to the north of Portugal, but Ponte de Lima [pictured] is very beautiful. It has a Roman bridge, a Roman history, and a fantastic annual festival, which we were lucky enough to attend – The Feiras Novas (The New Fair)’

He explains: ‘It fell into disrepair, and a local architect came along with an unbelievable vision. He gave it a high-vaulted, concrete ceiling which soars above you, hovering above the congregation.

‘Then inside, it’s very hard to describe, but he’s built this wonderful construction of wooden struts, which produces a chapel inside a chapel.

‘Then at one end is a long slither of marble hanging from the ceiling, with an aperture behind, so the sun pours in and is diffused through this marble panel.

‘It was exquisite. It’s absolutely fantastic what an enterprising, imaginative, modern architect can do!’

Braga also happens to be where Michael ate his favourite meal, cooked by a local chef in his garden.

He recalls: ‘This chef had made all the dinner, in traditional, quite large, copper pots, and each of these five or six copper pots was on top of its own wood fire out in the garden, blazing away, while the chef is running around with something that looks a bit like a baseball bat, stirring everything that’s in each of these pots.

‘We had to wait a very long time for his soups and stews to come to the point where we could eat them, so it was the most fantastic anticipation and just the most delicious thing.

‘The cuisine in Portugal is now fantastic. Like Spain, it has these marvellous Mediterranean ingredients, so amazing fruit, vegetables, fish, seafood, and lots of people who take food seriously.’

Built into the side of a mountain and known as the ‘Rome of Portugal’, Braga (pictured) is Portugal’s oldest city, and became one of Michael’s favourite stops on his tour

One must-see ‘hidden gem’ Michael recommends is Braga’s Imaculada Chapel, built in 1940 and then refurbished in 2015, when a local architect built ‘a chapel within a chapel’. Michael, who’s pictured above in the chapel, says: ‘It was exquisite. It’s absolutely fantastic what an enterprising, imaginative, modern architect can do’

Michael describes the Roman city of Coimbra – the country’s original capital and home to Europe’s oldest university – as an ‘extraordinary place’.

He tells us: ‘It’s a university city sitting on a sort of promontory, very spectacularly situated above a river, a bit like Oxford and Cambridge, with glorious university buildings.

‘But it’s set on a very sharp hill, so it’s all up and down, up and down.

‘It has a superb library – the sort of library that just makes you weep with appreciation. It’s such a beautiful building, and it’s open to the public, so anyone can go in there.’

Although Michael’s journey around Portugal focused on the country’s less trodden paths, he also took time to visit Faro, the capital of the very popular Algarve and home to an airport that ‘receives tens of thousands of people every day’.

And he was amazed to learn that, even in this tourist hotspot, you can find some untouched parts of the 125 miles of beaches – as long as you’re willing to look hard enough.

He says: ‘There were coves and bays along the south coast in the Algarve, where we were completely alone.

‘I don’t want to give the areas away, but it was just extraordinary to not see a single footprint on the beach.’

Michael describes the Roman city of Coimbra – the country’s original capital and home to Europe’s oldest university – as an ‘extraordinary place’. He adds: ‘It has a superb library [pictured] – the sort of library that just makes you weep with appreciation’

The last stop on Michael’s tour was the archipelago of Madeira (above) – where he says tourists will be wowed by natural beauty

Above is the capital of Madeira – Funchal. The island is ‘just superb’, says Michael

You won’t discover Portugal’s history and cuisine ‘in a five-star hotel or golf resort in the Algarve’, says Michael

Another delightfully surprising moment Michael witnessed while in the Algarve was when he joined fishermen on the hunt for goose barnacles, a delicacy in Portugal.

He says: ‘Goose barnacles cling on to rocks being bashed by the sea, and only survive because of the oxygen in the water bashing against it, and these fishermen are either down in the sea, being turned over by the waves, or risking their lives up on the cliff where the water reaches, because the breakers cast their spray up high and so both the barnacles and the barnacle fishermen are clinging onto the rock.

‘It’s just extraordinary to see these people risking their lives to bring home this delicacy, and it caused us a problem or two because our fisherman was turned over by a wave.

‘He said it was a perfectly calm day and didn’t seem the least bit put out, but it caused a great gash in his wetsuit, so we had to be pretty careful where we pointed the camera after!’

The last stop on Michael’s tour was the archipelago of Madeira – where he says tourists will be wowed by natural beauty.

He says: ‘It’s a volcanic island, so although it’s very small, in a few moments, you rise from sea level to land which is higher than anywhere in the United Kingdom, and you’re up there in rainforest, mist and fog, and you’ve got exotic plants and flowers.

‘And, because it’s an island, it’s constantly changing. One moment it’s kissed by sun, the next moment it’s shrouded in mist, the next moment there’s torrential rain.

‘It’s just superb.’

Portugal with Michael Portillo, Saturdays at 8.30pm from 1 March on Channel 5.