Mata Nacional do Bussaco
Mata Nacional do Bussaco stewards the Buçaco National Forest, a centuries-old woodland in Luso, Portugal, offering guided tours and artisana…
Sustainable Tourism
Stays that give back: eco-resorts near Tavira, off-grid retreats in the Monchique hills, and revived schist villages like Cerdeira. Travel that leaves the place better.
Projects in this focus
iNature – Turismo de Natureza
iNature is a nature tourism network covering 12 classified natural areas in Central Portugal, with trails, accommodation and outdoor experie…
Aldeias do Xisto
Aldeias do Xisto is a territorial network of 28 schist villages in central Portugal, managed by ADXTUR, offering sustainable tourism, nature…
Inland Portugal
A licensed travel agency running slow, small-group trips through Portugal's rural interior, where travellers meet artisans and farmers and v…
Casa das Palmeiras
Casa das Palmeiras is a sustainable rural tourism farmhouse in Gandufe, Mangualde, in the Serra da Estrela, with a pedagogical farm, animal-…
Sterna - Aveiro Ria Tours & Birdwatching
Sterna is a nature tourism company running silent, solar-powered boat tours and birdwatching trips across the Ria de Aveiro. Its trips pair …
Isatour Ecotourism
Isatour is a Biosphere-certified provider of rural accommodation and tourist activities in Adsamo, Vouzela, inside the Vouga-Caramulo Natura…
Terramadome
A 7-hectare organic, experimental farm near Penamacor, Beira Baixa, with self-built eco-friendly accommodation, workshops on natural constru…
Ananda Kalyani
Ananda Kalyani is a spiritual based project focused on rural development in Serra da Estrela region, central Portugal, founded more than 10 …
Quinta do Vale da Páscoa (Ecoaldeia do Vale)
Quinta do Vale da Páscoa is a sustainable luxury B&B and working farm in Póvoa de Midões, Tábua, in central Portugal. Eco-accommodation sits…
Cerdeira - Home for Creativity
Cerdeira - Home for Creativity is a revived historic schist village in the Serra da Lousã, with EU Eco-Label-certified accommodation, arts a…
Sustainable tourism in Portugal
Tourism is a large part of the Portuguese economy and a large part of the pressure on its coast and water. The places listed here are trying to be the other kind: small, off-season as well as on, staffed locally, and built or restored rather than newly cleared.
They range from eco-resorts near Tavira to off-grid retreats in the Monchique hills to Cerdeira, a schist village in the Serra da Lousã brought back from abandonment as a place for craft and residency.
Staying somewhere that also farms, teaches or restores land is the simplest version of travelling well here. See also the eco-tourism and experiential learning, retreat centres and low-impact travel focuses. Dated activities from these projects are listed in our events calendar.