On this tour you can visit ancient towns of Portugal where you step back in time and feel the atmosphere of medieval way of living in well preserved ancient Portuguese villages. So close to Lisbon and yet so distant in time and History... Drive across Vasco da Gama 12 km long bridge for a view of Lisbon and its estuary.

We stop at Estremoz. King Dinis rebuilt the castle as a Royal Palace, turning the village into an important political centre. Estremoz is internationally known for its fine to medium-grained marble that occurs in several colours. There is so much marble around Estremoz that it is used everywhere streets, squares and fountains and even the doorsteps, pavements and the cobble stones are made out of marble. The town is strategically placed on a hilltop with clear views from its walls and castle which still dominate the town along with its churches. The town is divided in two parts: the upper medieval quarter in white marble and the lower part built around Rossio with its monumental doorways bearing coat-of-arms, attractive centre set with peaceful plazas, orange tree–lined lanes and the market. On the hill within the star-shaped ramparts of the upper town stands the castle and the former palace of Dom Dinis. Meanwhile, below, on the Rossio, the vast main square of the lower town, the market selling local produce: wine, cheeses, pottery and rose pink marble.

We proceed to Marvao, fortified old town near the Spanish frontier on a steep sided hill in the Serra de Sao Mamede. The splendid site and 360-degree panorama alone would be reason enough to visit the medieval mountaintop village, but the town itself (a candidate for the World Heritage list), is one of Portugal's most spectacular fortified villages. Its great attractions are its unspoiled medieval atmosphere and its castle, with a commanding view from above the town. This strategically situated little town was strongly fortified by King Dinis in the 13th century and is still completely surrounded by its medieval walls. The steep and narrow streets are paved with stone slabs, spanned by flying buttresses and lined with flower decked houses, many of them with fine 17th century wrought iron window grille. We will have to get off outside the walls and to walk up through the maze of alleyways with white washed houses and manueline doorways. Rua do Espírito Santo, with the former governor´s house exhibiting beautiful iron-wrought balconies from the 17th century and with immaculately whitewashed houses, leads to the castle, to splendid views over the countryside and Spain, as Marvão stands at more than 862 meters high. We have the feeling the we went back into the past in this town and when we leave it we fell we’ve been in a fairy tale. At the top of the state inn, built among tightly clustered houses, also with magnificent views, like nearby mountains of São Mamede, a natural park with Neolithic and Roman remains, wildlife, and Europe's largest colony of bats.

Castelo de Vide, on another green slope of Serra de São Mamede, is known for its curative waters since roman times and its castle that gave the town its name. Castelo de Vide is also near the Spanish frontier. One of Portugal's most picturesque places, it has managed to preserve its medieval townscape virtually intact, with its picturesque maze of narrow streets and trim whitewashed houses with their characteristic chimneys, and many charming little squares and nooks and corners, window boxes and rows of flowerpots. Dating from Roman times and sprawling on one of these green slopes, it has preserved within its walls a remarkable patrimony: churches, fountains, mansions, Gothic doorways and the characteristic maze-like Judiaria (Jewish quarter), with its small white houses, cobbled alleys and a synagogue dating from the 13th century. Up on the walls of the castle which gave the town its name to the town, we have superb views over the city and surrounding landscape