Best for: surfing
In need of a short-haul sunny destination where you won’t be surrounded by families and couples? Portugal’s enviable surf camp scene gives its coastline an altogether different vibe, where solo trellers can easily turn up alone and be clinking bottles of Sagres with new friend that evening. With over 800km of coast, you can choose between melodramatic cliffs, stellar surf breaks, dune-covered beaches and serene sandy islets; Portugal can afford to be generous with its coastline, so no stretch feels entirely dominated by families, or couples, but a healthy mixture. Beyond the beaches, solo trellers hike the granite peaks of Parque Nacional da Peneda-Gerês or explore the traditional villages in the lesser-explored Beiras, increasingly on the map for wine-loving or retreat-cring trellers. On top of the natural scenery, Portuguese cities like Lisbon and Porto are fiercely unconventional and informal compared to their Spanish, French or Italian counterparts. And festivals dominate Portugal’s calendar, so consider planning a solo jaunt around Lisbon’s Festa de Santo António or Porto’s Festa de São João, or find a smaller jazz or rock festival down the coast. But at any time of year you can hit the bars to hear the mournful strains of fado music, and in Portugal you’ll never dance alone.
Abigail Malbol, Condé Nast Treller's global audience development manager, says: “Portugal's varying landscape makes it a gorgeous place to trel solo. I was wowed by the sheer beauty of the Douro Valley's steeped vines, and as someone who can never get enough of the beach, the wide open spaces along the Alentejo coastline offered me complete peace. The Portuguese people were incredibly welcoming throughout my trels, and only too happy to share their fourite places and tips for what to do there (in perfect English), which meant I was able to feel like I was experiencing the country like a local. What more could you want for a solo trip?”
Where to stay: For bold interiors and a great launchpad into the city, look no further than Sublime Lisboa.