Lonely Planet recommends two Portuguese cities for 2012

The Lonely Planet recommends Guimaraes and Porto as a top 2012 travel destination – And who are we to disagree!

The Lonely Planet is the largest travel book guide in the world. So popular and highly esteemed did the Lonely Planet quickly become, that in 2007 the BBC bought a 75% share from its founders Maureen and Tony Wheeler, and in February 2011, bought the final 25%.

Publishing approximately 500 titles in eight different languages, a magazine, several TV programmes, phone apps and websites, the Lonely Planet is one of the most widely used and extensively respected travel sources in circulation. Given its universal reputation at informing travellers about the best destinations in the world, when the Lonely Planet ranks Guimaraes as the sixth top city for travel in 2012, a traveller’s attention is naturally riveted to the northern Portuguese city.

Describing Guimaraes as “breathtakingly beautiful”, with an old city that is a “beguiling tangle of medieval, red-roofed, colonnaded buildings, punctuated by awe-inspiring mansions and palaces, and centred on a spikily crenelated castle,” the Lonely Planet most certainly gets our travelling juices flowing and intrigue to why many of us haven’t visited this city yet.

And being named the European Capital of Culture 2012, the year could be the perfect time to visit this highly culture, highly artistic, yet, as the Lonely Planet puts it, “mysteriously doesn’t figure on the radars of many foreign visitors.” Why not rectify the mystery surrounding this northern Portuguese city’s relative traveller anonymity, and take a trip to Guimaraes in 2012 – we are sure you will not regret it.

Although Guimaraes, it seems, is not the only city in Portugal to be whetting the appetite of the travel writers at Lonely Planet, as the BBC digital media travel guide ranked Porto number four in its list of the top ten best value destinations for 2012.

Reminding readers that Porto was the town that put the ‘Port’ into Portugal, the Lonely Planet describes Porto’s “atmospheric narrow lanes, village-like plazas and buildings decked in azuelo tile,” as being a “seriously good deal.”

Here at Vintage Travel, we can do no more than thoroughly agree with the Lonely Planet’s Guimaraes and Porto travel destination recommendations for 2012. And if you are looking for accommodation in Portugal, we believe that you visit to these two captivating Portuguese towns would be made even more enjoyable if you stayed at Casa do Barral, pictured above.

This beautiful villa is situated close to the riverside town of Vila Nova de Cerveira, and enjoys views that can be simply described as ‘divine’. Click on the link for more information on Casa do Barral, Vintage Travel’s Luxury villa in Northern Portugal.