The Standouts Of Portugal’s Alentejo: Where To Stay, Sip And Eat

While Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve are increasingly busy—perhaps even on the verge of being loved to death—the essence of Portugal is still alive in the laid-back region between the bustling capital and the famous southerly beaches. The Alentejo is the largest region of Portugal but also the least populated, with charming villages, living traditions, excellent gastronomy (both high and low), some of the country’s best wineries and dreamy places to stay. This is the soul of Portugal, and it’s seemingly tailor-made for slow travel. Here’s an opinionated guide to the best of the best.

Stay

Craveiral Farmhouse

Craveiral Farmhouse is not particularly lavish or even all that put-together. That’s the point. The rooms and houses are simple—unvarnished woods, soft textures and lots of cork (plus the occasional Hâstens mattress)—but perfect cocoons for unwinding. Simplicity, nature, silence and wide-open spaces are the selling points here, though the frequent retreats, artists’ residencies, significant gardens and farmlands, fire-cooking restaurant overseen by Michelin-star chef Alexandre Silva, and social-enterprise pizzeria created in conjunction with Lisbon’s popular In Bocca al Lupo certainly add to the appeal. It’s worth noting that the owner kept the place open throughout pandemic lockdowns to provide a refuge for people who needed to get out of the city, to keep his staff employed and to support the local community.

São Lourenço do Barrocal

In the same family for eight generations, São Lourenco do Barrocal is now a passion project dedicated to sustainability. A former working farm that housed some 50 families, the luxury hotel is deep in the Alentejo, close to Lake Alqueva and a Dark Sky Reserve—it’s that remote. The hotel has a strong sense of timelessness and tradition; nothing is overdone. Inside the 200-year-old structure, the workers’ homes are now 24 quietly luxurious rooms and suites, while the cowsheds and stables are larger cottages. There are two swimming pools and two restaurants, including one where the chefs cook over fire in the middle of the organic garden.

Herdade da Malhadinha Nova

This super-stylish Relais & Châteaux hotel got its start as a simple farmhouse with a handful of bedrooms on a 1,000-acre working farm. In early 2020, owner Rita Soares made a major creative investment in new accommodations. Now the buildings, which are spread apart through the farmland and vineyards, have 30 rooms in total, some configured to coddle couples and others more suitable for families with children. A lavish picnic lunch beneath an olive tree remains a highlight of a stay at the hotel (Michelin-star chef Joachim Koerper consults), but in 2023, it also made a major push into well-being with the opening of the new M Wellness Spa, which was designed by Aires Mateus studio and offers exclusive facial treatments from the Azores-born brand IGNAE.

L’And Vineyards

L’And Vineyards rose to prominence in part because of its Sky View Suites—guest rooms with bed-size skylights over the mattresses to allow for cozy stargazing. The idea was so successful that they added several Lake Sky View Suites earlier this year, as well as a new casual restaurant, tasting room, and lake deck and plunge platform. Still, the whole place maintains an air of sober luxury and tranquility. The spa is outstanding, as are the interactive wine tastings and blending sessions led by personable sommelier Gonçalo Mendes. The gastronomic restaurant will be reborn in October with the name Mapa, and David Jesus (of the Michelin two-star Belcanto) has recently signed on as executive chef and has plans to launch a full new menu in February.

Eat

Mercearia Gadanha

While traditional Alentejo gastronomy—meat and hearty dishes to fuel the farmers of the past—is often very satisfying, that’s not what’s on offer at Mercearia Gadanha in Estremoz. Chef Michele Marques and her team turn out unusual and surprising fare with traditional ingredients. During a visit a couple of years ago, a dish listed on the menu as “fantastic soup” was just that: tomato-strawberry gazpacho with sweet prawns and basil granita. The tuna tartare had a richness that was enlivened by radishes and fresh herbs, and a dish of local goat cheese, walnuts and honey nicely tiptoed the line between savory dish and dessert.

Herdade do Esporão Restaurante

At the winery of the same name, the Esporão restaurant has been open since 1997 and distinguished nearly all that time. The dining room opens to the outdoors, the better to showcase the products that are grown and raised on the estate’s farm. Chef Carlos Teixeira began his cooking career at age 14 and went on to work in a Michelin-star restaurant in London and intern at Blue Hill at Stone Barns in New York. Back in his native Portugal, he’s turning out an inventive, seasonal menu of five or seven dishes using Alentejo ingredients, many from the estate’s organic vegetable gardens. In 2022 the restaurant was awarded a Michelin star and a green star for sustainability.

Cavalarica Évora

The first Cavalariça, in Comporta, remains one of the best casual restaurants in Portugal (at least in my book), so it was a big deal when partners Bruno Caseiro, Filipa Gonçalves and Christopher Morrell opened a new Cavalariça in Évora last summer. The long, creative menu is heavy on vegetables and fermentation but also makes good use of animal protein. Caseiro has said this restaurant is the most influenced by its location, both in terms of ingredients and in terms of ideas—no surprise considering the richness of Alentejo gastronomy. The menu is long and sharable, with memorable plates like rabbit escabeche, stewed oxtail and beef tartare, as well as lighter options like roasted beets with with orange and watercress, and tempura of green beans, kale and zucchini with lime-cilantro dip.

Sip

Fitapreta

António Maçaneta is one of Portugal’s rockstar winemakers, and Fitapreta is his flagship. He likes to point out that his father is a chemistry professor and his mother is a historian, as a way of explaining his science-meets-tradition approach to winemaking. He dives deep into nearly extinct grapes and almost-forgotten techniques (aging in amphoras, for example) and then sciences them up. As a result, his wines don’t taste like today’s typical Alentejo wines but like something from the past. Or maybe from the future. Either way, it’s delicious. His Fitapreta winery occupies a medieval palace, parts of which date from the 14th century, and is a dreamy setting for wine tastings, leisurely lunches (both by appointment only) and the occasional, memorable evening concert.

Tapada de Coelheiros

There are other, snazzier wineries in the Alentejo. But what makes Tapada de Coelheiros stand out is the way it demonstrates that regenerative agriculture works. The wine tourism experiences (by appointment only) are straightforward—guided tastings, property tours, typical home-style lunches—a drive around the property shows what a difference responsible land management can make. On a recent summer day, the vineyards and pasturelands and Tapada de Coelheiros looked healthy and green, while the neighbors’ properties across the street were parched. While the low-intervention wines are tasty, and the family-style lunches feel like a trip back in time to a simpler Portuguese soul, it’s above all a place that gives hope for the power of sustainable farming.

Honrado

One of the Alentejo’s most fascinating traditions is its talha wines—wines that are aged only about 100 days in clay amphoras, then sampled as part of a celebration of St. Martin’s Day in November. (Think of France’s considerably more famous Beaujolais Nouveau parties.) The surprise is a big part of the fun, because, as talha winemaker Ruben Honrado says, “Nobody knows what they’re doing.” But visitors can get a good sense of the tradition in Honrado’s atmospheric tasting room and winery of the same name. Equal parts museum and wine cellar (visit by appointment only), it’s a one-of-a-kind place for wine tastings and snacking on traditional Alentejo delicacies.