9 Things We’re Loving About Our First Holiday Season In Portugal

We moved to Portugal in spring 2021 and have enjoyed the special pleasures each season has brought thus far. We’re learning the language, the customs, and culture. And now with the end of the year coming up, there are many things we’re loving about our first holiday season in Portugal. We’ll share just a few of our favorites with you.

1. Festive Lights And Displays

Christmas is a big deal in Portugal. We first noticed a festive mood taking shape when our local grocery store began piping in familiar Christmas songs and carols with a new area displaying chocolates, nuts, dried fruits, and other seasonal treats. 

But the biggest displays take shape in the streets — light displays. The magic of the holiday season began with a lighting ceremony in Cascais. Huge arches, a giant Christmas present and tree, and a Hanukkah menorah now brighten downtown. A lighted Ferris wheel slowly turns in front of the Estoril Casino. And the streets of Lisbon display gleaming presents, bows, candy canes, even jellyfish overhead. A huge Christmas tree, the largest in Europe, illuminates Commercio Square. This year’s dazzling white blizzard of lights is awe-inspiring.

2. Delicious Sweet Treats

We’ve been enjoying the wide array of everyday Portuguese sweets. But Portugal pulls out all the stops for the holiday season. One of the best-loved sweet treats is the Bolo Rei, or King’s Cake. Portugal’s sweet masterpiece includes a sweet bread topped with nuts and candied fruits. Bakers use their own choices and there are even mini versions that you can enjoy on your own if you don’t want to share. A variation is the Bolo Rainha or Queen’s Cake, which skips the candied fruits and focuses on the nuts and dried fruits. Confeiteria Nacional and other bakeries show off their holiday best to appreciative customers.

There are many other sweet treats that appear during the holiday season. Some of the most popular include different approaches to sweetened fried dough, including the sonhos (fried choux pastry), filhós (fried yeast dough), and malasadas (fried doughnuts without holes). Often covered with sugar and spices, these treats are one of the things we’re loving about our first Portuguese holiday season.

3. Christmas Markets

We’ve made no secret of our love for Christmas markets. And Portugal is beginning to add more of these festive spots to its own holiday traditions. Lisbon has a number of them to soak up Christmas cheer. Larger Christmas markets include Wonderland Lisboa, Campo Pequeno, Natalis, and the bustling Rossio Christmas market. We explored the many fun booths with handmade gifts and crafts, artisan accessories, and of course, plenty of delicious treats. 

For something really different, we ventured about an hour from Lisbon to the ancient walled city of Óbidos. The whole town, which is quite magical to begin with, transforms into Vila Natal (Christmas Village). Theatrical performances, puppet shows, Christmas concerts, and magic join an ice skating rink, Ferris wheel, Christmas train, and more. We couldn’t leave this holiday wonderland without just one more taste of the famous cherry liqueur that is a specialty, Ginjinha of Óbidos, which warmed us down to our toes.

4. Traditional Christmas Foods

When the holiday season arrives, the Portuguese add to their already spectacular food tradition. Christmas is really a 2-day feast. On Christmas Eve, families all around Portugal most often enjoy a meal called Bacalhau com Todos (Cod Fish with Everything) soaked and simmered salt cod with a combination of accompaniments such as carrots, cabbage, hard boiled egg, potatoes, and chickpeas drizzled with olive oil, vinegar, and garlic. This traditional meal is known as consoada, from Latin meaning to comfort or console because it comforted family members making a long, cold journey to be together for the holidays. 

Christmas day brings another festive meal, this time with meat. While lamb and goat appear in many homes, turkey has become increasingly popular. This is one time when finding a whole turkey is not a challenge (unlike for a traditional U.S. Thanksgiving meal in November). Another popular way to serve turkey on Christmas is called Peru Recheado, which is a rolled turkey breast filled with any variety of stuffing choices.

5. The Weather

While we certainly learned to love our white Christmas holidays living in the midwest, there’s a lot to be said for a milder climate. We can walk down to the beach and stroll along the Paredao, a shoreline promenade that goes all the way from Lisbon to Cascais. The weather is cooler for sure, so that adds to a feeling that the seasons here are with us. 

We have been treated to early morning rainbows and breezy nights. Bringing some of our holiday traditions, such as decorating a Christmas tree, putting lights outside for our neighbors to enjoy, and lining up the nutcrackers feels perfectly natural. And, because Portugal is one of the most geographically diverse countries in the world, we can drive a couple of hours to Serra da Estrela, a four-season mountain area where there’s snowfall and even a ski resort. We’ll make a visit there sometime, but right now we’re enjoying our holiday strolls along the beach.

6. The Best Advent Calendar Ever

Opening advent calendars has become kind of a tradition for us over the years. There have been chocolate advent calendars, Peanut advent calendars, travel advent calendars, and of course, cat advent calendars. We’ve had a lot of fun counting down the days in the holiday season.

But nothing in the past can compare to the advent calendar we discovered in a gourmet store in our neighborhood. It was hidden behind a sign and some other boxes in the adult beverage section. We brought home the Port Wine Advent Calendar and have been delightedly enjoying it every day. Each number holds a small bottle of delicious port wine, ranging from vintage to decades old tawny, ruby, and even a white port or two. And these are not cheap, stinky ports. Each one is better than the next. We can hardly wait to see what comes on Christmas Eve! Suffice it to say that Portugal has provided us with our favorite advent calendar ever.

7. Christmas Music

We mentioned the holiday music piping into the grocery stores. They’re also doing it in shops and malls. But what we love is the music that surrounds all of the holiday festivities that we can hear and see wherever we go. Christmas markets play music as well as offer live performances. There are concerts by symphony orchestras and choirs. Churches and parks fill with the sounds of music. 

Each town has its own way of celebrating. Cascais had a live performance of traditional carols sung by a full choir. As if that weren’t enough to get us into the spirit, a New Orleans-style jazz band followed, leading the way for giant toy soldiers, a snowman, and a gingerbread cookie person to dance through the crowded streets to begin a parade that flowed through the main streets of the city. Parades are common in Portugal’s towns and villages, and music brings the holiday spirit to life.

8. Focus On Family And Friends

One of the things we love most about Portugal is how friendly the people have been to us. They are genuinely interested in learning about our experiences and sharing their culture and traditions. While the Portuguese enjoy celebrating the holiday season, it is clear that the most important aspect of this time is spending it with family and friends. The stories we hear are all about family meals and gatherings. And when we are out in the shops, at the markets, and walking along the streets, we often see families together taking in the sights. 

While there are certainly ways to spend money on gifts in Portugal, we love seeing the abundance of ways to celebrate that are designed to be shared with family and friends. There may be a stack of toys or a pile of books. But there are rows and rows of dried fruits and nuts, cakes and cookies, special meats, and holiday wines. Everywhere, we get the clear message that the most important thing about the Portuguese holiday season is that people take the time to be with one another and enjoy the gift of being together.

9. A Low-Stress Holiday

After many years of rushing from one event to another, shopping for gifts big and small, and trying to bring holiday cheer, come what may, it’s refreshing to have a low-stress holiday here in Portugal. The friends we have met are happy just to spend time with us. Sharing some wine or a meal and some stories is the only gift they would like to receive. No one is looking for that “perfect gift” in a box or a bag. And, neither are we. 

For the first time in quite a while, we both feel, dare we say it, relaxed about the holiday season. We’re enjoying the lights and the celebrations. Learning about the traditions of our new country and the customs that the holidays bring is fun and enlightening. We feel blessed to enjoy a sense of calm and peace during a time that has often been filled with stress. We’re spending our time enjoying those around us, the beauty of our surroundings, and the meaning for us of the holiday season. 

Moving to Portugal has brought us many lessons and new experiences. But with all that is new, there is also much that is familiar. And that’s another of the things we’re loving about our first holiday season in Portugal.