Sip, Savor, Azeitão

This is a private full-day excursion from Lisbon to the wine country of the Setúbal Peninsula, guided by a naturalist and resident of the region. You start on the Arrábida mountain road along the ridge, looking out over the Sado estuary and Tróia, where the Romans ran more than 25 workshops salting the catch and making garum, a sauce they shipped across their empire. Then it’s down to Setúbal and Livramento, the city’s covered market, which opened in 1930 and is lined with tile panels. You sample snacks among the fish and produce stalls before a traditional lunch. The city is also the home of choco frito, cuttlefish fried in a thin batter, a dish Lisbon locals make the trip for. In the afternoon, you visit two wineries and taste everything from crisp whites to robust reds and the region’s sweet Moscatel, poured by the winemakers. You'll have to leave room for a torta de Azeitão, the local rolled sponge cake with an egg-yolk filling.

At Livramento, the tile panels show the trades that built Setúbal: mending nets, salting the catch, hauling salt and gathering grapes. USA Today named it one of the world’s best fish markets. Your guide is from the region, so you see Azeitão as a local does. It’s a village usually passed on the road to the Arrábida beaches, yet wine has been its living for at least seven centuries: the name is Arabic for olive groves, but by King Dinis’s time this was already a land of estates and vineyards. Portugal’s oldest table-wine house is here, and in the 19th century the peninsula held the largest continuous vineyard anywhere, about 4,000 hectares owned by a single producer. The sweet Moscatel you may have tried by the glass in Lisbon comes from these hills. Come in September and the harvest could be under way: pickers in the rows, crates arriving at the cellars, and the smell of fermenting juice in the air.

This tour is led by a passionate food and culture enthusiast who calls this region home and genuinely loves this extraordinary land. This is a heartfelt expedition through Arrábida and its vineyards, where every story, every viewpoint, and every landmark is infused with personal narratives and local insights.

Walking shoes and weather-appropriate clothing.