Books are stories. They are memories, recollections, but they are also ideas and new worlds, trips of the imagination that carry readers to places far from their day-to-day life.

Reading a book where the backdrop to the story is a real location can inspire a future journey, where you can enjoy the place in full, notice details and hidden corners, and enrich the experience with meaning that you don’t get from the usual travel guides. 

Douro River

To inspire you, we suggest a simple list of stories that take place in Portugal and books that can be a guide to help you prepare your itinerary. But most of all, it is meant to be just the beginning of your own personal list of discovery of the country through writing and literature.

Stories that take place in Portugal

√ Pereira Maintains, Antonio Tabucchi
√ Comboio Nocturno para Lisboa (Night Train to Lisbon), Pascal Mercier
√ The High Mountains of Portugal, Yann Martel
√ The History of the Siege of Lisbon, José Saramago

Books that are also travel guides

√ José Saramago, Journey to Portugal
√ José Saramago, The Elephant’s Journey
√ Fernando Pessoa, What the Tourist Should See in Lisbon

To find other stories, search for authors and Portuguese works on the website of the Directorate-General of the Book and Library (Direção Geral do Livro e da Biblioteca)