A world for shopping in Portugal
Shopping in Portugal
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Many people who end up going to Portugal will gladly find out what so many visitors to this swell land have already discovered before them: There is a world of shopping that awaits people who end up taking a vacation to Portugal. In fact, you could even say that the enticement of shopping is an extremely irresistible one for many visitors who end up going to this country.
Since Portugal is a shopper’s paradise, any self-respecting traveler has to decide just what the local best buys are in this foreign and exotic country. For starters, some of the best buys that any traveler will want to get his or her hands on include leather products that have been made locally, fine porcelain and even jewelry. Furthermore, there is also a whole range of high-quality clothing that the astute traveler can get his or her hands on when traveling in this country. This includes something as modern and flashy as the newest and the latest fashion garments all the way to the more traditional and thick, hand-knitted sweaters that are such a fashion staple in this region.
Since the 1974 revolution in Portugal—which is some almost 40 years ago—there has been a movement toward quite rapid modernization by the people in this country. However, all of the country’s fine traditional crafts and arts have not been lost despite this movement toward modernization! All over Portugal, travelers should and will discover that tiles, ceramics and pottery are continuing to be produced to the highest, possible standards. Of course, the styles of these various pieces of crafts and arts will be different based upon the specific part of the country in which the traveler buys them. For example, if a traveler wants to take home some fine examples of either embroidery or lace, they can usually find them in Madeira.
By far, a place termed “the Baixa” is actually the most popular shopping destination in all of Portugal. “The Baixa” is actually small, downtown section that is made up of many parallel streets that include the free-of-traffic Rua Augusta. Just a brisk walk up the Rua do Carno will take the traveler all the way to the stylish Chiado section of the country, which has practically recovered all of the way from a monstrous fire that engulfed this area all the way back in 1988. Just off of the city center is where the traveler will discover the biggest shopping mall in all of the Iberian Peninsula. It is termed the Colombo Center at Benfica.
If a traveler should find himself all the way in Oporto, he or she ought to go to the Rua de Santa Catarina in the major downtown part of the city. Here, the traveler is going to run into quite a few upmarket boutiques as well as fashion stores all along Avenida da Boavista and also near the Meridien Park Atlantic Hotel. The usual business hours for all of these fine stores are something that any self-respecting traveler should pay mind to when journeying to this country. Said usual business hours for these various stores are generally from 9 am to 1 pm and also from 3 pm to 7 pm. These usual business hours are good from every Monday to Friday.
The shops will be closing at 1 pm on Saturdays, and this lasts from January until November, yet they are open from the hours of 9 am until 1 pm and then again from the hours of 3 pm until 7 pm from Mondays to Saturdays, all throughout the month of December.
The multitude of shopping malls that you can spot all across Portugal, which are called centros comerciais, are generally open for a lot longer period of time: In general, they are open anywhere from between 10 am in the morning all the way until midnight!
Even though there are all these shopping malls in the country, there is also a multitude of smaller antique shops. Said smaller antique shops are normally tucked away inside of the backstreets of any of the bigger cities such as either Lisbon or Oporto, and they generally provide a great collection of items that date back a long time in history.
For information on property in Portugal contact the team via email at: info@portugalproperty.com or call free on +44 (0) 800 014 8201
Published in: Portuguese Life