Portugal: A great deal this summer and rich in Jewish history

I always considered Portugal to be good travel value. It was interesting for me to learn that the New York Times agreed with me and considers Lisbon a bargain. The waterside city is mainly known as the charming faded seat of a centuries gone trade empire where you can plunk down some coins to ride an old yellow cable car, visit Baroque churches and squares, satisfy your hunger on cut rate seafood meals, sip 2-euro glasses of the famous Portuguese Madeira red and rose wine at cafes where famous literate were known to hang out and turn in at your budget hotel.

While Americans, like me, have viewed Portugal as good value for their dollars, Lisbon is also getting fancier each month. Upstart museums and renovated industrial districts offer an infusion of contemporary art and design. There’s also a new wave of neo-Portuguese restaurants, hot nightspots and innovative designed hotels that are becoming known as “happening” places to stay. Five star hotels usually cost half as much as what you’d pay in Paris, London or Madrid. With an average cost of 84 euros a night, Portugal is the sixth most affordable country in Europe. With an average cost of 85 euros a night, Lisbon is the ninth least expensive city.

Dispersed throughout the countryside are 46-government owned pousadas. These pousadas are actually inns that were originally built as castles. The Pousada Rainha Santa Isabel was originally the 13th century Estremoz castle, the home of the blessed Queen Isabel. After a devastating fire, it was rebuilt in the 18th century. But the room where Santa Isabel died in 1336 escaped the fire and is now a little chapel open to the public. This pousada is rated as comparable to a five-star hotel.

Besides being affordable, Portugal is also rich in culture. It is the oldest nation in Europe and has an amazing wealth of poetry, history, monuments and events that make Portugal a “globalized” place to spend time. Americans are recognizing this as they saw a 13 percent increase in American visitors in 2010.