Portugal’s Top Nature Parks in 2025
If you’re itching for greenery that stretches further than your eye can follow, Portugal has the answer.
Think rugged cliffs that drop into glassy waves, forests greener than you’ve ever seen, and mountain trails that feel like they’ve been carved by time itself. Portugal isn’t just cobbled cities and custard tarts (although they’re incredible).
Let’s explore below.
Peneda-Gerês National Park
This is Portugal’s one and only national park, and it doesn’t disappoint. Set in the country’s north, right up against the Spanish border, Peneda-Gerês looks like something pulled from a fantasy novel.
Mountains roll in every direction. Granite villages cling to hillsides like stubborn goats. Waterfalls crash through thick woods while wild horses graze nearby as if it’s the most normal thing in the world.
You don’t come here for polished paths or curated views. You come because you want raw, untouched Portugal. Hike to old Roman roads. Swim in icy lagoons that locals keep secret.
Arrábida Natural Park
Just an hour south of Lisbon and near Comporta sits Arrábida, and it’s the definition of coastal magic.
You’ll drive through winding roads where cliffs lean into the ocean. You’ll find beaches hidden between towering limestone and pine-scented hills. It feels Mediterranean, but it’s very much Portuguese.
Hikers head up to the Serra da Arrábida where the views knock the breath clean out of your chest. Down below, Portinho da Arrábida waits with waters so clear you can’t help but want to take a swim. There are no skyscrapers here. No souvenir stalls screaming for attention. Just nature doing what it does best—existing without apology.
Arrábida is the kind of place where you stay longer than you are meant to, and if you do, the villa Comporta rental options are the perfect place to stay for easy access to the natural park.
Serra da Estrela Natural Park
Portugal’s highest peaks live here, and so do the shepherds, the sheepdogs, and the cheese that tastes like it holds centuries of history. Serra da Estrela is mountainous Portugal at its boldest. Snow falls in winter. Wildflowers flood the meadows in spring.
You can hike to Torre, the country’s tallest point, or chase the Zêzere Glacier Valley which snakes down the valley. Even the air smells richer here.
What makes Serra da Estrela stand out isn’t just its altitude. It’s the way tradition still hums quietly in every corner. Villages look like they haven’t blinked in 100 years. Locals speak softly but feed you like family.
If you want a nature park with a soul, this is it.
Southwest Alentejo and Vicentine Coast Natural Park
Waves slam into cliffs that look like they’ve been painted in layers.
This is Portugal’s wild west coast where surfers ride angry water and fishermen drop lines from dizzying heights. The Southwest Alentejo and Vicentine Coast is a long name for a place that’s all about the simple things—wind, salt, and freedom. Forget polished boardwalks. Here you get dust on your boots. You get sand in your hair and sea spray in your face.
This park stretches from the Algarve up to Alentejo, wrapping the coastline for miles. Every cove hides something new. Every trail leads somewhere quieter than the last.
Portugal isn’t just about the places you see on postcards. It’s about the corners you never knew existed. These nature parks remind you that the best views don’t come easy and the quietest places leave the loudest impressions.
