April - May

The months of April and May are considered part of the `shoulder season`, the time of year between low and high season. You will find good prices for accommodations around this time (save for holidays), and flowers will be in bloom all over the country. It`s beach weather in the Algarve but not quite yet in places like Nazare, where the water temperatures will still be too cold.

Holidays and Festivals:

March/April - Holy Week (`Semana Santa`), which includes national holidays such as Good Friday (`Sexta-feira Santa`) and Easter Sunday (`Domingo de Pascoa`).

April 25 - Liberation Day (`Dia da Liberdade`), celebrating the overthrow of the Estado Novo regime during the bloodless Carnation Revolution of 1974. (national holiday)

May 1 - Labor Day (`Dia do Trabalhador`). (national holiday)

May 13 - Hundreds of thousands of tourists make the pilgrimage to Fatima (`Peregrinacao de Fatima`). It is said that the Virgin Mary made appearances to three young shepherds beginning on this day in 1917.

May/June - The Feast of Corpus Christi (`Corpo de Deus`), a religious holiday observed by many nationwide, occurring 60 days after Easter Sunday. The town of Ponte de Lima celebrates with a `running of the bulls` similar to the one in Pamplona, Spain.