There's a Portugal Beyond the One Everyone Talks About

Lisbon is bustling. Porto is lively. The Algarve, in parts, has been developed. However, only 45 minutes from Lisbon, a quieter Portugal still exists unseen by most visitors. In the villages and river valleys of Ribatejo, daily life continues to revolve around agriculture and traditional crafts. Potters work from studios attached to their homes. Olive gardens produce for families, not for export. Horses are bred, trained and known by name. Evenings unfold around tables where fado forms part of the night — not as a ticketed experience, but simply as what happens after dinner.

It is a region largely absent from international itineraries, and that, says Valeriia Korolenko, is precisely why she chose it. “People travel further and further to find something real,” she says. “It’s here. It’s been here the whole time.”

Korolenko’s own path runs through some of the most storied addresses in hospitality — The Savoy, Beaverbrook, The Doyle Collection, and the Four Seasons. Across those years, she paid close attention to what well-travelled guests actually remembered when they came home. Not the landmark, dutifully photographed. Not the restaurant, carefully chosen in advance. Something quieter, and considerably harder to book. “The moments that stayed with people were rarely the grandest,” she says. “They were the most personal ones. A shared meal. An invitation into someone’s studio. A conversation that lasted longer than the wine.”

Those observations eventually became a company. My Simple Portugal six small-group, hosted journeys across central Portugal, each one built on exactly the kind of encounter Korolenko spent years watching guests treasure. The programme is focused on the Ribatejo — a region still largely absent from international travel — and is built on relationships with artisans, horse breeders, fado singers and farming families developed over years, not arranged for paying guests. “You cannot engineer those moments,” she says. “But you can create the conditions for them.”

A day with My Simple Portugal might begin in a ceramicist’s studio, where techniques passed down over generations are still practised in the same room where they were learned. It might continue through olive groves with the family that has farmed them for three generations, tastings taken beside the press rather than in a tasting room. It might end at a table where a fado singer performs not on a stage, but in her own dining room, for a group of eight. “There is a warmth and generosity in this region,” Korolenko says, “but also a very strong sense of identity — in the food, the craft, the music. I wanted to create something that allows people to step into that world naturally.”

Groups are kept deliberately small, and itineraries are shaped around people rather than schedules. Each of the six journeys can stand alone or be woven into a longer stay, with overnight accommodation through a network of boutique hotels and local guesthouses across the region. Private transfers are included throughout, and all are available from May 2026, from €350 per person.

THE SIX JOURNEYS

Artisans of Ribatejo

Craft in the Ribatejo has never become heritage. Ceramicists, textile makers and small-scale producers still work from studios attached to their homes, techniques handed down across generations. Guests spend time inside working ateliers — observing, taking part in selected stages under guidance, and talking over coffee about how these practices continue today.

Fado & Gastronomy

Lunch at a local artisanal farm is followed by an evening in the home of a fado singer, where dinner and music take place in the same room. In Almeirim, sopa da pedra is still prepared in the same kitchens and served without reinvention. A guided visit to Tomar adds historical depth to a day already full of stories.

Olive Groves

Walking the groves with the families who farm them offers a direct understanding of harvest cycles, pressing methods and small-scale production. Tastings take place at source — beside the mill, next to the barrel — followed by a farm lunch or aperitif hosted on site.

Lusitano Horseback Adventures

The Lusitano is one of Portugal’s most recognised cultural symbols, with the Ribatejo at the centre of its breeding and training. Guests visit a working stud farm, spend time with breeders learning about the lineage and care of the horses, and — depending on experience — ride or work in the paddocks before lunch at the quinta.

River Zêzere Boat & Paddle

The Zêzere cuts through one of the region’s most varied landscapes, reaching places roads do not. Exploration is by boat or paddleboard with local guides, moving between wooded banks and small islands, with swim stops built in and simple riverside snacks along the way.

Culinary Heritage

A full day moving between farms, producers and traditional kitchens in Almeirim and Santarém, tracing where the food actually comes from. Both lunch and dinner are included, alongside a guided visit to Tomar — a town whose history adds unexpected context to the meal that follows.

The question My Simple Portugal is really asking is an old one: what do we actually want from travel? Korolenko’s answer is simple, and she has spent years making it possible to find. “It’s a region full of colour and stories,” she says of the Ribatejo. “It deserves to be experienced beyond the usual routes.” The Ribatejo has those things in abundance. It always has. It simply needed someone willing to make the introductions.