Portugal

Portugal has something most of Western Europe has lost: authenticity. In Lisbon's Alfama district, old men still hang washing from wrought-iron balconies and fado drifts from tavern doorways at night. This is not a stage set — it is a living, working neighbourhood that has resisted the homogenisation that has hollowed out so many European capitals.

The Douro Valley — the world's oldest demarcated wine region — produces port and increasingly excellent table wines on terraced slopes that plunge to the river. A private river cruise or a stay at the Six Senses Douro Valley, combined with quinta visits and tastings, is one of Europe's most rewarding slow-travel experiences.

The Algarve coast, the walled town of Óbidos, the university city of Coimbra, the surf and seafood of the Atlantic west coast — Portugal packs remarkable diversity into a small, easily navigated country, and remains substantially better value than France, Italy or Spain.