By visiting the North of Portugal, it`s obligatory to stop by (even for a cultural day) Guimarães.

Nicknamed as birthplace of Portugal and the homeland of the first Portuguese King Afonso Henriques, this is the place where the Portuguese kingdom began.

Afonso Henriques, a military strategist, decided to defend the Portucalense county from the Moors that were invading the Iberian Peninsula and to prepare kingdom`s future by turning his back to his Spanish mother - Teresa.

Guimarães provided the best place for battlefields and declaring the Portuguese independence from Spain. Don`t forget to visit one of the oldest castles in Europe, the Dukes Palace and stroll by the oldest streets in the Toural Square.