Dom Luís I Bridge in Porto's historic centre
Written by:Apple Languages
Date posted:December 11, 2015
Posted in:Home / Locations / Portugal / Portuguese Christmas Traditions

Portuguese Christmas Traditions

Lisbon, ChristmasChristmas is by far my favourite time of the year, so you can imagine how much I have to say about it!

As it happens in so many other countries around the world, Portugal becomes magical at this time of the year. All the cities are full of lights, people are all excited (despite the relative cold weather) and you can listen to Christmas songs everywhere! If you want to visit Portugal during Christmas time, here are some tips of the best places to go:

Lisbon and Porto never disappoint and are always a great option at any time of year, so imagine these two cities with Christmas decorations! If you go to Lisbon, do not leave the city before going to Chiado to see the streets full of Christmas lights whilst a trip to Terreiro do Paço will let you see the giant Christmas tree! If you are visiting Porto, do not forget going to Avenida dos Aliados. It is definitely worth seeing the Christmas decorations in one of the most famous areas of the city.

If you are more like me and prefer smaller cities full of character, what about going to Óbidos or Santa Maria da Feira? Óbidos is a wonderful village near Leiria and hosts the “Vila Natal”, a magic world, for children and adults, where you can visit the Santa’s house and the Nativity or go ice-skating, amongst other things! However, if you want to visit the biggest theme park in the north of the country, go to Santa Maria da Feira and buy your ticket for the “Perlim – Uma quinta de sonhos”. Trust me, you will not regret it!

Christmas Traditions in Portugal…

Now you know where to go I want to give a little inside information on what happens around Christmas time in Portugal. Although the most important days are 24th and 25th December, the preparation starts long before! A few years ago 1st December was a holiday, so we would put up the Christmas tree on that day. But since we do not have that holiday anymore… We do it during the first weekend of the month instead! Besides the Christmas tree, and since Portugal is a religious country, Nativity scenes are very popular throughout the country. A proper Nativity should have some moss at the base which you should collect in a nearby forest. Et voilà! Now you just need to wait for the presents to start showing up under the Christmas tree 😉

Christmas nativity scene, Portugal

Portuguese Christmas nativity scene

A couple of weeks later it’s finally Christmas time! On 24th December, we wake up early in order to prepare the food for dinner, which we call “Consoada”. The Portuguese tradition on Christmas Eve is to eat boiled codfish with potatoes and cabbage, octopus rice and sweets, a lot of sweets! I could give you an endless list of traditional Christmas sweets, but here are a few of my favourites: bolo-rei, rabanadas, broas de Natal, arroz doce, bilharacos e sonhos! They are irresistible… and responsible for all those extra kilos gained during Christmas time. After dinner, families generally watch Christmas movies and chat until midnight. And why is midnight so important? It is when we open the presents!! In my family the youngest member gives out the presents, but it depends on the families’ own traditions. There are some families where one of the people dress up as Santa Claus and others that really appreciate a trip to midnight Mass and open the presents on their return.

Since the night before was long, on Christmas Day we do not wake up very early! When we do it’s back to preparing the meal. Food and family time are incredible important in Portugal! On Christmas day we do not eat codfish, but stuffed turkey and all the sweets I told you about before!

Another Portuguese tradition is the “Janeiras”. This is a tradition that takes place on 6th January and consists of groups singing songs on the streets announcing the birth of Jesus and wishing everyone a happy new year. Some time ago these groups would have people of all ages, but now most of them are children that do it as a school’s activity.

Do you really still need more reasons to visit this wonderful country in Christmas time? Let us know if there is anything else you think I have missed!

Rita

Leave a Comment

Your email is never published nor shared. Required fields are marked *

*
*

Blog Categories

IALC Partner
ALTO
WYSE Travel Confederation
WYSE Work & volunteer abroad
Our schools are rated  (4.58/ 5) based on 3937 customer reviews!
Read in: | EN | FR | DE | IT | NL | ES

Apple Language Courses

Unit 12, The Office Village
North Road

Loughborough
Leicestershire
LE11 1QJ
England


T: 01509 211 612
E: info@applelanguages.com

Contact Numbers.

United Kingdom United Kingdom01509 211 612
Ireland Ireland01 6950417
Italy Italy800 699 791
Netherlands Netherlands020 7036459
Spain Spain91 1140113
United States United States646 652 0770
International International+44 1509 211 612

Sign up for our newsletter

We accept

Visa Mastercard Maestro American Express iDeal

Apple Language Courses Company Number: 08311373
VAT Number: 152 4085 30
© Apple Language Courses Ltd 2024