BBC Travel’s list of the ‘20 best places to travel in 2026’ features a beautiful Portuguese city deeply steeped in history.
This year’s “guide to the best places to travel” highlights destinations that “offer incredible experiences while using tourism to support local communities, protect the environment and preserve their unique cultural heritage”.
This is indeed the time of year when must-visit travel lists for 2026 start to appear — and the BBC is no exception. “From a Polynesian island ringed by blue lagoons to the heart of Chile’s wine country”, the British broadcaster has released “the top destinations chosen by BBC journalists”. And Portugal’s Guimarães is highlighted as one of the stand-out destinations.
From Abu Dhabi, Algeria, Chile’s Colchagua Valley, the Cook Islands and Costa Rica, to the Scottish Hebrides, Japan’s Ishikawa, Indonesia’s Komodo, or Phnom Penh, Guimarães is listed as a city with “a youthful, creative energy thanks to being one of Portugal’s oldest university towns”.
“Just 65km inland from Porto, Guimarães is astonishingly under the radar for a city considered the 12th-Century birthplace of Portugal and its first capital,” says BBC’s Norman Miller, summarising in just a few paragraphs what the medieval city represents to Portugal’s history.
However, the reasons for choosing Guimarães for the list are twofold: it will be the European Green Capital in 2026 and it is celebrating 25 years as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
“Its beautifully preserved medieval core is a tangle of cobbled squares and lanes dotted with grand palaces and terraced restaurants, from Michelin-starred spots to laid-back eateries and craft beer bars,” the text continues.
“Contemporary culture sits comfortably alongside its medieval streets: futuristic galleries built for its 2012 European Capital of Culture title mingle with museums in ancient cloisters and hipster spots carved out of old factories.”
Norman Miller also highlights the “newly created green city oases and artfully repurposed heritage buildings”.
He also recommends a visit to the archaeological site of Citânia de Briteiros, “a dramatic ancient hilltop settlement dating back to 9th Century BC”. However, he is quick to point out that Guimarães is “no museum piece” … it is a “forward-thinking, quietly confident city – and one of Europe’s most compelling surprises for 2026”.
