Portugal and Madeira : Where to go? Portugal has a wide variety
of landscapes, from the mountainous north east to the flatter
areas near the coast and in the south. The continental part of
the country, south west of the Iberian Peninsula, occupies a
relatively small area. Generally speaking, the altitude
decreases from the Spanish border towards the Atlantic and from
north to south; the Tagus (Tejo) divides a mountainous region in
the north from an area of plateaux and plains in the south. The
archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores out in the Atlantic are a
distant volcanic playground, enriched by a variety of flowers,
geology and history. In the Primary Era the north of Portugal
was affected by Hercynian folding which resulted in the
emergence of hard granite and shale mountain ranges. These were
worn down in the Secondary Era to form a vast plateau out of
which rose erosion resistant heights such as the Serra de São
Mamede. In the Tertiary Era, the raising of the Alps and
Pyrenean folding led to a brutal up