The pandemic has made it difficult to find a place where you can relax and unwind without travelling. In order to motivate people to get out of the house and feel the joy of spring, Holidu (www.holidu.pt), a search engine for holiday accommodation, has carried out a study of the cities with the largest area of parks and gardens per person, using the Open Street Maps database to obtain the surface area of each park in the 50 main Portuguese cities. For those who enjoy relaxing in the shade of the trees, have a drink with your friends sitting on the grass, or read a good book under the sun, there are miles of parks in these cities!

Topping the list was Porto with 0.57sqm/1,000 inhabitants, followed by Maia (0.40sqm/1,000 inhabitants), Vila do Conde (0.38sqm/1,000 inhabitants) and Braga (0.35sqm/1,000 inhabitants).

Pin

Portimão

In 5th place, Portimão has 0.35sqm of parks and gardens per 1,000 inhabitants. Parque da Juventude is the place to be for walking and sports, with a magnificent walkway for strolling along the trees, a track for remote control cars, a BMX track and several kiosks where you can rest and relax.

Portimão is followed on the list by Oeiras (0.30sqm/1,000 inhabitants), Lisbon (0.29sqm/1,000 inhabitants) and Viseu (0.29sqm/1,000 inhabitants).

Meanwhile, Loulé comes in at number 9, also with 0.29sqm of green areas per 1,000 inhabitants. Despite occupying a low place on the list, this is a privileged and very beautiful area. Fonte de Benémola, inside the municipality of Loulé, is a place of rare beauty with more than 300 species of plants that you can marvel at with your family; along the stream you can observe fish, salamanders and frogs, to the delight of the most curious children. Walk the marked trails on a 4.5 km footpath and enjoy all the beauty Loulé has to offer.

Pin

Loulé

Rounding off the list is Almada with 0.27sqm/1,000 inhabitants.