Top 8 locations for a wedding in Portugal

Lisbon coastal elopement

The capital of Portugal is a hilly and coastal region that offers a great mix of historic and modern luxury elopement venues. We love recommending Lisbon to our couples because it gives them the opportunity to tie the knot in vintage palaces with fairytale gardens, ancient ruins, and historic cathedrals built hundreds of years ago.

For couples looking for a more luxurious wedding venue with a modern vibe, we suggest choosing venues like boutique hotels along the beach, 5-star palace wedding hotels with indoor and outdoor ceremony spots, and picturesque palaces with postcard-perfect panorama.

Beachside Algarve weddings

Lisbon is not the only region with great beachside wedding venues. In fact, some of the best spots for a Portuguese beach wedding can be found in the country’s southernmost region, Algarve. An elopement in this region guarantees the best beach views, the best Portuguese seafood experience, and a taste of excellent, inexpensive wines!

Have the best seafood feast with only the two of you or with an intimate group of family and friends when you get married in Algarve's breathtaking beachside elopement venues. Some of your options include beach club hotel resorts, golf resorts, a private yacht floating above glorious Portuguese waters, and a secret sea cave!

Sitting in Algarve is another scenic location called the Faro District where you can have a ceremony in a luxury farmhouse, a boutique wine estate, or a luxury palace hotel.

Marry in historic and luxury Cascais venues

Just like Lisbon, Cascais has a healthy mix of modern luxuries and historic scenes. Choosing Cascais will give you an opportunity to get married along a sandy coastline in a modern elopement venue or a historic events location. As a tourist destination, Cascais had to keep up with the demands for a luxury holiday, and it was able to do so without losing its historic roots. To date, you can still book historic venues such as heritage sites and medieval structures for your wedding ceremony in Cascais.

To give you the best of both worlds, Cascais also offers modern golf resorts, posh beachfront restaurants, and boutique hotels along the coast for a contemporary wedding day vibe.

Estoril is another interesting spot in Cascais where elegant wedding venues await you. It houses luxurious holiday venues and grand vacation resorts with unparalleled ocean views. Here in this entertainment destination at the Portuguese Riviera, you can have a grand destination elopement with the finest amenities and advanced venue features.

Elope to medieval spots in Porto

Porto is another interesting location for historic-themed elopements in Portugal. Getting married here will transport you back in time with its medieval riverside district, stately bridges, and narrow cobbled streets. Your options for a wedding venue here are romantic villas with picturesque courtyards, parklike elopement spots with wide open gardens, farm venues with their own lakes and chapels, and a beautiful country house with sophisticated and sunny gardens for an airy outdoor wedding.

Get married in Coimbra's romantic venues

If Germany and Italy have beautiful lakes for a dreamy destination wedding, Portugal has one whole city fronting the river that offers romantic scenery for an outdoor ceremony in Portugal. You will surely fall in love with Coimbra when you get married in one of its hotel terraces overlooking medieval towns, or 4-star or 5-star hotels right in front of the river, and in other luxury elopement spots that offer a glimpse of Portugal’s history. One of our favorites is a hilltop fairytale castle right in the middle of a forest.

Nature elopements in the Douro Valley

We’ve been talking about historic spots to get married in Portugal since the start of this post, but there’s something even much better than that. There’s a specific location in this European destination that offers a combination of history and nature, the Douro Valley.

It’s the oldest demarcated wine region not only in Portugal but in the whole world. Here, you can get married in breathtaking vineyards, historic hotels and villas overlooking the scenic terraced fields, and spectacular hiking opportunities to satisfy your cravings for an adventure. At the banks of the Douro river, you can find glass-windowed venues offering tip-top views of the Douro river and valleys!

Marry in Alentejo's unique elopement spots

Another historic region that’s worth mentioning is Alentejo in south Portugal that is dubbed as the heartland of the country because of its unbelievable sceneries. Pick an elopement spot in Alentejo and enjoy the views of the white beaches, historic Roman ruins, hilltop castles, and old Portuguese towns as you recite your vows.

When you get married in Alentejo, take the opportunity to visit a UNESCO designated medieval town called Evora that dates back to the 14th-century. It’s an interesting location still partially enclosed by medieval walls.

Religious destination weddings in Braga

Last but not the least is Braga, a famous district in the north of Portugal that played an important role in the independence and religious history of the country. It will be a perfect location for Catholic couples dreaming of a solemn ceremony in an old church. Braga houses many historic churches with medieval architecture, including the oldest Portuguese archdiocese, the Archdiocese of Braga of the Catholic Church.