8 Best Things to do in Portugal During Fall

Portugal is the perfect autumn holiday destination; firstly, you can enjoy fewer crowds and warm sunshine without the intensity of summer heat. The ideal temperature allows you to indulge in numerous activity-based and cultural adventures. As Portugal's wild nature comes alive with new colours and green life, the cities and towns also wake up to a new cultural season.

Here are the some of our favorite things to do in Portugal during fall (in no particular order):

1. Festival of São Martinho

The Fall in Portugal brings celebrations as the harvests are gathered, with fairs and gastronomic festivals showcasing local produce. The smell of roasting chestnuts fills the streets as street vendors wheel out their barrows and fan the flames for the tastiest street snack.

This culminates in the festival of São Martinho, when you can find many parties throughout the country celebrating with red wine flowing and slightly salted chestnuts grilling on open grills. From rustic traditional parties in  Alentejo towns to Portimão’s São Martinho fair, which dates back to 1662, with stalls, fireworks and live music. It's a great day to experience the best in traditional Portuguese hospitality.

• When: November 11th, 2026 (same date every year)
• Where: Countrywide

2. Sweet potato harvest

Who doesn't love sweet potato? Hmmm..  roasted in the oven as they slowly become a lovely, sticky, sweet mush of delight. The Lira variety is picked only once a year, between September and mid-November. The soil quality and the particular climate produce a sweet potato of unparalleled taste and texture. It is sweeter, its texture is soft and not too stringy, and when eaten raw, its taste is like that of a chestnut.

The Aljezur sweet potato is a certified gem celebrated for its distinct flavour, exquisite texture, remarkable nutritional richness, and boundless potential in the culinary realm. This prized potato is so revered that it has its own festival dedicated to it! At Festival da Batata-doce de Aljezur, you can take a break from the best surf beaches and get replenished sampling the many delights of sweet potato, fried, roasted and even in the most delicious sweets. Don't miss our favourite, the sweet potato brownie.

• When: September and mid-November
• Where: Aljezur

3. Pumpkin celebration at Festival da Abóbora

We love pumpkins! As seasoned vegetarians, the pumpkin makes its way onto our family table at least once a week. As many crops are celebrated with their own festival, why not try the Festival da Abóbora in Lourinhã e Atalaia.

The Festival's main objective is to celebrate Pumpkin Culture and local Horticulture, allowing local producers to showcase the quality of their production capacity and the region's excellent natural conditions. Imagine the largest pumpkin you've ever seen at over 650kg in weight! Over the three days, in an area of ​​around 1500 m 2, there are exhibitions of more than 100 species of pumpkin, cooking and tasting sessions, craft shows and workshops.

• When: October 23-25, 2026
• Where: Junta de Freguesia de Atalaia, Lourinhã
  

4. Wine Wine Wine!

The grape harvest season is one of the highlights of the agricultural year for wine tourism, and from the north to the south of the country, the doors of the vineyards will open with programs that allow us to get closer to this annual ritual of grape picking.

There are around 4700 wineries in Portugal, so it's easy to find one! With our partnership with Portugal Easy Camp, you can stay at some of the most beautiful vineyards in Portugal. We have partnered to offer discounts of up to 10% on these stays.

If you want to indulge in the grape-picking camaraderie and experience it first-hand, you can book some fully immersive harvesting activities.

5. Olive harvest and tasting

The 2nd week of October brings a hussle of activity in the countryside in Portugal and Spain. It's a splendid sight to see families and friends get together and comb the trees with the “oliveiro” plastic rakes. You need a lot of olives to make a litre of olive oil.

We are blessed to have many olive trees at our ranch, and recently, just over  100 kg of olives, collected in one day, was exchanged for 12 litres of oil. Freshly pressed new season's olive oil is truly remarkable, with flavours reminiscent of fresh green grass, apples, vanilla, and minimal acidity. It is liquid gold, and once you try it, you won't accept anything else drizzled onto your salad. You can experience many olive tastings and even watch the production.

In the Algarve, you can check out Monterosa olive press. Monterosa olive oil has won countless awards worldwide for its spectacular olive oil. If you're in the mood for a rustic olive oil press experience, head over to the Santa Catarina lagar, where you can witness old couples rolling in with pickup trucks loaded with olives, ready to swap them for liquid gold! (Lagar de Azeite) Here, you can buy first-class extra virgin olive oil for €35 for 5 litres; it is one of the best you will ever taste and is where the our ranch exchanges their olives for oil.

• When: October
• Where: Countrywide

6. Surf!

The warmest seas for surfers are in September/October. Consistent swells offer beginners and intermediates the right conditions for learning to surf in Portugal, and bigger waves are always just a drive away for those seeking more challenges.

October brings the start of the big wave surfing season in Nazaré. To stand at the lighthouse and behold the sight of the biggest wave you've seen in your life has become a remarkable right of passage for many surfers and non-surfers alike.

Likewise, the waves at Peniches Praia do Supertubos have magnetic awe-inspiring power, and Ericeira has become the Mecas for surfers, giving many practical options for surfers of all levels of abilities.

• When: Early fall is still good for beginners, but the swells intensify going into winter
• Where: See the article above
  

7. Mountain biking

Roll into any West Coast town from October onwards, and you'll see MTB riders everywhere taking advantage of the cooler weather and the numerous well-thought-out and mapped-out trails. They are all well marked out and divided into levels so that you can be sure to be matched to a trail that suits you.

Some of our campers can be fitted with a bike rack and bikes as an extra, so you can be flexible and choose from the many different bike routes or enjoy a cycle from your campsite into the nearest town for a great lunch and an exhilarating ride back. Don't miss our MTB Portugal blog with more details on all Portugal has to offer for cycling enthusiasts.

• When: Aim for lower temperatures and cloudy days
• Where: Countrywide

8. Autumn Hiking 

Fall in Portugal always brings the first rains to a very dry Portugal, bringing the landscapes alive with a beautiful array of colours, bird songs and revitalising flowing rivers. The daily sunrise/sunset cloudscapes are truly uplifting moments to treasure.

This is the ideal season for hiking in Portugal, not burdened by heavy clothing, and it's not too hot to enjoy striding out in the midday sun.

• When: Aim for lower temperatures and cloudy days
• Where: Countrywide
  

Why Fall in Portugal is Better with Siesta Campers

Autumn doesn't stay in one place. The chestnut smoke drifts through the north, the grape harvest rolls through the vineyards, and the olive presses fire up in the south, all within a few short weeks. The travellers who catch the best of it are the ones who can move. That's the whole case for doing this trip in a campervan, and it's what Siesta Campers is built for.

You wake up where the season is happening. No checking out at eleven, no long drives back to a hotel after a festival. Park up near the trailhead, the vineyard or the beach, and be out enjoying the golden light while everyone else is still loading the car.

Built for trips like this

• Space for all of it: bikes, surfboards, wetsuits, hiking boots and rain jackets. Everything travels with you instead of being crammed into a hire car.
• A shower, so you can rinse off after a muddy trail ride or a morning surf rather than driving on in salt and sand.
• A fridge that keeps market finds fresh, from new-season olive oil to a bottle of local red for the evening.
• A proper kitchen for cooking with the harvest: roast Aljezur sweet potatoes, pumpkin soup or a pan of chestnuts wherever you park.
• A comfortable bed, because a long day of hiking, biking or festival-hopping deserves a proper night's sleep.
• Total freedom to follow the weather and the festivals. Rain rolling in on the coast? Head inland for an olive oil tasting. Clear skies forecast? Drive to the cliffs. No bookings to cancel, no plans to unpick.

Start in Porto and head into the Douro for the grape harvest, or walk the first stretch of the Camino Portuguese Coastal Route before you set off.

Pick up in Faro and spend a week between the olive presses, the Aljezur sweet potato fields and the Seven Hanging Valleys trail, finishing with São Martinho in Portimão.

Lisbon puts you between both, with the Lourinhã pumpkin festival, the big waves of Nazaré and the surf breaks of Ericeira and Peniche all within easy reach. However you plan it, the season sets the route, which is exactly how it should be.

Book the perfect campervan for your autumn road trip in Portugal >