A green city break in sustainable Portugal

30 million people visited Portugal last year, which is a testament to the popularity of this beautiful country. As well as being a cultural hub that’s home to miles and miles of stunning, sun-kissed countryside, it’s in fact one of the most sustainable countries in the world.

Environmental issues are very close to our heart at Wizz Air. We’re very proud to say that we have the lowest CO2 intensity in the industry, with only 52 grams of CO2 released per passenger kilometre over the past 12 months ending on 31 March 2024. 

The Sustainable Development Report, which ranks the overall performance of all 193 UN Member States, placed Portugal in 18th place in 2023. And the country has big plans to become even more environmentally friendly in the years to come - by 2030, Portugal aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% from what they were in 2005. The country also hopes to generate 85% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.

Travellers who are searching for an eco-friendly holiday might find just what they’re looking for in Portugal, but as with any country, every different city has its own special character and attractions. We have put together this list of just a few Portuguese destinations where you could enjoy the sustainable trip of your dreams.

 

Lisbon

The Portuguese capital of Lisbon, the ‘Capital of the Seven Hills’, won the European Green Capital Award in 2020. The city is largely pedestrianised and has plenty of parks and gardens, which are connected by green corridors to make it easier to get out into nature on foot or by bike.

Lisbon also has a great public transport network, making it easier to make your way around without driving. As well as the iconic yellow trams that make their way around 6 tracks through the city, there are plenty of buses, many of which are electric.

Just half an hour from Lisbon, you can find the Cultural Landscape of Sintra, which has been named a World Heritage Site because of its gorgeous historic buildings. Nearby, and still very close to Lisbon, is the Sintra-Cascais National Park. A recent rewilding project has reintroduced Portuguese horses, donkeys, ponies, deer and wild cattle.

As well as being amazing for nature-loving visitors to see, this will also bring a great benefit to the area’s environment. Their natural grazing will help reduce wildfires by making the undergrowth less dense. It will also open up the landscape allowing more species to set up home, such as partridges and other native birds. Wizz Air operates six routes to Lisbon from Belgrade, Budapest, Bucharest, London, Sofia and Warsaw.

 

Porto

Porto is Portugal’s second largest city after Lisbon. By 2020, the city had reduced its emissions by 57% compared to 2004, and it aims to have made a reduction of 85% from its 2004 total by 2030. Climate charity CDP listed Porto in the top 12% of cities that are global leaders when it comes to climate action in 2022, and in 2021, Euromonitor International named Porto the 50th best city for sustainable travel.

A fleet of electric buses can take you all over the city, and there are lots of green spaces to explore. Porto is home to Parque da Cidade, the largest city park in the whole of Portugal - with 10 km of walking and cycling trails, it even goes all the way to the coast, so you can have a park picnic on your way to the beach!

Porto is full of green initiatives like Terra Solta, an organic community farm in the heart of the city run by volunteers. Every Saturday, it’s open to visitors who can join in with the gardening - they can also sit down for the community lunch, made of all-natural ingredients grown right there on the farm, for the price of a small donation. Wizz Air operates three routes to Porto, from Milan, Rome and Warsaw.

 

Lagos

Just an hour’s drive from Faro Airport is the beautiful city of Lagos on the Algarve coast.  More than 60% of the land in the municipality of Lagos is a natural conservation area.

The Good Travel Guide has certified Lagos as one of Portugal’s most sustainable destinations, and all the municipality’s beaches have Blue Flags, as does the marina. The Blue Flag means that a beach or river meets the standards of the awarding body, the Foundation for Environmental Education. To get this trademarked award, a beach and the place it belongs to must meet a high standard of water quality, safety, and public environmental education. So if you go to Lagos, keep an eye out for those distinctive royal blue flags.

The region’s largest beach, Meia Praia, has also recently been the subject of conservation efforts - the dunes on the beach have been improved with a network of accessible walkways that make it possible for visitors to enjoy this unique ecosystem without harming it. As part of this campaign, invasive species of plants were removed, restoring the dunes to their natural beauty. Wizz Air operates ten weekly flights between Faro and London Gatwick. 

 

Funchal

The Autonomous Region of Madeira is a stunning archipelago off the south coast of Portugal to the West of Morocco. It’s often romantically called the ‘Island of the Eternal Spring’ because of its mild, sunny climate - it’s usually no colder than 18 degrees in winter.

In 2023, EarthCheck gave Madeira a Silver award, certifying the region’s commitment to sustainability. Two areas of the region have been recognised as Biosphere Reserves by UNESCO, Porto Santo Island and the Municipality of Santana. The island’s eco-friendly goals include reducing fossil fuel consumption by 45% by 2030. 

Visitors to the island’s capital Funchal will find a city that is highly walkable and surrounded by unspoilt natural scenery. Just north of the city, the Funchal Ecological Park - the beautiful place you can see in the picture above - is a perfect destination for a nature lover’s day out. The park’s circular hiking trail is 18.83 km long, and full of amazing views as you climb through the canyons and the forest.

There are also eco-friendly boat tours where you can venture out onto the sea to search for whales - the catamarans are designed to be low-impact, keeping the ocean safe from pollution, and reducing the ‘wake’ or trail of disruptive waves left behind by the boat as it goes by. Wizz Air operates five routes to Funchal from Budapest, Katowice, Vienna, Rome and Warsaw.

 

Sustainable Portugal

We think any of these destinations would make for an amazing sustainable holiday - and we applaud Portugal and its cities for their environmental goals. We also have goals we’re aiming to meet by 2030. By then, it’s our aim to reduce emissions intensity by 25% from our fiscal year 2020. Let’s all do what we can to help protect the wonderful world we live in, to ensure future generations can swim in the ocean, breathe clean air and have the pleasure of seeing native plants and animals in their natural environment.

 

Methodology:

Focusing on four different regions of Portugal, we have researched destinations for sustainable day trips and attractions that visitors might enjoy. We researched any awards and certifications that Portuguese cities and regions have achieved for their sustainability initiatives and nature conservation.