This region gathers 100 municipalities, making it the biggest and most diverse touristic region of Portugal. It includes cities like Aveiro, Castelo Branco, Coimbra, Covilhã, Figueira da Foz, Guarda, Leiria, Óbidos, Ourém, Ovar, Torres Novas, Nazaré, Viseu, Vouzela. From schist and mountain villages to medieval towns, from convents and monasteries to castles and fortifications, this is the region with the biggest waves in the world (Nazaré), home to the biggest mountain range (Serra da Estrela), the biggest touristic caves (Mira de Aire), the most Portuguese village (Monsanto) and the largest pine forest in Portugal (Leiria), once planted on the initiative of a King who took the nickname of “Lavrador” (farmer). Here took place one of the most dramatic chapters in the love story of King Pedro and his Inês, and this is where the oldest Portuguese university is located.

With vine culture going back to Roman times, the four demarcated regions brought together in this tourist region represent the large richness of the territory, having wine as a strong element of preservation and construction of landscape and of intangible heritage. The wine offer is extensive, ranging from the sparkling wines of Bairrada, on the Atlantic coast, to the red wines of Dão, in the country’s inland, birthplace of Touriga Nacional and Encruzado, from the rosé wines of Beira Interior, with its high-altitude vineyards near the Spanish border, to the wines that come from the only winegrowing community located by the river Tagus, in the centre of Portugal, whose soils define its three very distinct terroirs - Bairro, Campo and Charneca.