5 Best Sights in Évora and the Alentejo, Portugal

This famed wine estate produces Esporão, one of Portugal's top labels. It's on a beautiful, sprawling property overlooking a lake that you won't believe is tucked away in the outskirts of this small town. The winery's driveway cuts across miles of vineyards, up to the main house with an arched portico showcasing the vast property. The winery offers one-hour tours of its facilities several times daily, and they all end with a free glass of wine. You can also sample wines at the bar (you pay according to the number and type of wines tasted). Pair wines with sophisticated Portuguese cuisine in the elegant lunchtime restaurant, where chef Carlos Teixeira prepares dishes with wine, olive oil, and vinegar from the estate.

If the valleys surrounding Monsaraz look flooded, that's because they are. In the late 1990s, Portugal and Spain jointly began work on a huge dam that created the 250-square-km (96-square-mile) Alqueva Reservoir, Europe's largest lake. You can drive or walk across the dam, but one of the best ways to see the lake's expanse is by boat. Visit the nearby town of Amieira, where the Amieira Marina offers day trips on the lake, boat rentals, and dining at a waterfront restaurant.

The castle and its imposing towers are one of the first things you see when you approach Monsaraz. Dating back to the 14th century, it's among the many fortifications built to protect the border between Portugal and Spain. During the Portuguese Restoration War, the castle was used by the military, but it was abandoned soon after that. It was only around 1830 that locals decided to turn it into a bullfighting ring, a tradition that continues in September during the Festas de Nosso Senhor Jesus dos Passos. For the rest of the year, you can roam around the castle and enjoy the views of the Alqueva Dam.

The area around Monsaraz is dotted with megalithic monuments. This 18-foot-high menhir (standing stone), is one of the tallest ever discovered.

This small museum, next to the parish church, displays religious artifacts, well-preserved frescoes, and the original town charter, signed by Dom Manuel in 1512. The former tribunal contains an interesting 15th-century fresco that depicts Christ presiding over figures of Truth and Deception.