Portugal’s largest wetland zone, and one of the top ten in Europe, lies within the Vila Franca de Xira municipality.

This reserve is more than 14,000 hectares  and was created to ensure a haven for the many thousands of birds that either breed here, winter here or stop by on their migration between African and Western Europe.

You could visit at any time of year and be treated to a spectacle of life and colour, but the migratory periods in autumn and spring are when the bird population is at its most diverse.

Winter is also special, when over 120,000 waterfowl and waders descend on the estuary for milder weather.