I chose the quiet village of Amarante along the Rio Tâmega for my last night of this trip to Portugal. After the bustle of big-city Porto, I welcomed shifting to a slower pace.

I’ve concluded that nearly all key cities and towns in Portugal are located on hills and water. It’s logical since hills were used as defense in ancient times and water allowed faster navigation than going overland.

I’m roughly halfway between Portugal’s two largest cities, Lisbon and Porto, in the university town of Coimbra. It’s a beautiful location with the old town and campus perched on a hill overlooking the serene Mondego River.

I’m slowly driving my way north through Portugal, staying in small towns and stopping along the way whenever something catches my eye. After departing Óbidos, the next town to explore was Tomar.

I’ve learned that big cities are a hassle no matter where in the world you travel. If you have a rental car, driving in European urban centers is incredibly stressful. That’s why I chose to ride the bus into Lisbon and let someone else deal with traffic.

After two enjoyable weeks in Spain, I drove northwest from Seville and crossed the border into Portugal. There are no border checks between the 26 European countries that comprise the Schengen Area, which is a different group of countries than the European Union (although many overlap).

I decided to drive an hour and a half northeast of Sevilla to the historic Andalusian city of Córdoba. It’s currently the place with the most UNESCO World Heritage titles in the world.

I’m rounding out my visit to the Andalusian region of southern Spain by exploring its cultural capital, Seville (pronounced Suh-be-yuh in Spanish).

I drove this Saturday through the hill country of Andalusia which is the southernmost autonomous community in peninsular Spain. The name “Andalusia” derives from the Arabic word Al-Andalus, another reminder the Moors ruled this part of Hispania until the 1500s.