A couple who spent 40 days traveling through Portugal as part of a three-month journey through Morocco, Spain, and Portugal offers a compelling case for the slow travel approach: extended time in single countries rather than rapid multi-country tours.
Their Portuguese itinerary demonstrates depth over breadth: 11 nights in Madeira, followed by Porto, Guimarães, Lisbon, the Fisherman's Trail, and Lagos, before wrapping up back in Lisbon. Posted to Reddit's r/backpacking, their experience highlights what becomes possible when you measure trips in weeks, not days.
The investment in Madeira alone - 11 nights - exceeds the total time many travelers allocate to entire countries. This allows for rhythms beyond sightseeing: establishing routines, finding favorite cafes, experiencing weather variation, seeing how a place functions on different days of the week.
The couple's reflection - "We absolutely loved the Portuguese people, landscapes and history" - suggests the kind of appreciation that develops from immersion rather than sampling. When you spend 40 days in a country, you're no longer ticking boxes. You're living somewhere temporarily.
This approach runs counter to the dominant backpacking model, which often treats Europe as a checklist: Paris (3 days), Amsterdam (2 days), Berlin (3 days), Prague (2 days). The result is Instagram proof you "did" Europe, but limited understanding of any specific place.
