WILL you be there when sports commentators turn their attention on the excitement of football's European Championships in Portugal from June 12 to July 4?

Europe's top 16 national teams, including hosts Portugal, will compete in the biggest international sports event ever scheduled in that country. There's no doubt it will make major headlines, with an estimated seven billion television viewers around the world (www.euro2004.com).

If you are going to Euro 2004, try to build in some extra time for sightseeing. But even if Portugal isn't on your immediate travel schedule, consider these possibilities for truly memorable experience on a future trip. That country is not only full of marvellous discoveries, but the price is far more comfortable than in many other European destinations.

Of course, first cover major sights in both Lisbon and Leiria where games will be held, before heading out into the country. There's certainly plenty there to hold one's attention.

Where to begin? Probably the Alfama, Lisbon's historic district with narrow winding lanes and steep stairways. If someone in your group might find it too strenuous, consider exploring it as we did when we took our mother there . . . starting at the top and walking down.

Then my brother Jim went back up to get the car, bringing it down to where we were waiting. We also carried a very portable, collapsible chair so she could relax along the way while we bargained in the city's famed flea market.

Thanks to wealth created by selling spices from India in the reign of Manuel I, a massive building boom began. One of its greatest treasures is the Jeronimo's Monastery, a definite must-see.

Royal coffers accumulated such affluence that high ramparts of Castilo San Jorge soon became too humble for his extravagant taste and he began construction on something even more elaborate. But the visitor will find the fortress, originally built as the Moorish Governor's stronghold, worth their time and the view of Lisbon and the River Tagus is impressive.

There are many worthy sights and major museums, including the Royal Carriage Museum. When you arrive at Lisbon airport, stop at the helpful bilingual tourist information counter right in the airport and ask for literature covering local attractions.

A place I never miss is St. Sebastian Church, entirely tiled inside from top to bottom in remarkable blue and white tile scenes for which Portugal is justly famed. Defined as a chapel by local standards, the effect is more than slightly overwhelming.

When we took mother there, it was just before their second election. Elation of independence after 36 years of Salazar rule was very obvious. To our amazement, those participating in the service ended it by singing The Battle Hymn of the Republic in Portuguese. My mother found it so intriguing, we requested it for her funeral as the casket left the church, and our very conservative clergyman rolled his eyes, but reluctantly agreed. The poet Byron was definitely not exaggerating when he called nearby Sintra "a glorious Eden". It truly is a storybook setting of royal palaces, manicured gardens and grand manor houses. And you can stay there in royal comfort if you choose.

There are so many things to see and do within an easy radius of Lisbon it's hard to narrow it down to just a few suggestions. There's such a thing as knowing too much about your subject!

MY love affair with Portugal began in a most unusual way. En route home from the French Riviera in 1968, my Pan Am flight had left Nice for New York when it was diverted for an emergency stop in Lisbon. On arrival there, we learned it was to evacuate political refugees after Salazar's government lost power.

It was a unique experience . . . refugees boarded carrying red carnations as symbols of a bloodless revolution and soldiers surrounding the plane had carnations stuck in their rifle barrels. Tanks around us on the tarmac, however, still looked ominous to plane passengers. If was my first introduction to anything Portuguese and made an interesting column in The Chicago Tribune.

Jim and I returned later, just before that first election, to write some evaluations of the unusual campaign in progress. In the Alentejo, a vast, fertile landscape of absentee giant landholding, truckloads of peasants were rushing off to communist rallies. Every square inch of town buildings was covered with election posters far beyond ladder height, all favouring leftist candidates.

However, north where land was privately owned in small individual farmsteads, posters and graffiti everywhere showed the hammer and sickle equalling the swastika. It was their first election after all those years of fascism. Years of return trips have not dimmed our fascination with the country, although the influx of prosperous returnees from Angola, Goa, Mozambique and Macau has changed landscapes with often unsightly overbuilding in some regions.

Several weeks ago we took readers north to Batalha, Alcobaca, Fatima, Ourem, Bucaco and the port wine district, all areas easily accessible around Leiria where some of the Euro 2004 matches will be held.

IT'S probably no accident that all places to be recommended are not only distinctively unique in their own way, but all share one common denominator . . . an outstanding pousada accommodation. Each is historic in character with atmosphere, antiques, the sense you've stepped back in Portuguese history and are living like an ancient royal.

It's also no accident that four of the country's standouts are in the Alentejo east and slightly south of Lisbon. It's possible to get some flavour of this vast landscape of cork trees, olive groves, wheatland, wine estates and hilltop towns with their fortified castles, rushing through on a day trip. But you'll miss the feel of its openness and wealth of palaces and country estates if you don't actually settle into at least one of its historic pousadas.

Evora's 30-room Pousada dos Loios in a massive former convent dates back to the early 1500s and literally oozes atmosphere. The visitor will encounter many excavations and ruins that are reminders of early Roman occupation in this area, but none surpasses the Temple of Diana built during the second century and located directly beside the pousada. Although change is occurring all over Portugal, Evora's old town still contains memories of its Moorish past and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site only one and a half hours' drive from Lisbon.

THERE'S much too see here, remnants of glory days as a showpiece during Portugal's golden age when Vasco da Gama's fleet brought back wealth of the Indies. But two things this writer will never forget . . . first is Sao Francisco Capela dos Ossos built by monks using some 5,000 skulls and assorted bones to line walls. Over its doorway is the inscription: "We are inside and waiting for you." Rather thought-provoking, don't you think?

The other, less macabre, is a delightful antique shop within walking distance of the pousada. At least I found it delightful, since it was jammed wall to wall with only narrow paths winding around varied treasures, including old tools, wrought-iron decorations and so on. You know those wonderful, rare experiences when you discover unusual items and establish a special rapport with someone with whom you share no common language . . . but seem to exactly understand each other? In this case, it was an elderly father and son and I'll head back in a flash next time Evora's on my itinerary.

Estremoz offers even more of the same, with its narrow lanes winding up through a town populated with manueline and Gothic houses, fortified gates and moats. At its summit is a hilltop castle now Pousada Rainha Santa Isabel complete with battlements that will take your breath away. Its 31 high-ceilinged rooms are complete with four-poster beds and appropriately traditional furnishings.

Down the road Vila Vicosa has the ducal palace finished by the Duke of Braganza in the 1600s. It's there King Carlos spent his last night before his assassination by an anarchist in Lisbon the next day in February 1908. On one of our early trips to Portugal, we happened to be in the country on that anniversary. We asked the hotelier where we were staying overnight about bank hours because we wanted to change some money.

"Oh, the banks are all closed today," was his response as he quite happily informed us: "This is the day we killed the King." A rather different attitude!

Yet another pousada is at Vila Vicosa, this time Jaoa IV in the former convent of Chagas de Cristo. If you've time, an incredible Vauban-style fortress is at Elvas on Spain's border and very worth a detour. Really massive, perfectly preserved and intricate, it served as an early defence against invasion from Spain.

Somewhat to the south in the same region is Alvito, a small village with the restored 15th-century castle of the Counts of Alvito as its centrepiece. A rare jewel, our suite there had a sitting area in one of the circular towers looking out over the garden pool. Very few rooms, but an especially treasured site.

A horse-drawn caravan of gypsies had camped at the edge of town to attend a local festival during our two nights there. They were very colourful, but unfortunately also one of the reasons travellers are warned to be on guard, locking cars, leaving nothing visible in sight and being wary of pickpockets.

YOU'RE now 148 kilometres from Lisbon and 41 from Evora. And you're definitely living well. Breakfast is always included in the pousada rate and is inevitably an ample feast. You'll find rates affordable, varying by season, location and occasional promotions. (See travel factfile below.) Dinner menus highlight regional specialities and are served with flair and panache in memorable settlings.

Yes . . . we've barely scratched the surface of possibilities. Estoril, west of Lisbon, at one time became home to no fewer than eight exiled kings who lived in exceptional comfort. To the north are the famed fishing villages of Peniche and Nazare.

Certainly we can't leave Portugal without talking about the walled mediaeval village of Obidos with its dramatic castle pousada. This was the first historical monument adapted for touristic accommodations by the Portuguese Government as part of its pousada development. One can't help but credit them for their foresightedness in preserving and appreciating these architectural treasures for all of us to enjoy. Staying at these gems is one of many reasons to visit Portugal. There are also modern-bult pousadas in this collection of more than 50 properties . . . but we gravitate to the historic ones. Incidentally, four more historic properties are being restored to open in 2005, with three in the Azores. We'll keep you posted.

Although modern, location of a pousada at Sagres near Prince Henry's navigational school does have a fabulous location overlooking the Atlantic and is being expanded. It's from near here the great caravelles left to explore unknown corners of the world. This is the edge of the Algarve, much of which unfortunately has seen the same kind of high-rise overdevelopment as Spain's coast.

But back to Obidos . . . yes, it has got so popular the village has suffered some overcrowding and commercialisation. But it's still very special and the pousada has expanded suites up into its towers and turrets. Be warned, getting up to it is via steep, challenging steps, but worth the effort. We always stop for a marvellous dinner in its superb dining room, even when just passing by. Here, you're only 83 kilometres from Lisbon.

Travel factfile: For more information, check www.visitLisboa.com; www.visitlisbonarea.com; www.portugal.org; www.pousadas.pt or the government's New York Tourist Office (646) 723-0200 or 1-880 PORTUGAL.