‘GMA’ Host Robin Roberts on What She Loves About Portugal

For most people taking a European vacation means a break from work, but for Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts a summer trip to Portugal turned out to be a bit of a remote work situation.

“I was all along coming here and ‘GMA’ was like, ‘Hey, why don’t you go a few days earlier and do a couple of shows for us?’” Roberts explained to Travel + Leisure on a recent phone call while she was still in Portugal.

And even though some days of her trip had some work aspects to it, seeing the pristine white sandy beaches, exploring Pena Palace and the Benagil Sea Cave, and eating the country’s signature pastel de nata as a daily snack, is of course a change of scenery from her regular work routine at the ‘GMA’ studio.

“Everything you hear about it is so true from the culture to the people,” she said. “You could go from the mountains to the beach to wine country. [There’s] just so many different aspects of nature that you can experience on one trip.”

And with the various terrain and sites to see, Roberts already has a travel tip for anyone visiting the country.

“Make sure you have some really sturdy walking shoes,” she said.

Something you will not need, however, is earplugs. The quiet atmosphere is also something that caught both her and the NYC-based GMA crew’s attention.

“We’re all like ‘What’s different?'” she recalled. “There’s no noise! Where’s all the screaming and ambulances?”

Roberts, who got to explore Lisbon and Porto on her own, also said that along with Portugal’s peacefulness, the warmth and openness of the Portuguese people made the trip truly unforgettable. On one of the show’s segments that was part of its ‘GMA European Vacation’ series,  they featured a group of octogenarian Portuguese singers who traveled five hours by bus to be on the show. She was floored when they showed up with gifts for her after their journey.

“That’s just the generous spirit of the Portuguese people and we’ve seen it everywhere we’ve gone,” shes said. “And it’s not just because we’re on TV. You could see how they are so appreciative of people traveling to the country, and they want to just give you a little gift or something for you to remember Portugal by. That has really struck me.”