Portugal
When I Went:
March/April 2018
Itinerary:
Porto, Aveiro, Óbidos, Lisbon, Sintra, Lagos, Azores (São Miguel Island)
How long:
10 days
Notes:
1) There are so many places to go! I recommend 10-14 days if you want to see a majority of the country.
2) I recommend getting a rental car if going to different regions like Algarve, Azores, Porto to Lisbon. You would not need a car in Porto or Lisbon since the train system is good.
3) Pastel de natas all day. These are Portuguese custard tarts and they are quite tasty.
4) English is not a problem here. Even when people said their English wasn't good, there was no issue communicating.
Porto (1.5 days)
How I got there:
I flew from London with my friends, Kate and Brent, out of Gatwick Airport on Easy Jet. The flight was not as cheap as I would've expected ($315 USD!).
Accommodations:
We stayed at EuroStar Porto Centro. The location was good and within walking distance of everywhere we went. The rooms were nice, although not a lot of bathroom privacy.
Activities/Sights To See:
This is an easy city to walk around in. There are a bunch of colorful tiled buildings which are fun to look at.
Livraria Lello - beautiful bookstore. They say that this bookstore was inspiration for the Harry Potter movies. There was a line, but it moves fairly quickly.
There is a store on the same corner as the bookstore where you have to purchase tickets. You also have to put any bigger bags in a locker. I think it was €0.25, but you get it back afterwards. A ticket to enter the bookstore is €4.
Clérigos Tower- I believe it's €5 to enter. The climb up is really not that bad. The weather was foggy and rainy when we were up there, but I can image the view is great when it's clear!
Barrio La Ribeira - this is the stretch of restaurants and shops along the Duoro River. It was raining when we were there, so there weren't a lot of people out.
ViaCatarina Shopping - a mall with a pink exterior and their food court is really pretty haha. We didn't spend a lot of time here, but it's an option if you want to shop or use the WC
Sé do Porto- large cathedral that we didn't actually get to go inside, but there are some statues and views around it that are nice. There's a good view of the Duoro River.
Funicular Of Guindais - we didn't do this since the weather was bad, but I think there would've been a good view on a clear day.
Bolhão Market - it was a mix of fresh produce and touristing items. Kind of dirty-ish, but a nice 10-15 minute walk through.
McDonald's - I do not actually recommend the food here so this is not going into the food section haha. It's probably the prettiest McDonald's I've seen. There are touch screen ordering menus and automatic trash cans, but I was told that wasn't special to this location. Shows you how often I go to McDonald's!
Food:
Majestic Café- popular cafe that may have a line outside of it when you get there. There's a guy who looks like a bouncer and stands at the door to regulate the line.
We went at a weird in between time so there was no line. I had hot chocolate and scones which hit the spot.
Inside is super cute and has a classic old time vibe to it.
Noshi- this was a cute cafe. If you're looking for something healthier, this is a good option. I also had a really delicious latte there called honey cinnamon latte. I think in other countries it's called Café con Miel or just Café Miel.
éLeBê Baixa- nice modern restaurant. Service was kind of slow. I had some fried cod with tomato risotto and it was pretty good.
Base Porto- We didn't actually have drinks here because it was cold and rainy, but the view and space would be amazing if the weather was nice.
Franceschina- this is a dish specific to Porto. It's definitely a very heavy dish. There's bread, meat, melted cheese, and gravy. You can find this at a lot of different places. P.S. It's pronounced France-suh-zeen-ya.
I had it at the restaurant next to our hotel, Café & Restaurante 31 Porto. I wouldn't say I loved the dish, but I had to try it since I saw it everywhere.
Vinho Verde- Porto is the home of Port wine and green wine, vinho verde. I am not a wine drinker, but just letting you know this is a thing here in case you love wine ;)
Enough time?
Another half or full day would've been nice, but if the weather was good
Aveiro & Óbidos (½ day)
How I got there:
We rented a car for a day to drive down from Porto to Lisbon.
Porto to Aveiro = 1 hour
Aveiro to Óbidos = 1h 30m
Óbidos to Lisbon = 1 hour
Accommodations:
N/A for these cities.
Activities:
Aveiro -
we stopped by really quickly because we wanted to see Óbidos afterwards and to get to Lisbon not too late.
There is a main part of town, which I believe is called, Ilha Dos Puxadoiros. There are several tour companies that will take you on a small boat tour. We paid €10 cash for one. The boats are painted vibrant colors and the tour took an hour or less.
Once we got off, we went to some of the back streets to find a good amount of restaurants to chose from.
Óbidos - what a cute walled city. The buildings were all a uniform white color with tiled roofs, but with some color accents. You could climb up and walk on the city walls for a cool perspective on the city. It doesn't take that long to walk the walls (probably under 30 minutes), but be careful because there are no rails.
It was raining on and off the whole day, so we took cover in a cute restaurant called Petrarum Domus. There are also a lot of cute shops and restaurants on this street (R. Direita).
We didn't get to go here, but I heard The Literary Man Hotel was really cool.
Enough time?
I thought 2-3 hours in Aveiro was good and 3-4 hours in Óbidos is probably good. It would make a cute overnight stay though if you wanted to do that.
Sintra (day trip)
Notes:
GO HERE! It's so beautiful and definitely worth it. If you're going to Lisbon, make time for this.
I should say that we went Easter weekend and this was the first day in a few days where it was truly sunny, so the crowds were at large and there was a long line for train tickets. The tickets were €5.
Once we got there, it's a good 15-20 minute walk to the main part of the town from the train station. It's a beautiful, easy walk so there is no need to take a taxi or tour.
How I got there:
About a 1 hour train ride from Lisbon. **Just to clarify, we got to Lisbon first, then went to Sintra the next day.
Accommodations:
N/A. Day trip from Lisbon.
Activities:
Walk around and just take in the view! Once you start getting to the main part of the city, you will see some streets you can go up that will have some restaurants.
Quinta da Regaleira - this place is stunning. It's a property full of beautiful towers, buildings that look like castles, greenery, etc. It feels very fairytale-like. I would try to dedicated 3 hours to do this in order to see everything (which we didn't have time to do). I believe this was €6 to get in.
The Initiatic Well is the spiral well that has been said to be inspiration for Game of Thrones.
There are a lot of small towers you can climb in, but it's tight at the top. There are a few caves you can go in. We were in one that led to the Lake of the Waterfall, which had a line to take pictures on.
Park and National Palace of Pena - probably the crown jewel of Sintra and what everyone goes there to see. It's a Palace and Park sitting on top of a mountain. We took the bus up there and there was a lot of traffic since there is really only one way up. It look around 20-30 minutes to get the top on some windy roads. The bus ticket was also pricier than I anticipated! I don't remember the exact price, but maybe €6-10.
Once we got there, we only had about 2 hours before it closed and that was not nearly enough time.
The palace was also stunning and very colorful. The views overlooking the city are great on a clear day. We only went into one part of the palace, so not sure if we missed the other parts or if there really wasn't much opportunity to go in.
The park portion is HUGE so give yourself time to walk through this (probably 1.5-2 hours at least).
We wanted to get to the train station quicker than the bus would take us, so we took a tuk tuk for €5 per person. It was my first time on one! It was thrilling, fun, and scary all at the same time. We got to the train station just a couple minutes before a train took off so it was a huge time saver.
Enough time?
We were there somewhere between 6-8 hours. 2-3 more hours would've been ideal, so try to get there earlier in the day.
Lisbon (3 days)
How I got there:
Rental car from Porto.
Accommodations:
We stayed at Lisbon Marriott Hotel. It was a bit away from the city, but a short, cheap Uber ride to the Rossio train station.
Activities:
Arco da Rua Augusta - it was only €2.50 to go up. Had a view of Comércio Plaza and Lisbon and you could ring a bell at the top haha.
Santa Justa Lift - we waited awhile for this and it was not worth it. It was definitely a tourist trap. There's a way to get up to that same view from the backside, so I do not recommend this.
Belém Tower - single tower in the water that has a walkway leading up to it. I think it might be open on certain days and times, but it wasn't when we went.
We did a lot of walking, so we ended up taking the train from near the Time Out Market to Belém.
Padrão dos Descobrimentos - really cool monument dedicated to explorers. Continue walking along the water from Belém Tower.
The Sexiest WC In The World - It's in Comércio Plaza. I don't know if it's the sexiest WC in the world, but it was probably the most unique bathroom experience I've had haha. You can pick colorful toilet paper and there are private stalls. €1 to use it.
Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara - pretty view of the city. There were also food stalls open.
Church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição Velha - just discovered this church walking by, but it's nice inside and looks a bit different than most European churches.
Recycled Lisboa sign - this is near the Time Out Market and Cais do Sodré train station. Good photo op!
Food:
Peixaria do Rossio- I was a little skeptical cause it was close to the train station and had menus in a few different languages, but we were hungry and the food turned out to be good! I had pataniscas, which is fried cod fritters and tomato rice.
Time Out Market - so many options! It has a large communal table area in the middle. Might be hard to get seats during busy hours, but there's a good variety of foods.
Be sure to stop by Manteigaria for the best pastel de natas I had in Lisbon.
Zarzuela - my friends were gluten free and this was right up their alley. It can be hard to find gluten free things in the city. The food was particularly amazing though.
Mercado da Baixa - really nice covered market with food and souvenirs. I got a pastry and goat cheese. Good if you want a quick snack or light lunch.
Open Brasserie Mediterrânica - this is in a chic hotel. The restaurant is nice and modern looking. They gave us delicious fresh bread at the beginning. I had pumpkin gnocchi and a chickpea, almond, and coconut tart.
Amorino gelato - this is a European gelato chain, but they have some fun flavors and they shape the ice cream to look like a rose!
Sardines - lots of sardine shops in Lisbon! We went to Loja Das Conservas. They had lots of options of different fish and flavors. I had no idea what I was doing, so I bought the recommended options from the person who worked there.
Enough time?
Lisbon is a big city so we didn't get a chance to see everything. 3-4 days for Lisbon would be good though if you're trying to see other parts of Portugal.
Algarve Coast (1 day)
How I got there:
I rented a car from Lisbon for a day. There are a lot of tolls so you have to tell them where you're going to go.
Accommodations:
I stayed in Albufeira at KR Hotels. There was free parking and it was an affordable price. I was just staying there the night so I didn't explore the area much, but it was quiet.
Activities:
I went straight to Lagos from Lisbon which took slightly less than 3 hours.
I walked through the main part of town which had a lot of shops and restaurants of course. I walked towards the beaches and ate at ALMA Italian Cafe & Bistro.
From there, I made my way up to Ponta da Piedade. It was a little bit of a trek to walk, but I think I made it there in less than 30 minutes. The viewpoint there was great and you could see all the tour boats going in the caves and seaside cliffs. Since I didn't have a ton of time and wanted to see other cities, I didn't explore the whole area.
I made my way to Lagoa to see the Benagil Cave. I booked a tour, but then it got canceled due to weather. The weather was sunny, but I guess they thought it was too windy. Although, I did see some boats out, so that made me question things...
The directions led me to a parking lot where I walked to the top of Benagil Cave. It's a high circular opening with a beach below and you can go inside it with a small boat. I think it would've been more impressive from sea level than from above. I continued walking past the cave along the trail which was gorgeous. I love easy coastal trails along the ocean!
I drove to Praia da Marinha to see if there were any more boat tours for the day, but I got there too late. I took a short downward trail to what I believe was Praia do Buraco, where I was the only one there for a few minutes. I stayed there for a bit, but wanted to get going before the sunset.
I was staying in Albufeira, which was in between where I was and Faro, where I was dropping off the car and flying out from.
Enough time?
Definitely not! I wanted to see the whole coast and I only had a day to do so. I would've liked at least 2 more days to do more on the coast.
Azores - São Miguel Island (2 days)
Notes:
São Miguel is the largest island in the Azores. I was able to cover a good amount of ground in 2 days. I didn't get a chance to go to the east side of the island, but everything is manageable as a day trip from Ponta Delgada.
How I got there:
I flew from Faro, had a layover in Lisbon, and departed from there. My flight was delayed 3-4 hours cause of weather around the Azores I'm assuming. That was a bummer since I lost half a day there.
Note about renting a car: at the rental car counter they said I was getting a small car with not a lot of horsepower. The next car up was more money than I wanted to spend so I opted for the cheaper version I already signed up for. It was totally fine! I can see what they were saying about it being slower, but really not a huge issue.
Accommodations:
I stayed at City's Hostel Ponta Delgada, which I did not enjoy. The actual room was fine, but a bunch of loud people were there and the acoustics in the hostel were terrible. They were SO loud and I had trouble sleeping. The place was affordable, but next time I would do a hotel.
Activities:
When I got there, it was raining a lot. I attempted to walk to get dinner, but the wind kept pushing the rain at an angle.
The next morning, it was raining on and off. As I was driving, it started pouring rain. At one point, I just stayed in my car until the wind and rain died down. That's island life for you, so always be prepared!
Day 1
Lagoa das Sete Cidades - the collective name for the two lakes, Lagoa Verde and Lagoa Azul. When it's sunny, apparently you can see the difference in color. Drive up to Miradouro da Vista do Rei to get a good view. It's next to an old run down hotel and parking is really tight.
I could not find the hiking trail near Vista do Rei that I read about, however, when I was driving to Miraduoro da Ponta do Escalvado, I saw a sign that said Vista do Rei. It was the back end of the trail that led there. The trail was easy, beautiful, and quiet. I didn't go all the way to Vista do Rei because of time.
I drove down to the lakes and walked along Lagoa Verde. It was a nice, easy walk, but the whole time I was worried about getting rained on. I asked the weather gods to give me good weather the rest of my time on the Azores and they listened!
After my walk, I found a restaurant called Green Love next to Lagoa Azul. I followed the road next to it up to Miradouro da Ponta do Escalvado. It was so windy at the lookout so I didn't spend much time there, but it was a pretty view. I drove to Farol da Ponta da Ferraria, the lighthouse, but I had no idea where to park.
Termas Ferraria - spa with outdoor pool right on the ocean. It's a steep road down, but a cool setting for a spa and pool. The landscape reminded me of Iceland.
I was in a treat yourself mood, so I decided to go for a massage. It was more expensive then I would've spent at home, but I was sore from my trip.
Day 2
Miradouro De Santa Iria - a nice outlook on the way to Cha Gorreana. I don't think there is a bad outlook on the island though ;)
Cha Gorreana - the only tea plantation in Europe! I decided to explore the plantation part first then go into the factory when I was done. I had no idea that going around the tea planation was a mini hike! It took about an hour to go on the whole trail. It's a great view and there is a steady incline, but I would not call it hard.
As I was coming down the path on the final stretch with the factory right in front of me, it started pouring REAL hard. I ran as fast as I could to make it inside of the factory. By the time I got out of the factory, it was as if the rain had never happened!
The factory part didn't have much going on to be honest. At the end before the shop, you can drink some free tea! In the shop they have food, souvenirs, tea (of course), and a seating area where you can enjoy the food while you eat and drink tea.
Caldeiras Vulcânicas - might also show up on the map as Caldeiras das Furnas. Volcanic pools of boiling water. There are no geysers, but lots of steam and it's a pretty little area. You don't need to spent much time here (probably 10-15 minutes)
Terra Nosta Garden Hotel - I had lunch here, but you can also go outside to a garden and they have a hot spring that you can swim in.
Lagoa do Fogo - i.e. 'Lake of Fire'. It's a beautiful lake that you can hike down to. There are a few lookouts you can stop at to take pictures, but the one you want to stop at if you want to hike is Miradouro da Lagoa do Fogo. The path is easily accessible and straight down (yay!) The steps were BIG for my short body haha. On the way back up, I realized some were up to my knees! At some point before you reach the lake, you have to climb a ladder to get down. It looks pretty sturdy so I wasn't too worried.
To be honest, I should've read up more on the hike. I got down to the lake and then the path I was on started going up into my trees. Since it was a bit later in the day and I wasn't sure how long the hike was and if I was even on the right path, I decide to turn back. The way up was tougher obviously, but the part of the hike I did was worth it.
I didn't have time, but the hot springs at Dona Beija were recommended to me.
Food:
Cafe Central - food was fine, but nothing to write home about. Cute vibe and it was open fairly late.
Taberna Açor - go early or make reservations. Small place, but some interesting menu items. More like tapas style from what I could tell from the menu.
O Corisco - cute restaurant with friendly staff. I had chicken fillet with Azores cheese cream sauce. It was really delicious!
Terra Nosta Garden Hotel - a bit of a bougier lunch, but it was my last day on vacation, so why not? I had chicken with sausage and sweet potatoes and tempura veggies. There was a free dish from the chef along with some fresh bread and cheese.
Green Love - It was in a secluded area in a modern looking structure right on Lagoa Azul. The food was cheap and I got a sandwich with bolo levedo, sweet bread, that was really good.
Enough time?
No! I saw a good amount in only 2 days, but 2 more days would've been nice and I could've taken my time.
