PICTURE- Seven Hanging Valleys hike, AlgarvePlanning a trip to a foreign country can be intimidating... you may never have been, you want everything to be just great, you don't know where to go and you're not 100% sure what you really want. Sound familiar?
Portugal had been on our list for a variety of reasons as we had friends who retired there and we knew that the wine, natural beauty and culture was something we wanted to experience.
My advice is to rent a car and take advantage of as much of the country as you can. The roads are great and the drivers are nice!
Here's our recent itinerary for 16 days in Portugal:
- Cascais/Sintra- 3 nights
- Nazare- 1 night
- Porto/Duoro Valley- 3 nights
- Tomar- 1 night
- Algarve- 5 nights
- Evora- 1 night
- Lisbon- 2 nights
We planned our itinerary like this for a couple reasons. We had been to Lisbon before once on a cruise stop, and we knew there was lots that we wanted to see in this vibrant and bustling city! However... flying a red eye flight from the West Coast and arriving late at night, we thought we might like to start our vacation at a more relaxed location like Cascais with its beautiful beaches and good location for other key sites. We rented our car at the airport and drove straight to Cascais. Our flights had been delayed and we had missed a connection, arriving 6 hours later than planned. Luckily we were able to pick up our rental car about 20 minutes before they closed at midnight! Whew! Navigating roads while you are tired and jet lagged is always a challenge, however, having great Portuguese roads and no traffic made it a lot easier! NOTE- most rental cars in Europe are manual "stick" transmissions, so if you can't/don't want to drive a stock, you will need to reserve an automatic and pay a little more. DO reserve a small car... you do not want a big vehicle on some of the smaller roads that you will travel. We had a Toyota Yaris and all our bags were easy to stash out of sight in the covered hatchback.
PICTURE (above)- a cute street in Porto
Waking early the next morning, we were thrilled to have this morning view! We stayed at Hotel Albatroz, not knowing that it was a 5 star hotel and one of Conde Nast's Top 100 hotels. We were close into the old city sites of Cascais with plenty of local beaches and beachside promenade on the seawall.
PICTURE- view from our hotel balcony in Cascais, Hotel Albaroz
We hired a guide for the day to show us the sites of Sintra. There is so much to see in Sintra, I knew we might need more than one day, but having a guide was a relaxed carefree way to see things! We elected to concentrate on the Quinta da Regaleria instead of Pena Palace and the Moorish Castle. My thoughts are, you have to keep things on your list to come back and visit, right? We did do Cabo da Roca (western most point of Europe) and also the nearby national park which we loved!
About guides, while it can be expensive if you are only a couple of people, it is so nice to have a guide to pick you up and take you to all the key sites. Expect to pay between 300-400 euros for a full day, while that may seem like a lot, it ensures that you will have a great day without the stress of trying to figure out everything on your own.
We hired a guide named Daniel Ponce (on Facebook) that was a wonderful guide and kept us busy all day seeing and experiencing so much.
PICTURE- Sintra, Quinta da Regaleria, Templar Cave
Next, we drove on our way North to visit Porto, with a one night stop in Nazare! We also spent the afternoon in Obidos, a cute walled town, perfect for a quick visit. Nazare was very beautiful with a big beach and sparkling water. Known for the 100 foot waves in the winter months, it was much tamer in April when we visited. Next time, we might not spend the night in this town, and instead make it a day visit.
PICTURE- Nazare beach with boats (biggest waves in the world)
On our way to Porto the next day, we stopped in Coimbra and Averio on the way. Coimbra was definitely a big city, known for their old universities and lots of sites. Might need to come back and spend a couple of days. People complain that Averio is a nothing but a tourist trap, but with the fun canals, cute buildings and colorful boats, we loved it anyway.
PICTURE- Averio Canal boats, on the road to Porto from Cascais
We were super excited to visit Porto and the Douro Valley! We hired a guide that picked us up in Porto and drove us to the Duoro Wine Valley. It was so incredibly beautiful... even the highways from Porto to Duoro were amazing to us. Those are some NICE highways with some amazing overpasses from hill to hill. It's not often that I admire highways, but when I do, I have to say they are spectacular! The Duoro Valley is a big place and there's a lot of roads and wineries to experience, having a guide will ensure you have a great time and that you can see and do a lot safely. Drinking and driving is never a good idea, so why not have someone do the hard part for you?
PICTURE- Duoro Valley, day trip from Porto
Tomar
Tomar was one of our favorite places in all of Portugal. We chose Tomar as it was a good stop as we drove from Porto to the Algarve. We could have driven it in one day, but as this was our vacation and we wanted to see all sorts of cities and towns we chose Tomar. The city is inland from the coast, but it is an amazing UNESCO site for its Convento de Cristo (Convent of Christ) on the hill above the city. There is a walled castle remains on the hill, with the convent as its immediate neighbor. The convent was one of the most beautiful sites of all the we visited in Portugal. I have only shared the picture below, but this was a HUGE site that went on and on in the most spectacular way. Tomar is a place I would like to visit again, and heck... we both thought we could be happy living in such a great little town.
PICTURE- Convent de Cristo, in Tomar. Words can't describe how beautiful
We spent the most days in the Algarve, in Praia de Luz (near Lagos) and just spent some time relaxing in the sunshine after so many days of travel. We had very little on our list besides taking a hike, visiting friends and a little sightseeing. We took the Seven Hanging Valleys hike, which is recommended to start very early in the morning, as it gets very sunny and little shade. Bring water and a hat. The view is like nothing I have seen before (pic below and also at the very top of the blog post.
PICTURE- Seven Hanging Valleys hike, Algarve
PICTURE- Praia de Luz beach, a great small community in the Algarve.
We stayed in a nice VRBO condo in Baia de Luz about 5 minutes to this beach.
PICTURE- Sagres, the very SW tip of the coast in the Algarve
Evora
After 5 lovely and relaxing days, we jumped back in our rental car and headed north. Evora was about 2 hours drive from the Algarve, and we took mostly 2 lane country roads, passing vineyards, groves of olive trees, cork trees and lots of storks nesting in high power line towers. Evora is an ancient walled city that is so old that it has a Roman temple (and aqueduct) still standing and very beautiful. We found a little kiosk beverage cafe and had a glass of wine while we watched the "traffic" around the ruins and the park. A lovely way to relax and take in the surroundings.
Lots of one way winding streets through the old made driving a challenge when we missed the small turn off to our hotel, Hotel Albergaria do Calvario. We had a darling suite at a great price in this 4 star hotel! We also met a couple from Bellevue, Washington in the breakfast room! Small world!
Also visited the chapel of bones, a very creepy small church next door to a very large ostentatious church. The monks built it to remind you of your looming mortality.
Lisbon
By the time we got to Lisbon, we were a bit tired but excited to be back in the city. Our hotel was near the waterfront which mean that everything we wanted to see was UP HILL. I used a tuk tuk private guide to a do a 7 Hills tour of the city, it was a great way to see all the viewpoints and have a personal photographer who knew all the best stops!
There's so many different things to do in Lisbon, pick a few and do those. Don't try to do everything, you will be exhausted. We left enough that we still want to come back. Isn't that the way that the best trips end?
Our 4 star hotel, As Janelas Verde, was a gem with a roof top lounge and an honor bar. What a great place to go at the end of the day to watch the harbor and enjoy a beverage.
General Notes:
-Uber and Bolt are great options for cheap fares to wherever you want to go. We used Uber in the Algarve (even though we had a car) and also in Lisbon (where we returned our car before heading into the city). Our Uber from downtown Lisbon to the airport in the early morning was under $20 and was cheap to call at a moment's notice at 6am.
-Restaurants- don't be afraid to get off the beaten "tourist" path. Some of the best meals we had cost us under 15 euros a person with plenty of wine and all the great courses that you could want (bread/cheese/olives, salad, main course with sides, dessert, coffee and wine).
-Rental Cars- if you're comfortable driving, do it! Understand you will have to pay tolls and taxes for driving these GREAT roads, but its still a good deal and so convenient! We are Avis preferred and our rate with all rental prices, taxes and tolls was about $800 for 16 days. I was fine with that. Drivers are polite and people keep RIGHT to ensure traffic flows. OBEY the traffic laws and speeds.... they have sneaky ways of ensuring you do. Watching the scenery change from Porto to the Algarve was really cool and changed hourly. Mountains, Valleys, orchards, forests, castles on the hills, flocks of cows and sheep--- it's all there!
-Tipping- Round up or tip about 10%. Don't over do it, just be appreciative and polite and recognize good behavior. I kept all my euro coins (1 and 2 euro denominations) and my 5 euro bills in a special pocket of my purse for quick access.
-Patience- This is a different culture... be calm and relaxed, there is no need to rush. If you are in a hurry, let them know that when they deliver your food, or pick up your plate. Otherwise, use the "international sign" of using your hand to fake sign a bill in the air when you catch the server's eye. If all else fails, get up and go to the bar or the front of the restaurant to pay. We loved the relaxed attitude of dining out in Portugal, no one will rush you.
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