Portugal
We spent 45 days (including transition days not included below) in Portugal in September / October 2023. Weather at this time of year was warm with only a bit of rain toward the end of our trip.
We loved that over our stay we had a mixture of cities / culture, hiking along coast as well as in the mountains, beautiful beaches and one of the most stunning wine regions we have visited to date.
Locals were friendly, most spoke English, and we felt safe at all times (except walking some narrow roads with no shoulders).
It was easy and inexpensive to get around on the public transportation system. We traveled primarily by bus, train and foot only renting a car for northern Portugal (Geres area).
Food was fresh and reasonably priced - particularly the wine. Breakfast was typically rolls, ham, cheese, pastry. For lunch and dinner we were able to find lots of fresh fish and vegetables.
Budget: We spent $6700 (not including food/drink and international airfare). On average our lodging was $110 a night. Feels like dollars go a long way for a European country.
Breakdown of 45 visit days:
Guimarães (2 days)
LISBON
We normally don’t love big cities, but Lisbon was a nice exception. It was charming. Lots of narrow streets, wrought iron balconies, tile on buildings (pretty and insulating, brought to area by the Arabs), cobblestone sidewalks, squares/plazas, many tiny restaurants & coffee shops, bars on every corner, lots of outdoor seating. There were lovely views all over town, seven hills, red tile roofs, river, mountains, bridge similar to Golden Gate (same designer), huge hilltop Christ the Redeemer (similar to Rio). It was very easy to get around with friendly people, most able to speak English. We felt safe walking around. Do note the steep elevations are no joke. There is a lot of hill climbing, stairs, slippery limestone cobblestones and uneven surfaces.
ARRIVAL
We arrived at the international airport and getting through customs was swift. We easily found a cab and took it to our Airbnb. Turned out there was a water leak in our Airbnb from the apartment above it, so our host Sandra offered her personal apartment to us, while she stayed in the Airbnb. She didn’t hesitate to make it right and let complete strangers stay in her home. So glad she didn’t cancel and leave us scrambling to find a place. She was very welcoming and gracious.
Bistro Atalaia 👍- dinner at a very small tapas restaurant. Recommended by a restaurant we couldn’t get into, and our timing was perfect with only a five minute wait. Staff and food were wonderful. Great vibe.
DAY 1 - Central Lisbon
In the morning we followed Rick Steves Baxia stroll taking a break for lunch and a beer
To. B -To burger or not Burger - Tasty salad
Beer at Lisbon's oldest beer hall - Trinada
The afternoon was the Seven hills ebike tour (Airbnb experience)👍 Covered much more than we would have walking, including old and new parts of the city with amazing views. Small section of ride in newer part of the city had bike lanes. The rest was somewhat challenging to navigate the hills, narrow roads, people, cars, tram tracks and cobblestones. But we miraculously survived and would recommend it, but not for the faint of heart
Highest point in Lisbon
Dinner at Casanostra👍- pasta was fresh and amazing Italian food. Menu only in Italian and Portuguese. Friendly servers, but got super busy when service understandably declined. Make a reservation. Opens at 7:30pm.
DAY 2 - Central Lisbon
Portuguese cuisine : 17 food tasting (Airbnb experience). 👍Very informative. Good balance between walking, talking and stops. Plenty of food and drink. New favorites grilled sardines and octopus salad. 4 hours went by very quickly.
Lumi Rooftop bar - 👌balcony overlooking river. Unfortunately seat lip blocks some views while sitting down. Good to sit and have a drink but wouldn't go out of my way to find this bar.
Grau Douro Tapas and Wine Bar 👍 Loved the food. Reasonable prices. Very friendly owner. Opens at 5pm. No reservations. Good size portions. Enjoyed a bottle of 100 Hectares Touriga Nacional Tinto wine.
DAY 3 - Central Lisbon
Changed to Airbnb in Alfama area. Loved this area. Small apartments on top of each other amongst a maze of narrow cobblestone streets with restaurants popping out on a square or onto the sidewalks. It's loud, old and sometimes smelly but has more character than other areas.
Joined Kickstart Street Art Walk (Airbnb Experience) 1.5 hours that went by in a blink of the eye. Guide was very friendly and super knowledgeable of the local street artists. She talks to all the artists to understand first hand what they are conveying in their work. Would highly recommend. Tour ended up on one of the hills from the day before, where we again soaked in the view from the highest point in Lisbon, marveling at the bridge and Christ statue.
Dinner at a neighborhood Italian restaurant a stone's throw from our Airbnb, Osteria Bellosguardo. Owner is Italian and food was deliciously authentic. Note we also ate at O Beco. Had pataniscas (cod fish fritters) with rice and beans. Absolutely delicious.
DAY 4 - Day trip to Evora
Easy day trip from Lisbon by train. We caught the 9am train to Evora and the 5pm train back. Plenty of time to wander around the narrow streets, see the sights, and have lunch. Our highlights below:
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Chapel of bones
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Roman temple
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Aqueduct
Back in Lisbon we had dinner at Solar 31. Unfortunately, it didn’t measure up even close to its high ratings and rave reviews. Octopus was chewy and tough. Downstairs ambience was uninspired. Maybe our expectations were too high or it was an off night for the kitchen.
DAY 5 - Bike to Belem
Lisbon City center to Belem bike tour (Airbnb experience) - 4 hours on bike. This was an enjoyable much more relaxed (FLAT) bike tour than our earlier bike tour. No need for e-bikes, very little traffic and people. Nice reward was the flaky, crispy, yummy and famous Pasteis de Belem.
Pasteis de Belem
Belem Tower
Monument of the Discoveries
Tile Museum - Maybe of interest, if you are really into tile. Mostly a walk through for us. Interesting geometric patterns or painted scenes.
Dinner at RD's Restaurante e Cafe - wonderful, inexpensive Nepalese food followed by amazing gelato at Mu.
DAY 6 - Day trip to Queluz National Palace
Caught the train from Rossi to visit Palace of Queluz. It is an 18th-century palace with ornate interior and large gardens. It is a short train ride then a 10 minute walk to the palace from the train station. We were able to download the audio guide as there was free WiFi. Enjoyable to walk through interior and the gardens. Way less crowded then Pena Palace. Took us about 3 hours including train from Lisbon and back. We were in no hurry.
Ferry across the river to Cacilhas to eat at Porto Final - we arrived around 2:45pm without a reservation. Waited about 30 - 45 minutes for a table. Worth the wait! We were one of the last tables to be seated before they closed their kitchen to reopen again at 7pm. Food was great, and it was fantastic to sit right next to the river watching the jellyfish and fish swim by with Lisbon in the background. Perfect way to end our stay in Lisbon.
Sintra (2 days)
SINTRA
Day trip from Lisbon to Sintra is a must. Very easy to get there by a short train ride. Sintra is a charming town up in the foothills a few miles from the coast. Lots of old buildings and historic sites surrounded by hills and nature.
Town center is made up of lots of shops and restaurants along narrow cobblestone roads. Many tourists flowing through all day long. Roads are narrow as are sidewalks.
Ate dinner at Como. Food was good. Mushroom risotto and chefs steak.
DAY 1 - Pena Palace & Moorish Castle
Breakfast at 9am included with our room. Typical rolls, ham, cheese, jam, sweet roll, and cappuccino.
9:45am left our hotel (Espaco Edla 👌). Across street was bus #434. Since we were concerned about being late for our 10am Pena place ticket slot, we just immediately jumped on the bus that was there, and didn’t question the 25 euro charge, which was actually for all day hop and off tickets. For us we didn’t need that and should have purchased just the one way ticket for half the price, or gotten an Uber less than half.
When you get to Pena Palace you go through one gate and show your ticket (there was a line but moved). You then walk a good 10-15 minute uphill or you can take a shuttle bus. We got to the place at 10:25am. Worked perfectly, since they were still taking 10am tickets, while holding 10:30 ticket people in a long line. We noticed when we left the castle the entrance line was very long, so it paid to get an early entry slot and arrive a bit late, but not too late.
We enjoyed the inside of the castle. The rooms are well preserved- beautiful details, lovely furnishings and ornate ceilings. We had the audio but didn’t download it before we went. Poor wifi and cell service, so wasn’t that helpful.
The outside of the castle has a whimsical feel.
Walked down through the gardens to the lakes. Beautiful and peaceful.
From the lakes we did a short 5-10 minute walk up to the Moorish Castle (12:45pm). We bought our tickets at the first kiosks we saw (there is another kiosk right before the entrance but that line was longer). Could have bought our ticket in advance and avoided all lines. Spent an hour at castle. Walked along the castle wall. Lots of stairs and a good portion of ups and then downs. I’m a little scared of heights so good to have a hand to hold onto. If you want to do the entire wall after going through the main entrance, go to the right. Views were magnificent.
From the moorish castle we followed signs down the hill to town center. About a 25 minute walk. Lovely to stop and sit outside at one of the bars for a drink and people watch. Enjoyed trying the local Ginjia in the chocolate cup.
Dinner at Incomom. Very good. Sea bass and linguine with shrimp and crab.
DAY 2 - Quinta da Regaleria
Buy your tickets in advance as we wasted time standing in the very slow ticket line, while trying even slower cell service to get online tickets.
We spent a couple of hours wandering along multiple paths through lush gardens with stone towers sprinkled throughout.
Our first stop was the Initiation Well, the main tourist sight, where you can walk the spiral stairs to the bottom of the mesmerizing well. It is a 10 minute walk to the well from the entrance. Stood in the well line for about 15 minutes. Worth it! Lots of caverns to check out as well as a waterfall.
If you only had one day you could have done all of the above if you skip sitting outside in town and walked straight to Quinta da Regaleira. We enjoyed having 2 leisurely days.
Fisherman's Trail
We walked 110 miles, 8,500+ feet, in 9 days on a very well marked trail. Started in Porto Covo ending in Sagres. Walked on average 12 miles a day mostly along cliff side with gorgeous views of either beaches or ocean with dramatic rocks and shear cliffs. Some inland trails through fields and / or forests. Some sections pretty deep sand. Most of it very doable, a few tricky sections with steep ups and downs. We got lucky with the weather. Only walked in rain one day and another day avoided rain with a late start. Trails weren’t crowded. Lots of German hikers some Italians and other Europeans. Didn’t meet any Americans. Everyone was very friendly. The towns were small, but not too small, and the hikes were long, but not too long. This, for us, was a great test to see if we would like hiking inn to inn over multiple days… and the answer was a resounding yes!!
Towns were all very charming. White washed houses with color trim of blue, yellow or red. All have red tile roofs. Handful of restaurants and shops. Most restaurants open at 7 or 7:30pm, but we were lucky to always find some open at 6pm.
Accommodations: Booked all our accommodations via booking.com or Airbnb. All of our lodging except for one were right on the trail or super close which is helpful after a long day of walking.
Daily flow: Typically leave a town after breakfast around 10am arriving in the next town between 3pm -5pm. For us, perfect timing to take a shower, catch up on life, and then head to dinner. Cheap prices with good wine.
Equipment:
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Trail running shoes with gaiters (to keep out the sand) worked well.
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Carried REI 40L packs. Loved the integrated camel back (1.5 liters), structure of waist belt and chest strap.
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Packed light rain jacket (which we used), light jacket (which we used a couple of nights when wind picked up), sandals (life saver to switch into out of our hiking shoes), snacks and extra water. Bring whatever you need to ensure your shoes don’t cause blisters (e.g., thin socks under normal socks, Vaseline or body butter, talcum powder, etc.) and blister treatment just in case (e.g., mole skin, etc.)
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Sunscreen is critical as sun is super intense and no shade
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Most days we did not need toilet paper, but good to carry. Most days we did come across proper toilets.
Luggage transfer: We used Vicentina transfers. They were reasonable, it was easy and seamless. Didn’t ever even see them (picked up sometime after 9:00 AM), but bags were always magically waiting for us at our next place.
Good resource: This blog (Stingy nomad) was a fantastic resource as it enabled us to plan 9 days on our own.
Cost:
ARRIVAL - Porto Covo
Took the Rede Expresso bus from Terminal Rodoviario de Sete Rios in Lisbon to Port Covo. Bus station was on the outskirts of town. Easiest (and cheap) for us to just take an Uber to bus station, rather than try to figure out the local bus or trolley. Little over two hour ride from Lisbon. Air conditioning and comfortable seats (unavailable and locked out toilet -only toilet in bus terminal was pay toilet). Bought tickets a few days in advance and had assigned seats. Very tight overhead space. Need to put larger bags underneath bus.
Arrived at Porto Covo around 4pm. Main Street is five blocks long pedestrian only street leading to the beach Lots of little restaurants and shops. White House’s with blue and red trim.
Not much open for dinner and we were hungry, so ended up eating at Manjerico Pizza Point, which is a food truck at Mute hostel. You can bring in your pizza, buy a bottle of wine and head to the rooftop for an awesome view of the ocean.
Stayed at Casa de Porto Covo Guest House 👌. Perfect location. Tiny room and bathroom. Clean and we had AC and English TV, so not complaining.
DAY 1 - Porto Covo - Vila Nova de Milfontes
Hike: 12 miles, walking 5 1/2 hours
Let the trek begin
Beautiful coast line walk. Lots of deep sand to walk through. Today was rated difficult but for us it was very doable. Just plan to slog through lots of sand. Tight fitting gaiters to shoes very helpful to avoid shoes filling with sand every 20 minutes. Definitely bring lots of water. We thought we had lots, and finished ours. Trail signs easy to follow. Great first day.
Vila Nova de Milfontes is bigger than Porto Covo. Found “Stress free” restaurant for dinner at 5:30pm (early dinners continued to be hard to find, but available). Shrimp Pasta and chocolate torte very good.
Hotel was fine - Alojamentos Vitinho 👌. Larger room and bathroom than night before. No AC. Too hot. Nice host. Location to get onto the bridge next day was very good. Luggage waiting in our room.
DAY 2 - Vila Nova de Milfontes to Cavaleiro
Hike: 13.5 miles, walking 6 1/4 hours
Mixture of fields, forest and amazing cliff side views. Did also walk one section on the beach. Lots of sand today. Hiked an extra few miles, since recommended town for stop today had no available lodging when we looked.
First of many cork trees
Stayed at Travessa Do Cavaleiro, apartamento (Airbnb). Right on the route. Bedroom upstairs, but was able to open large deck doors to cool it off. Large living space downstairs. Bonuses we had a washing machine and were a block from the only restaurants in town. Not great restaurant ambiance, but awesome food.
DAY 3 - Cavaleiro to Zambujeira do Mar
Hike: 7.6 miles, walked a little over 3 hours. Much in the rain. Glad we had rain covers for packs and rain jackets with hoods. Thin shorts worked well. Shoes got soaked.
Sunshine before the rain
Stayed at Alojamento Local Mira Mar (via booking.com). Great location right on the main pedestrian street and hiking route. Found some sun to dry out shoes and were able to catch a sunset nearby. Good size room and huge bed. AC. Bountiful breakfast included.
DAY 4 - Zambujeira do Mar to the Odeceixe
Hike: 12.45 miles, walking 5 hours and 45 minutes
This was the first trickier day with some steeper ups and downs. Needed a helping hand to clear some sections.
Coast views continued to amaze.
Dinner at Ao Largo outside on a lovely square. We basked in the sun at 6pm and had a delicious salad and tuna sashimi, decent house wine, and tasty dessert for only 40 euros. Stayed at Casa Morais. Small room with no AC. Charming little old lady who speaks zero English was our host. Typical Portuguese breakfast included.
DAY 5 - Odeceixe to Aljezur
Hike: 14.25 miles in a little under 6 hours
Today was only a little coastline; mostly inland and flat gravel roads.
Entering the town of Aljezur (which is bigger than the others thus far) there was a very steep long dirt road downhill
Stayed at Quarto Nº1/Casa de banho privada fora do quarto (Airbnb) 👌. Clean. Pictures as expected. Bonus balcony to sit on after a long day of walking. Up early this morning with the roosters, church bell, nearby road and dogs barking. No AC, so open window let in the noise.
Ate dinner and breakfast at Cafetaria Da Maria, ten minute walk near hilltop church. Portions were tremendous, good and reasonably priced. Breakfast held us over to dinner.
DAY 6 - Aljezur to Arrifana
Hike: Just under 13 miles in 5 and half hours
First part of hike had some steep ups and downs but on dirt roads so very doable. Lots of fishermen on the shear cliffs -looked like a long way to reel up a catch. Walked a lot on main roads with speeding traffic and minimal shoulder. Gorgeous coastline and beaches midway through. Last few miles lots of sand.
Stayed At Utopia guest house. About 30 minutes off the trail, but the lovely pool and nice large room with balcony made up for it. Note: In the morning having to walk an additional 1.5 miles to the start of the trail, wished we had booked something closer to trail.
Dinner in the garden of Arte Bianca. Portuguese seem to love pizzerias. Food and wine were great and we loved that we could eat at 6pm.
DAY 7 - Arrifana to Carrapateira
Hike: About 14 miles in a little over 6 hours
We hiked the extra 1.5 miles to get to start. The trail is normally very well marked but somehow we lost it above the beach. We talked to someone that lived in the town for 18 years and he said to walk down the beach with all its surf schools. He advised we could then climb up and rejoin the path, so we did but would not recommend climbing up the cliff for the faint of heart. It was very steep although the views along this section were gorgeous
We did eventually hook up to the fisherman’s trail which was mostly inland across rolling hills, fields and small towns. Lots of gravel roads with some steep ascents and decents. Lots of deep sand, one car width roads that a couple jeeps were actually driving. We walked through one area that had significant burns from a fire in August. Of course we encountered several more miles of walking in the sand before the last mile or so of the walk that was on a main road without a shoulder and the cars driving by very fast. Fortunately only 20 minutes of that.
Lodging - Casa da Olívia 👎Not my favorite. On the trail and clean but had a smell, rough sheets and towels. Lots of street noise and no AC.
DAY 8 - Carrapateira to Villa do Bispo
Hike: 10 miles in a little under 5 hours
Today we didn’t follow our blogger for the inland trail, which was longer, but chose the shorter route - Fisherman’s trail, and it was a hard day. Had 4 miles along the coast of consistent steep ups and downs. I wished I had my hiking poles. After that was mostly flat gravel roads. But if we had hiked the inland route, we would have missed the beautiful coast. Small price to pay.
Stayed at Casa Mestre 👍. Right on the trail. Rooms and property had character. Small common deck and outdoor pool.
DAY 9 - Villa do Bilos to Sagres
Hike: 13 miles in 5 hours and 40 minutes
Fairly easy day. First part was high on cliffs. Last section along the road to get to the cape, and then back to Sagres. Many tourists at the cape. Unable to go into lighthouse so not sure what all the excitement was about. Coast views beautiful, but similar to what we’ve been seeing.
Celebratory dinner at Three Little Birds which is across the street from our Airbnb. Also got lucky that the bus to Lagos was a 5 minute walk from our Airbnb.
Algarve
Lagos old town is very cute. A walled old city, but unfortunately can’t walk up on the wall. Cobblestone streets lined with outdoor cafes, restaurants and lots of shops. Up to this point we hadn’t seen many Americans. Think they are all in Lagos along with a ton of other tourists. Seems laid back and a bit of a party town.
We stayed at Infante Guesthouse, 👍 which we highly recommend. It is a hidden gem in a fantastic location at the beginning of old town from the coast. Wonderful rooftop with amazing view and nice fresh room with a very comfy bed. Wonderful hosts.
First evening we wandered the streets and ended up randomly at Barbosa👍for dinner. It was very good, but smaller portions and more expensive than what we had experienced in Portugal to date. Eventually we learned that Lagos was just a more expensive tourist city than where we’d been.
Had amazing (but not cheap) gelato at Gelicia 👍.
DAY 1 - Lagos
Headed out at 8:30am for a kayak (with EZ rides) around the point. Fantastic way to start the day. Water was fairly calm. Enjoyable going in and out of the arches and grottoes. Paddled both ways although you have the option to get towed back. Glad we did an early trip out as we passed lots of boats and kayaks waiting their turn to enter the grottoes.
Dropped laundry off at Lavaderia. Large load wash, dry and fold for 12 Euro. Followed by brunch at Twin Fin 👍. Food was wholesome and fresh.
Dinner at Casa de Prego 👌. Food was good but again small portions, and more expensive than other parts of Portugal.
Pastry dessert at Padaria Central didn’t disappoint.
DAY 2 - Lagos
Walked 4 miles mostly along the boardwalk and the Fisherman’s trail to Praia de Porto Mos. Lots of view points along the way. One regret is we did not walk the seven valleys hanging trail.
Ate lunch at Restaurant O Antonio. We had monkfish kabob and swordfish. Very good. If you want a table by the window you must make a reservation.
Hung out at the beach after lunch but it had sand flys so ended up back at the beach near us that didn't have sand flies. Easy Uber ride back to our hotel.
Dinner at 7 Hills restrauant. Very tasty and authentic Indian food.
DAY 3 - Tavira
Took the train. 2.5 hours. Fairly scenic ride. Schedule showed we needed to transfer at Faro, but turned out our same train continued on to Tavira. Super easy. Purchased our tickets a couple of days in advance. Train was fairly full at times.
Couldn’t check in until 3:30pm so ended up around the corner at a very popular tapa bar - Come Na Gaveta 👍. Ordered a great and cheap bottle of Syrah wine accompanied by very good tapas.
Met a group of expats at Maria Nova rooftop bar. They meet there every Wednesday at 6:30pm. The organizer, Rui, was very welcoming and kindly helps people with immigration. We met an acquaintance there from our area and he was a wealth of information. What a view from the rooftop.
Our lodging at Travira House 👍 is wonderful. From the warm welcome, fabulous sitting room, rooftop lounge area, good size room, comfy bed, thick towels and very filling breakfast (outdoor and inside seating). Fun interacting with the other guests whether having a glass of wine in the evening from the honesty bar or at breakfast. Nice comfortable sitting room.
DAY 4 - Tavira
Tavira is slow paced like Lagos but full of older tourists. Not as much to do but still an enjoyable day.
Fully checked out the town before the drizzling rain came in at 3pm. Castelo de Tavira in the middle of town with great views from the walls.
Salt pans with big harvest of Tavira salt and lots of flamingos feasting.
Dinner at Mira Restaurant and Tapas, where we could eat at 5:30pm. Just wow. All was fabulous from the mushroom starter to the grilled salmon salad to the grilled octopus. And of course we loved our bottle of red wine, and tasty dessert, all for about 50 euros.
PORTO
We wanted to fall in love with Porto but didn’t find it as charming as Lisbon. Waterfront area is beautiful but touristy. Sunsets are gorgeous.
DAY 1
As we walked to our food tour from our Airbnb came across a “waiter race’.
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Met our guide at 10am for our Secret Food tour. We were with a foursome who were great. Highlight of tour was the food market - Mercado do Bolhao. Will definitely go back. Note: Closed on Sundays. We enjoyed the food tour but didn’t think it was great value for the money compared to other tours we have done. We left a little hungry as portions, except for the last stop at Casa Das Bifanas, were small and last stop was the gut bomb/francesinha (white bread filled with meats covered with melted cheese in a thick spicy sauce) which I didn’t care for so didn’t eat.
We spent the afternoon strolling on Ribeira de Gaia (river front on other side from Porto) in Vila Nova de Gaia. After walking the bottom level of Dom Luis I bridge
We had a 5 port tasting for 5 euros at one of the bars. It was appropriately priced 👎. Looking forward to a proper tasting at one of the port houses in the next couple of days.
Dinner at Intrigo just down our street. Lovely deck. Food was very good but small bites for big prices. Left hungry.
Enjoyed a fabulous sunset at the park (Miradouro das Virtudes) a block up from our apartment
DAY 2
Breakfast at Nola Kitchen. Food was healthy (egg white omelette with avocado, feta, … yogurt, bananas, peanut butter, …) and delicious.
Had pastel de nata at Manteigaria - amazing (close, but not equal to Belem). Where you purchase these treats does matter.
We then had a glass of wine at the riverfront. Crowded, poor service and expensive. For a fraction of the price, stopped for another glass of wine in a less touristy sidewalk place. Perfect!
Walked to the upper bridge - Dom Luis I Bridge. View is amazing! Kids were jumping from the lower bridge, but no way on this one.
Dinner at Incontro. Warm and welcoming staff. Italian owned. If you want salad and pasta very good.
DAY 3
Rented bikes for 4 hours and rode along the bike path down river to the Atlantic and the line of beaches (Foz). The gulls dominated the beach. Saw many pilgrims making progress along the Portuguese route of the Camino de Santiago. We have seen markers we recognized on the streets. Great way to cover lots of ground and see bit outside of Porto.
A little over 6 miles on the bike path is Rua Henors de France street that has a row of restaurants grilling fresh fish. Ate at Tito II. The fish was simply grilled and delicious! Highly recommend.
Ended up going back to Mercado del Bolhao and buying fresh vegetables for almost nothing and having a wonderful fresh salad with canned tuna at our Airbnb for dinner.
DAY 4
Brunch at Say Cheesecake & Co. Sitting in an atrium in the back. Very good avocado toast, pancakes and yogurt/ granola
Port tour - Pocas. The tour including tasting was about an hour. We choose this port lodge as it is the only one owned by a Portuguese family. The others are mostly larger and British owned. Tour was interesting and samples were good.
On the way home stopped off at the Mercado in Gaia for dinner. Had a very good salmon salad and focaccia chicken sandwich.
Another amazing sunset at our nearby park - Miradouro das Virtudes
DAY 5
Stopped by Palacio Da Bolsa and bought tickets for the 3pm English tour. Note: except for the 10:30am English tour others were available. Go first thing in the morning to avoid lines. If you’re first to select a time slot, you get to specify the language.
Brunch at Do Norte👍. Waited 15 minutes to get a table, and even though the line was intimidating it went fast. Great ambience and service. Got a mushroom feta toast and a quinoa avocado salad bowl. Portions were huge and delicious!
Walked to the Crystal Palace Garden. Beautiful multi tiered garden. Fairly large so can spend a good hour or two wandering or relaxing a bit.
Palacio Da Bolsa - good tour although just 30 minutes. Arab hall was stunning.
Dinner at Lucky Duck 👍. Very small diverse menu but everything we had was very good - zucchini seaweed salad, duck risotto, green curry shrimp and cheese cake. Note: Cover charge is not on menu 3.5 euro pp. Also no drink menu offered a port tinto which we accepted (10 euro per drink). House wine good (20 euro). By 30%, the most expensive meal of Portugal so far. Need a reservation.
DAY 6
Went to lunch at Conga. Large 3 story building that serves a great pork sandwich (famous “Bifanas”). Fries were so so. Fortunately, we got there early and had no wait, but when we left there was a long line.
Took a Douro boat cruise under the 6 bridges. It was about 40 minutes. If you care about where you sit (we wanted outside top deck chairs) be sure to queue at least 20 minutes before departure. This is a great way to experience a different perspective of Porto. There is some commentary.
Dinner at Tapabento👍. Be sure to make reservations well in advance for this wonderful restaurant at the Sao Bento train station. Good ambience, very good food, large portions and pretty reasonably priced. They do accept walkins for bar seating, but the line for walkins was long even before opening, and only a handful got in when it opened at 7pm. Host (son in law to the owner) is super nice and really tries to accommodate as many people as possible. The pao tomate was quite good as was the tortilla espanya.
Douro Valley
Every where you look the views are spectacular. Vines or gardens growing on almost every square inch of the land. Charming small towns sprinkled throughout the hills and along the river side.
DAY 1 - Provesende
Caught the 9:20am train to Pinhao. 2.5 hour ride. Open seating. Right side had the better river views, but also warm sun streaming in from the south. Train got pretty full. We left most of our luggage in Porto at the hotel we will stay in when we return from Douro Valley so just have our back packs and traveling light.
Lunch (The Bridge) on the outskirts of town on our hike to our lodging. A bit pricey for lunch but food was very good.
Hiked the Sabrosa trail to Provesende. Steep uphill trail pretty much all the way, looking back on incredible views.
Provesende is a very small, cute town with a church and a couple of restaurants but not much more.
Arrived at our lodging - Quinta Manhas Douro . Pool was a welcomed oasis of calm overlooking vineyard covered hills. Our room was small but clean with a very comfortable bed and good size bathroom. We were able to order dinner at a set time from a set menu. Food was very good.
DAY 2 - Provesende to Pinhao
We walked around the town and noticed right next to our guesthouse was Quinta Do Cume. They were fully booked so we couldn’t do a tasting but they were very kind and offered us a complimentary taste of their award winning white while we enjoyed the view. Would recommend making a reservation in advance to enjoy the full experience.
The hike down to Pinhão was much easier than the hike up and only took 1 3/4 hours.
After dropping our backpacks off at our Pinhao hotel, we went in search of food and failed miserably as all kitchens were closed at 3pm, so went wine tasting instead. First at Bon Fim where you can sit on the terrace with a beautiful view overlooking the river. Had a wonderful glass of organic red for 3.5 euros. Ended up buying a bottle of it to go for 5 euros.
Then we went across the street to Carvalhas . They had a stylish tasting room and wine was okay.
On the way back to hotel at 5pm found a highly rated tapa restaurant- Cardanho Dos Presuntos. Had a charcuterie board and ham sandwich as we were starving. Very good.
Our hotel Dois Lagares House was on the outskirts of town. Room was nice with a balcony to sit on which overlooks the Douro River and the road. They have a pool that one needs to climb a rocky path to get to with a wonderful view.
DAY 3 - Pinhao
Hiked to Casal de Loivos in the clockwise direction. If you only have time for one hike this is the one. After a little over 2 miles straight up, hit a beautiful viewpoint.
Stopped to have a glass of wine at Quinta Do Jalloto. Sat outside and sipped our wine with an unbelievable view.
Hike down (~2 miles, 1 hour and 20 minutes) wasn’t too bad only a couple of steep sections otherwise fairly gradual along vineyards.
Headed to Quinta de la Rosa. Lunch at Tim’s Terrace. Very relaxing over looking the river. Salads were ridiculously expensive for what we got but pizza was good.
DAY 4 - Lamego
Took the train (30 minutes) to Regua and then a taxi (20 minutes) to our hotel - Lamego Hotel & Life. We received a very warm welcome. A complimentary glass of wine. They have a large restaurant that served an amazing breakfast buffet (best on our trip). A nice indoor / outdoor bar with well portioned tapas. A large outdoor pool, gym, and spa. We spent the balance of the day at the pool relaxing. Very good value for the money we spent.
The next day (before transferring to the Wine House) we spent the morning walking around Lamego (15-minute walk from our hotel) and checking out the Sanctuary. 600+ steps. Worth it for the beautiful view
DAY 5 - Quinta da Pacheca
Transferred via taxi (15 minutes) to The Wine House. We were welcomed with a glass of port (from a huge bottle) and given a complimentary small bottle of port.
More relaxing pool time followed by a complimentary wine tour and tasting offered to hotel guests at 5pm. Wines are good and tour very interesting, including the fact that all their red wine is produced by stomping in huge pools of grapes (prevents the seeds from being broken by machines, impacting the wine). Huge clouds of fruit flies. Beautiful property with vineyards right there. They have a lovely restaurant for hotel guests we chose to eat at the bar outside. Food was good - pasta and salad.
Although we enjoyed staying at this winery we didn’t think it was good value for our money. We didn’t stay in the wine barrel casitas, but they looked fun
DAY 6 - Train back to Porto
Enjoyed walking through the vineyard and the pool before walking to the train station (40 minute walk). Easy 2 hour train ride back to Porto
Stayed an overnight at InSitu Formosa 178. New area of Porto for us between Sao Bento and Campanha train stations. Perfect since we arrived back into Sao Bento, and were getting our Avis rental car from the Campanha station.
Geres
Alpine mountain town. Lots of hiking paths. Dense forest with lots of pine trees, ferns, crystal clear streams and waterfalls. Wonderful views. Goats, unattended horses, cows crossing road.
DAY 1
Easy drive from Porto. Our 1-bedroom Airbnb Refugio do Vidoeiro was right across the street from the start of two hiking trails. Great location and comfortable one bedroom place with decent kitchen and great patio.
We did PR3: Trilho Dos Currais. 6.5 moderate miles. 1,800ft+ elevation gain. First hour up hill (A few steep sections) which then opens up to a flatish section followed at mile 4 with an incredible viewpoint - Miradouro da Pedra Bela
Next 2 miles down had some fairly steep sections but all doable.
DAY 2 & 3
DAY 2: Rained pretty much all day. So we ended up just hanging out at our apartment. Rain stopped long enough for us to walk into town for lunch at Lourdes Capela. Lots of locals. Had a nice salad mista, sautéed cabbage, and black beans. Good sized servings.
DAY 3:
Sun shined so we’re able to get out and see more of the beauty of Geres. First stop: Miradouro Rocas. Short hike up to 360 degree view point.
Walked to Cascata do Arado. Along the way saw a single shepherd herding a huge group of goats that were quite spread out. He also had a dog, but didn’t seem he was helping much.
Drove a short way to another view point along the way to our next waterfall.
Followed by another short drive and hike to Cascata de Varzeas . Unfortunately could only hike so far before we hit a locked gate of private property so didn’t get the full view of the waterfall but most of it.
