PORTUGAL
Portugal 8-10 Day Road Trip Itinerary
Trip Duration: 9 Days, 9 Nights
Time of Year: Spring (End of May, Beginning of June)
Traveled With: Just the two of us!
Highlights: Untouched nature, Portuguese egg tarts, port wine, local culture
Before you Go -General Tips/Knowledge:
Lisbon is full of hills! Bring your walking shows!
Our favorite Lisbon neighborhood was Alfama
We loved Evora!
Follow signs labeled “Miraduras” (which means viewpoint)
Local sardine festival
Trip Cost: $1,800
DAY 1–LISBON
Our flight arrived 4PM which means starting our trip low-key, an evening of acclimating, walking around Lisbon & treating ourselves to a romantic dinner.
Our 1st (and urgent) destination was tasting the infamous pasteis de nata! Based on raving online reviews, we chose Mantegaria & it did not disappoint! When the egg tart hit our lips, we knew this was going to be a dangerous introduction to our lives (we had ~13 each by the end of the trip!!)
We splurged for a romantic dinner at “100 Manieras” including a full Portuguese tasting menu & wine pairing. Food presentation and staff were impressive. We had a great dinner, but in retrospect it was not our favorable meal.
Our AirbNb was centrally located in XXXX neighborhood which allowed us to walk to many of our areas of interest. We even had live fado music playing on the streets right outside our window every night!
DAY 2 – LISBON
Let the pasteis de nata adventure continue! Despite having a 10AM food tour reserved, we woke up early for breakfast adventure to Pasteis de Belem (arguably just as famous as Mantegaria). It was great to arrive at 8AM to beat the rumored long lines of tourist. We took an uber there and bus back which was quite easy from our AirBnB.
We did our food tour with “Lisbon’s Best Flavors” (found on AirBnB experiences – can also be found on TripAdvisor as “Treasures of Lisboa”). This was the most memorable experience of our trip! Our tour guide, Ruthy, and her husband had an unmatchable energy and orchestrated this tour in such an impressive manner! Ruthy was deeply knowledgeable about the neighborhood’s history and brought us to memorable local spots. All spots were quite delicious and we certainly would not have found them on our own (including my favorite secret pasteis de nata spot)! We loved listening to Ruthy passionately tell us stories and educate us every step of the way. We had such a great time accompanied by her contagious positive energy and smile! We loved having this experience with a handful of other travelers. It was delightful to socialize with Ruthy and our new friends throughout the journey :)
DAY 2 - LISBON
The food tour brought us to the Alfama neighborhood which proved to be our favorite. We loved walking around this area. The narrow streets were so intimate and felt like such a community. This neighborhood felt like NYC’s East Village with a memorable Portuguese charm.
As we walked back toward our AirBnb, we had dinner at the TimeOut Market & walked around Barrio Alto for the evening. In retrospect, both felt very touristy and we probably would have liked it better if we were younger or with a group rather than as a couple. TimeOut is a good match for a traveler who doesn’t have much time to independently explore Lisbon, as it has all local foods under one roof. Barrio Alto is a strip of bars with cheap drinks & everyone is drinking on the street.
The next morning, we realized were so infatuated with Alfama we which we had dinner & drinks there instead!
DAY 3 - LUZ
Woke up for breakfast at Confectionary Nacional (more natas). These were our least favorite natas from the whole trip, but were very close to our home base!
We then took the subway back to Lisboa Airport to pick up our rental car. Our plan was to have the rental for 4 ½ days to allow us to drive 1) along the western coast, 2) up to Evora & 3) back to Lisbon. Having the car gave us great control over this portion of our trip to do/go wherever our Portugese hearts desired. Let our road trip begin!!!
Our plans for the day were limited. Once we retrieved the rental car, we only knew where we were sleeping. We had the flexibility to stop wherever peaked our interest and, boy, are we happy we did! The sun was shining with perfect 70 degree weather. As we drove through Sines, we stopped at an unforgettable beach, Porto do Covo (Praia do Salto). We were astounded with how EMPTY this GORGEOUS beach was. We nearly had paradise all to ourselves! Someone else was nude, so we joined them. We had the opportunity to embrace the beauty of nature & isolation. A rarity for us NYC folks.
We pitstopped for lunch at Patio Alentejano. We had cod & octopus salad – the portions were big and delicious!
We ended the afternoon at our AirBnb. This was Tipi on a farm. Our host was welcoming and charming. We spent the evening drinking a bottle of wine (gifted from our host). The skies were clear & full of stars. The evening was perfect!
DAY 4- LAGOS
We opted for a homemade breakfast from our host. We are mutually in agreement this was the best omelette we have ever had!
Today our main destination was the Benagil caves. We drove to the marina for Tartuga Tour and rented a kayak for the two of us in the morning. We kayaked to the caves and again, HAD THE PLACE TO OURSELVES! Morning is hands-down the best time to make this happen! We continued on our kayaks to other local caves which was quite beautiful. We hiked around the top rim of Benagil to experience the caves from a different perspective.
We spontaneously headed to another local beach, Praia do Marinha. Finding local, uncrowded beaches seemed to be the theme of this leg of our trip. As we walked down the shoreline, past all the tourists, we were able to climb over rocks. Behind that series of rocks was a private beach to ourselves. Twas perfect.
We drove to Lagos and settled into our next AirBnB. At this point we had already eaten so much cod & natas, we opted for Indian food to mix it up. We were going to walk to the beach for a sunset, but were so tired! We had some wine at home, edited photos & laid in bed. Sometimes, but rarely, we relax on vacation!
DAY 5 - LAGOS
With our past days’ successes of morning excursions, we opted to push our luck and head to Praia do Camilo bright & early. We walked from our AirBnB in flipflops. We wish we wore sneakers! It was much farther than we thought, oops!
Success. Praia do Camilo was EMPTY when we arrived. We win again!
It was absurdly early. We went to Goji Café for a healthy, powerfood packed breakfast. We walked around the area and had sandwiches for lunch at Croissantaria 29 (SO cheap, SO good).
Now, now, this was just the start to another UNFORGETTABLE DAY. We booked “The West Coast Adventure” tour we found online to explore the Algarve. This included hiking with a group in a region inaccessible independently. This is likely the best tour we have ever been on in our lives. Our guide, TJ, was flawless. He truly made this adventure into a journey. His leadership style allowed us all to feel connected with nature’s beauty in a manner that is hard to describe. We encountered the “End of the World”, Portugal’s southernmost coastal point and soaked in the views as we silently reflected in our own unique ways. This perfect tour ended with a picnic under the stars. It was so personal and fun. We couldn’t recommend this more.
DAY 6- LAGOS/EVORA
Did you know Portugal is famous for their waves? Once we learned this, we booked our surf lesson at Raven Surf School. Our instructor, Michael, is a previous professional. He leads a small group private lesson accompanied by his badass wife. The waves were perfect to learn on & Michael was great instructor. By the end of the day, both of us were riding waves & loved the adrenaline rush that came with it. We wished we could have done this more than 1 day to improve our skills!
After having some snacks in Lagos & packing up, we headed to Evora for our next road trip stop. Prior to going, we read vague, mixed reviews on Evora. We were concerned it was going to be a historical town that wouldn’t interest us. We were wrong.
Evora is a city enclosed by walls which feels quite medieval. Similar to areas of Lisbon, the streets are lined with local charming storefronts and restarants. Our favorite meal of the trip was here at a restarant called “O Templo”. Their staff was hilarious and friendly. Sitting at a table here made you feel like a part of their family. The house wine was perfectly delicious and parsalane soup resulted in an out-of-body experience. The meat was orgasmic too. Considering naming our future pet “Evora” or “O Templo”. We were blown away.
We were saddened waking up in Evora knowing we had a mere few hours left in this magical place. To cope with our emotions, we picked up natas at “Fabrica Dos Pasteis”. These may have been our favorite natas on the entire trip. We love you, Evora!
Dropped our car back off in Lisbon & headed to the train station. Off to Porto we went!
DAY 8- PORTO/DOURO VALLEY
Time to drink all of the Portuguese wine in the Duoro Valley! Today was wine tour day with “Oporto Road Trips”. Our guide, Lucy, was extremely knowledgeable and a pleasure to be around. We had a van with 5 other travelers. Stopped at 3 wineries and took a brief boat ride on the Douro River. Drank all types of wine, including our favorite, Port!
We wished we booked the wine tour farther in advance, as our top-pick company was already booked. Had a great time regardless!
Similarly, we soon realized we should have made dinner reservations in Porto as well. All of the places we picked in advanced were all booked. We went to Tasco, which was still delicious. Would recommend!
We spent the evening walking along the river by our AirBnb.
DAY 10- LISBON
Our last breakfast was at O Ninho. Yum! We picked up some souvenirs (as much port wine as possible) and headed to the airport.
