Compared to other Western European countries, Portugal is pretty under the radar for Americans. It lacks the instantly recognizable hook that so many of its neighbors have: Will and Kate in England, wine and the Eiffel Tower in France, beer and lederhosen in Germany. Lisbon’s gotten trendy recently, but more often than not, it’s the preview to a sexy Spanish main feature.
We chose to kick off our European trip in Portugal because it’s relatively cheap. Plus, everything we read about long-term travel recommended starting somewhere low-key, where we wouldn’t be tempted to fill every day with capital “A” Activities. “Perfect!” We thought, “Portugal doesn’t have a ton going on. We’ll spend a week hanging out there to ease into things.”
Oh, friends. How wrong we were. Once we got to researching, our chill week in Portugal turned in to 12 exciting days—starting at the top, and going all the way to the bottom.
Porto: The Port wine capital
We’d originally planned to fly in to Lisbon, but after a friend let me know about flights from the U.S. to Porto, we opted to start there instead. (For the wine! More on that later.) And honestly, our trip was probably better for it.
It’s definitely a tourist town, but it’s much smaller and more laidback than cosmopolitan Lisbon, so we got a good taste of Portuguese culture without all the crowds. We saw walls and walls of azulejo tiles at São Bento Station and nearby cathedrals, gaped at a circus-themed shop full of canned seafood (the Portuguese love it), and enjoyed a fado music performance and Port wine tasting at Cálem cellar.
We tried a francesinha sandwich (a rif on a croque madame and Porto’s culinary claim to fame) at an off-the-beaten-path pool hall that our Airbnb hosts recommended.
And we wandered through a book fair and had a picnic overlooking the city in the romantic Crystal Palace garden.
And then there was the Douro Valley—the world’s first formally demarcated wine region. Porto is where Port wine comes to age (there are around 60 cellars just over the bridge, almost all of which offer tastings for around 15€/person), but the grapes are grown about 1.5 hours away in the valley.
On a full-day tour, we visited two vineyards, took a cruise along the Douro River, ate bacalhau (cod—the country’s favorite fish) and learned a heck of a lot about Portugal from our very sweet guide. (Olá is hola, sí is sí, and por favor is por favor, but never say gracias when you mean obrigado. This ain’t Spain.)
Lisbon: The historic heart
They say Lisbon is a city of seven hills, and boy do they mean it. We’re talking about near-vertical inclines, folks. The upside is that there are plenty of scenic viewpoints.
Sean and I hoofed it to four of them in one afternoon (why? God help us) and my favorite was Miradouro da Graça: Not only were the views great, but you can enjoy them while sipping a cocktail on an outdoor terrace in the shadow of a cathedral.
The nearby district of Belém is, mercifully, much flatter, and home to my absolute favorite thing about Lisbon: Jerónimos Monastery. The church is free, but it costs 10€/person to see the cloisters. A few crazies on the internet said it wasn’t worth it, but c’mon:
While we were in the neighborhood, we also visited Belém Tower (a 16th-century military fortification) and the Monument of Discoveries, built to honor Portugal’s explorers during the Age of Exploration.
An hour’s train ride from Lisbon is the most perfect little suburb of Sintra. You already know how much I loved it, but allow me to put an even finer point on it: Sean and I were pretty jet lagged and cranky at the beginning of our trip. Sintra snapped us out of it. When you’re standing on the terrace of a tomato-colored castle, the only thoughts that go through your mind are, “Portugal is absolutely gorgeous,” and “Damn, I’m lucky to be doing this.”
The Algarve: The golden south
This is what attracted us to Portugal in the first place: tumbling cliffs, hidden sea caves, and cobalt water. “It’s somewhere we can just be,” we thought. And we were right. For four days, we hiked, napped, cooked, and relaxed.
The first stop on our coastal road trip was Cabo São Vicente lighthouse—the westernmost point in continental Europe. In addition to the lighthouse, we also found a cheeky sausage stand where two German ladies serve up the last sausages you’ll see before America.
We spent the first two nights of our journey in nearby Lagos, one of the bigger tourist towns in the area. The city center was full of bars, shops, and restaurants, but still small enough to be incredibly charming. Our Airbnb was a couple of blocks from downtown in one direction, and a couple of blocks from the beach in the other. Plus, it had a rooftop terrace where we put away an entire bottle of Vinho Verde and a full tub of hummus in one sitting. Needless to say, it was tough to leave.
Carvoeiro was next. It’s a more remote town, and our Airbnb was more “tucked-away farmhouse” than “beachside retreat.” Initially we were dubious, but when we woke up that first morning to a five-star breakfast, and then climbed into the hammocks to read while roosters crowed and woodpeckers hammered away at the trees? It really grew on us.
We almost didn’t want to get up to hike the Seven Hanging Valleys trail, the most scenic in the country. (Don’t worry—the hammocks and books were waiting for us when we got back.)
So, what’s Portugal’s hook? Azulejo and fado? Hills and cod? Castles and cliffs? The answer is all of the above. Plus (quite surprisingly) some of the friendliest people you’ll ever meet. Don’t skip Portugal, y’all.
What’s the first thing you think of when I say Colombia? Cocaine? Pablo Escobar? Narcos? FARC? Terrorism? That’s fair. But what if I told you everything you thought you knew about the country is wrong?