I need some help here. There is so much do and see and taste in this country, unfortunately I only have 8 days to dedicate.
This is a romantic trip taking in some of the local sites but focused on relaxing. We love food wine and beaches. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
Stephen
I spent four days in Lisbon and it was not enough. You could easily spend the whole 8 days there taking some day trips to outside of Lisbon.
I would suggest.a day excursion to Sintra as well as to Belem.
I never went to the beach but there are beautiful beaches around and outside of Lisbon.
There is no shortage of food or wine in Lisbon.
However there are other persons on forum who have visited the beaches in Portugal and I hope that they will jump in to the discussion.
Thank you for the advice.
Any restaurants in the Lisbon area you would recommend?
Stephen
With only eight days, I agree with the previous poster to stay in Lisbon, especially if you want a relaxing trip. You can easily do several day trips from there, including Evora, Setúbal or Cascais to those already mentioned.
Regarding restaurants, there are too many to narrow it down. I use the Google restaurant reviews when I travel and am rarely disappointed. At least once, try one of the small ‘typical’ Portuguese restaurants. They will have a Prato do Dia, or plate of the day for €10-12. Have Pastel da Nata at Manteigaria, maybe throw in seafood at Ramiro, and be certain to have Rabalo or Dorada (typical fish). You can also find Michellin star restaurants, if you want to splurge.
We spent four nights in Lisbon and four nights in Porto. We did a day trip from both cities. We flew into Porto and out of Lisbon.
We had a total of two weeks in Portugal but your eight nights corresponds to the time we spent in Porto and Lisbon.
We have stayed twice in Lisbon, both times up near the Castle in the Castelo district, it is just about the Alfama. Our favourite restaurants look like they are still there. Clara Em Castelo and Le Petit cafe. I know the second doesn't sound very Portuguese, but we had some wonderful dinners there.
Also if you enjoy wine, look for the wine tasting rooms, where you can try out Portuguese wines. There is one if Lisbon and Porto, and I remember one in Evora as well, although I don't see if listed on this website. They are very reasonable, and we also enjoyed chatting with other tourists there and the staff at one.
https://winesofportugal.com/en/discover/tasting-rooms/
We had what was one of the best dining experiences at a restaurant called Clube de Journalistas! Excellent food, sublime atmosphere.
