Single Senior Female

Don’t carry a purse. Use a money belt. Know exactly where you are going

Thanks, Claudia: I’ll study up before I go!

I’m an elder female, living solo in Portugal. I’ve traveled extensively around the country and Europe, both solo and with family or friends. The only danger in Portugal is pickpockets.
I carry a cross body bag, have never used a money belt (after my first European trip) and have been fine. In crowds like the metro in Lisbon, I’m cautious and always hold onto my purse with it facing toward my body and my phone in it - not my pocket. Don’t carry much in the way of cash.
Try to adjust to the idea that Portugal bears very little resemblance to the U.S. in terms of danger.

Also, be aware, your public transport to Obidos, Nazare and Alcobaca will likely be on buses and not very speedy. The other places you mention are easily and quickly reached by train or bus. Flixbus or Gypsyy are buses I’ve used and they are very nice. The train is also quite good but not as fancy and fast as in Spain or France.

This is very helpful, Kathryn, thanks. We have Flixbuses where I live, and I’ll look into them. Perhaps I’ll bus the shorter distances, and look into the other modes of transportation for longer ones. I appreciate your take, as another female who travels alone.

As Kathrynj mentioned pickpockets are the biggest issues for tourists along with crimes of opportunity ( such as phone/wallet left on top of a cafe table or breaking into cars for the valuables).
Breaking into properties is relatively common.
Violent crime occurs but it's less common ( usually fists or knifes), gun crime is rare.

After having my wallet stolen by pickpockets on two separate occasions ( years ago) these are the measures I take when traveling in Portugal:
- carry a copy of my ID and leave the original at the hotel safe
- carry only enough cash for the day's activities plus some extra just in case, leave the rest at the hotel safe
- carry a cheap "sacrifice" wallet with a few euros, if the pickpockets steal it not a big loss
- carry the bulk of the day's cash on my person but not in the wallet, whenever I need to pay a bigger bill ( ie, restaurant) I go to the washroom and transfer the money from the secret location to the sacrifice wallet

Pickpockets usually are not the scary looking individuals, they blend in and you won't notice them.

Drugs are decriminalized in Portugal, in the larger cities you might see/hear people offering drugs to the younger crowd, they don't bother with the older crowd, not a safety issue in my experience.

Beggars are all over , usually just leave us alone if we say no but we did have an incident in Faro ( I mentioned it in my trip report).

For many seniors the sometimes uneven and slippery cobblestone stone sidewalks are an issue , good rubber sole shoes are recommended.

Passengers load/ unload the luggage into the bus, we witnessed a passenger taking someone else's luggage by mistake ( it was an honest mistake , the luggage looked identical), keep that in mind.

National bus carrier
https://rede-expressos.pt/en
Other national bus carriers with less routes
https://www.flixbus.co.
https://gipsyy.com/
Some cities/areas have their own local/regional buses.

National train
https://www.cp.pt/passageiros/en
On the AP train in first class they have single seats that you can reserve.

This is the taxi company we used all over Portugal.
https://cooptaxis.pt/en/
Be aware that taxis have a lot of extra fees, luggage fee, time of day fee, day of week fee, toll road fee.

We don't use them but other travelers report using Bolt or Uber at much lower prices.

Thank you, Aulopone—such a wealth of info to digest. Good to have all the contact notes—I'm usually hiking when I travel and not around cities, so the whole town-to-town thing will be new to me. RS mentions the slick cobblestones/tiled/uneven surfaces, and I am forewarned.

Thanks again for your thoughts on my concerns!