I will be in lisbon, porto and the Algarve region. Unfortunately it appears that it will be fairly cold and rainy for much of my stay and am wondering how to dine outdoors comfortably. I have rarely dined indoors during covid and prefer not to risk catching it, especially since I will not be able to return home if I test positive. What is the outdoor dining situation in cooler and rainy weather? Thanks
Posted by
Cascais, Portugal
1666 posts
The weather forecasting in Portugal is really pretty bad! And, don’t believe it at all more than a couple of days out. My weather app is showing rain 1-2 days during that time frame and a bit cooler than it has been, here in the Lisbon area. And, rain is hardly ever an all day event, so even if a day says 80+ percent chance it may rain for a brief time at night.
People eat outside pretty much year round so there will definitely be tables outside. And, most place have umbrellas to shade from the sun, which will, obviously, also protect from the rain, if needed.
If you can’t sit outside, you can always eat your meals a bit early and avoid the crowds in a lot of restaurants. I’ve begun eating inside again recently and the staff sit people as far apart as possible.
Posted by
Pacific Northwest
2622 posts
I’m in Lisbon right now. There is an incredible amount of outdoor dining. There’s plenty that’s covered and there are a fair amount of those heat lamps. It would be easy to choose restaurants that have the heaters.
Posted by
Spokane
34 posts
I'm in Braga and it was supposed to rain all this week. It only rained last night. Yesterday was just cloudy and today the sun is out. So the weather report was definitely not accurate.
Posted by
San Diego, California
31 posts
We were in Portugal for 3 weeks in October 2021. We were unable to take advantage of the outdoor dining due to all the cigarette smoke. Every single time we tried to eat outside we had to move tables because of smoke. We were also concerned about always eating indoors, but it turned out to not be an issue. We had some incredible meals. Enjoy.
Posted by
60 posts
I'm in Portugal now. We were in Porto for 4 night, on the Silver Coast "Sao Martinho do Porto" for 5 nights and are heading to Lisbon tommorrow for 4 nights. The weather called for rain all week and it has been beautiful all week. We had rain this morning and it's beautiful again. It's true what Kathryn says, the weather changes quickly.
This week we have an outside patio and have sat outside for lunches in our airbnb, and have sat outside at restaurants too, and we prefer to be in the sun, it's warmer. It does get cooler at night, but they have heaters on patios. I hope that helps?
Enjoy your vacation, rain or shine, there is always something to do regardless.
Kelly
Posted by
USA
125 posts
Many establishments have outdoor covered terraces, heated systems or offered blankets.
Posted by
Boston, MA
1829 posts
As Prunepicker mentions the one downside most anywhere in Europe is where there is outside dining (which is plentiful) there are often smokers at a table nearby and it seems accepted that if outside they are permitted to smoke.
This can lessen the dining experience if you do not care for smoke.
Smoking in Europe is far more commonplace than the US.