Will I enjoy Portugal?

I'm afraid fhat your title question is not answerable, since no one here knows you, your likes and dislikes, what specific places you are going to, or what you want to see and do. Certainly there are YouTube videos, blogs and guidebooks galore that can provide some descriptions of many of the places in Portugal that attract tourists. I dont think one could accurately describe the "vibe" of France, or Italy, or Portugal, since the regions within each country vary so much.

I'm going to say Yes.

The vibe is similar in some ways but different in others.

The aesthetics are good if you enjoy them.

The food is very enjoyable. If you enjoy the food.

Three completely different countries with different languages, different food and different histories. Not quite sure what type of info you are looking for. We can’t tell you what you would like or not like. You might check out the RS videos on this website for some ideas of what it’s like there.

I've been to Italy and Portugal. For me, the vibe is very different between the two countries. I found Italy (Florence and Venice) a place of wonderful buildings and sculptures. More subdued in color, many dress in black and grey in the winter. Feels like walking thru history.

Portugal is a place of color. Tiles/Azulejos decorate their buildings. Vibrant street art is everywhere. Individuals dress colorfully. Lisbon/Portugal is becoming trendy with young adults, which I'm not sure if a good thing or not. But the place feels very much alive.

Anyways, these are just my impressions.

I threw the question out knowing the answer is me. . A bit sarcastic. I guess what I am looking for the other countries aside is your subjective opinion of Portugal as a destination.What did you enjoy and was there any language issue..communicating.

Really the only big variable will be the food. If you like seafood, great, if not, then it gets tough. Like basic meaty dishes? Great, no? double tough. There are lots of good dishes, and if you do some research ahead on what is available, the food can be great.

There are some drawbacks though, I found restaurants in most of the popular spots tended to offer the "menu of famous Portuguese dishes", so after a week, you are looking for variation. On a tour, it might be more difficult to seek out different, smaller venues, or just get Piri-Piri chicken to go from a hole in the wall spot.

was there any language issue..communicating.

Communicating in English was easier in Portugal than any other EU country we've been to.

We liked Portugal, but didn't love it. But that's subjective to what we enjoy. As for food, I'm not a big fan of food anyway, but in general, all four of us on our trip were disappointed. For me it was the lack of vegetables. Most places we went it was potatoes or nothing.

We are not big fish people, at least not every day. In Porto and Lisbon, we did a little research, made reservations and found great options. We were in Porto the later half of April and without some planning and reservations, options were limited. You can't just follow the crowds in Lisbon and Porto. We ate at especially good restaurants in Sintra, Nazare, Braga, Evora. The restaurants were all more moderately priced, great values.

In terms of English speakers, we found it about the same as places we've been to in Spain and Italy. Perhaps easier to communicate in Portugal than some of the towns in France, other than Paris.

So you have an opportunity to go to Portugal. You have to ask yourself, am I a traveler? Or am I simply going to continue with places I've already been. Of course food and vibe will be different. That is the essence of new places and travling. A curiosity.

No one can say if you will like. Take a chance.

We went to Portugal this fall and loved it. My sister who loves France, went on a monthlong trip combining work conferences and vacation in France, Italy, and Portugal (her first time in the latter). She enjoyed the architecture, and as someone mentioned, the color, and the youthful energy. She felt the people were really nice, and was easy to navigate in English (she stayed in Porto and Lisbon) The seafood was the best she had on the trip, and the produce was incredibly fresh. That said, she thought the food preparation was best when it was rustic, and they didn't do sauces or complex preparation as well as France or Italy.

Well thanks everyone with the patience with which you answered my questions. We just finished booking the trip. We are curious and have done other countries many times. A different culture, people.

Personally I love Portugal. The people are very friendly, almost everyone speaks English and younger people are very fluent making it easy to chat with servers and even taxi drivers. The food is great. I’m a seafood fan but you can find good restaurants everywhere with proper home cooking. Even if the food is simple it’s delicious.

The country is very unspoiled. Portugal didn’t really become a modern country until the 80/90s meaning that a lot of small scale manufacturing businesses have survived - soap, tiles etc. I read yesterday that as late as 1960 30% of the country was illiterate.

We've travelled a fair amount in Europe (although not to Italy) and Portugal is one of our top destinations. Lisbon is one of my favorite cities I've visited....it's just so hilly so make sure to pack your best walking shoes and get some "training" in before your trip. I agree with another poster that I felt there was a lack of vegetables too but we enjoyed the food. I think the vibe is for sure different than France and I don't think that is a bad thing. Hard to describe really! Anyway, I haven't met anyone who has visited and hasn't come back raving about their visit.