Trip Report - July in Portugal

Looking forward to the next post

25 July - Lisbon Day 1, continued

After checking into our small but lovely flat in Alfama (I was torn but had some hotel issues suitable for our budget and family configuration), navigating the steep hill and stairs (carry ons only was a winner here), we found a late lunch at a local coffee place, Copenhagen Coffee Lab. I think we visited at least once on all 3 days.

While there, I cross checked reviews for an English speaking clinic that would be open for what I was pretty sure was an ear infection in my daughter. Google reviews was very helpful with determining likely wait times and costs. In the end, we walked down to get on the metro at Santa Apolonia, bought one zapping card, and headed up to Avenida. My husband and I both just tapped our credit cards with no international fees. The metro was easy and clean.

Walking the Avenida Da Liberdade was lovely--lots of vendors, shade, and the stunning tilework everywhere. However, we had a mission, and the mission was the Alegria Medical Centre. We had a wonderful and fast experience for 80 Euros. Yes, we have insurance and can file when we get home for reimbursement, but this was a very easy way to handle our daughter's pain. The doctor sent us to get ear drops at a local pharmacy. When I asked how long we might wait to get the prescription, she laughed at me and said, "right then." Not something I'm used to in the USA! :)

We walked down towards Rossio and the pharmacy, collected our 7 Euro drops, bought some European sunscreen, and then did some window shopping. My husband loves sardines and was taken with some of the shops and displays in the area. We also bought our inaugural European cokes of the trip.

We took our first bus from Praca da Figueira towards Castelo (with many small children in matching vests and hats--clearly a camp or school group!) and walked home to start the meds and have a break before the evening. Our walk did take us past the famous viewpoints in Alfama, and as they were not busy at the time, we stopped for a few pictures.

About 6pm, we headed to the Castle for our pre-purchased ticket visit. The line was not bad, so waiting wouldn't have been an issue, but it was nice to just scan in and go. Very few people in the castle grounds this evening, so we wandered all around, dipped into the small museums, saw the peacocks, and spent lots of time exploring the ramparts/walls. We wandered an increasingly empty upper Alfama until we ran into Frei Papinhas, a restaurant mentioned in the guidebook. It was a solid first night meal, but the cod dish was the standout as was the house vinho verde. We congratulated ourselves on making it to later than 8pm and went back to the flat to crash. The drops plus advil seemed to be already helping the ear infection turn the corner.

Thanks, Bostonphil!

It’s never fun to be sick and especially not when traveling.

It’s good to hear your daughter received good medical care at the Alegria Medical Centre.

My daughter and I became ill with GI issues during our trip in Portugal but fortunately we didn’t need to seek medical care.

Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip!

We loved our trip to Portugal a couple of years ago, so I am enjoying your report, and looking forward to more.

@Priscilla Thank you! I know GI issues are never fun.

@Jane Thanks! I'm trying to do cover a few days today, but work keeps interfering :)

26 July - Day 2, Lisbon

We had breakfast at the Copenhagen Coffee Cafe and then hopped a crowded #28 trolley that went right by our cross-street. I enjoyed the ride despite being very aware of potential pickpockets. The worst part was the tuk tuk traffic on curves near the Alfama viewpoints/overlooks. It took close to 10 minutes to clear this one sticking point, and the result was I never wanted to take a tuk tuk in Lisbon.

We got off just after the stop for the Praca do Comercio and walked the square. We then meandered down the shoreline sidewalk and gave in to the teenage desire for "the most amazing pina colada in the universe" as we had been seeing the kiosk/carts everywhere. It was...fine. At least the pineapple it was served in was nice to eat. From there, we walked to the TimeOut Market, and though it was peak lunch time, we were able to do a lap and get 3 seats together without much trouble. Between the cheap small beer, croquettes, and sushi, we had a lovely lunch and soaked up the ambiance. I tried my first Pastel de nata while the others sampled gelato. I thought I won the dessert round.

After lunch, we hopped in a Bolt to Belem and were dropped near the museum where I had booked 2pm tickets-- QUAKE Lisboa. After checking in the required 15 minutes early, we got our wristbands and hung out in the AC until it was time. Our 13 year old really enjoyed this 1hr 30 experience in an interactive museum. My husband and I enjoyed it, but I confess to picking it knowing she'd get a chance to experience history while also being more engaged than she might be at her age at a traditional museum. She has been to more traditional museums (we live near DC after all), but I just thought it would suit her better. We also both love roller coasters and enjoyed the shaking part of experiencing the 1755 quake.

From the museum, we walked to Pasteis de Belem, where I enjoyed my second pastel de nata of the day. I liked this one slightly better, but for me it was a difference in crust. Crowds were not bad, but we did do counter service so we could go sit in the park. We saw the monastery and the monument to the discoveries, but we did not experience either. I would go back to Belem on a future trip and do more for sure.

We took the bus back to Lisbon and all of us did some shopping--sardines for my husband and clothes for the teenager. We headed back to the apartment to change as I had booked our 17th anniversary dinner that night at Baixamar. We had a lovely meal with mussels, fish, oysters, lovely vegetables, and a good wine. We felt the service was good and did not feel price gouged despite the proximity to the arch. Again, crowds still felt low for what I had been warned to expect.

On the way home, we stumbled on the Elevador Da Se and that allowed us to have the energy to stop for sunset pictures at Miradouro de Santa Luzia. It was more crowded than it had been the day before, but again, we still had room to move around and not feel like we had to rush to get out and have breathing room. Back at the flat, I used the washer and pegged the laundry out to dry overnight--this felt like a luxury as I didn't realize it came with the apartment!

The next day was our last day in Lisbon, and we already had realized we hoped to come back!

27 July - Day 3 Lisbon then transfer to Evora

This morning we tried the restaurant around the corner for breakfast after to go coffees from the coffee lab :) It also featured being photographed by someone walking our street in the morning while I was switching the laundry on the line. If they thought they were getting a real Portuguese mom doing laundry, they did not!

Checked out by 11 and used a Bolt to go over to Rossio and drop bags at a baggage hold store for the day. We walked around the square a bit and then made our way to the Santa Justa Elevator. The line was short, so we hopped on. We enjoyed the views from the top (almost empty) and eventually decided to walk down the other side to find some lunch. Our ticket would have been good to ride down. We loved the views of the Carmo Convent as we had been "inside of it" at the QUAKE museum.

Lunch was at an English style pub, The George, in honor of the Euro final that night. The food and service were fine but nothing to go out of your way for. We hit a few shops/the mall in that area to enjoy some AC and to satisfy the teenager. Around 2, we collected out bags and hopped the metro at Rossio to go to the airport to collect our rental car.

Once back at the airport, we followed the signs to car rental and picked up our Ford Puma from Guerin/Enterprise. With none of the vendors particularly well rated, we went with a good price and then made sure to have good insurance. This worked well for us as thanks to a pre-arrival check in email and then just confirming details at a kiosk, an employee met us and directed us to the key pickup. Within 30 minutes, we had done our inspection of the car (with videos!) and were headed off to Evora. The deep lines at the other counters made me think we got lucky with our timing.

We found the drive (and all driving in Portugal, really) to be easy. Getting to the Holiday Inn Express Evora did involve re-doing a roundabout due to no parking in front of reception, but once we checked and parked the car in the garage, we were free to enjoy the hotel. It is very new, and the adjacent pool/restaurant is not owned by the hotel. While breakfast is free, the pool charges a fee per room to use it each day. As it was 100F when we arrived, we paid the 20 euros and went to have our welcome drinks. The kiddo got in the shallow end of the pool to cool off but avoid aggravating her ear. Pool towels were provided.

The Euro final kicked off around this time, and after watching some, I walked into town via the gate across the street and had a seemingly empty city to myself. If you just want to wander, I highly recommend Evora on a late Sunday afternoon! After soaking up my fill of the sights, especially the Roman Temple, and having a cheeky solo gelato, I started investigating dinner and eventually chose an Italian place in the southern part of town. Ristorante Pizzeria L'Italiano was really enjoyable--good pizza, and my husband particularly enjoyed some sort of seafood medley on his. He also enjoyed the England women's Euro win!! We walked back through town in the approaching sunset hour, and we got some great photos of us at and around the Roman Temple. Again, we saw less than 20 people just out and about though I had seen more on one of the main streets lined with restaurants. We finished up the walk back to the HIE and enjoyed sleeping in the AC after a few nights of just having high-powered fans.

28 July - Day 4: Evora to Ferragudo

After a reasonable breakfast and an overall very nice stay, we admired the Roman aqueduct as we departed Evora for the coast. We found the roads incredibly easy in this part of the country--my husband is sure some are based on old Roman roads given how straight they ran.

We arrived at our resort--Vitor's Village in Ferragudo-- 5 minutes before the taxi with my mother in law, sister in law, and nephew arrived from Faro. Once everyone was either checked in or advised on what they could do before the room was ready, we went to have lunch in the resort restaurant, Purple. Everyone felt lunch was fine but not exciting, and it made us severely underestimate dinner a few nights later.

Soon the kids were swimming and playing in the main pool, and the adults were relaxed with books and drinks. The pools were very nice at the resort, though the "quiet pool" seldom was. No lifeguards, but as both were good swimmers and not small children, that was not a major concern for us.

The resort has 5 buildings, and we were in two different ones, but it did not matter as the resort profile was not that large. That evening, we walked down the very steep hill to the main part of Ferragudo by the harbor as when I asked if we should book anything for dinner, both MIL and SIL said we could just wander. I smiled on the outside but on the inside I knew our group of 6 might be in trouble.

In the main square, we did eventually find a restaurant--unremarkable all around. The food and drinks were both fine, but they were able to seat us right away, and that is what we were looking for on night 1. I will say that the quality of the dinner meant I had free rein to make some bookings the next few nights :) After some nice gelato at Gelataria D'Or, we walked a bit farther down the harbor to catch some of the sunset and then hiked back up the hill to the resort. The kids challenged each other to foosball in the games room, and we ended the night pleased that the family holiday was finally underway.

29 July - Day 5: Portimao and Ferragudo

The one thing our teen wanted to do this summer was learn to surf, so we booked her a 9:30am lesson at Portimao Surf Clube on Praia da Rocha. She had a 1.5 hour one-on-one lesson for around 85 euros, and her teacher was thorough and spoke English. More importantly, she made it fun even when our daughter was falling in more than staying up.

At the beginning of the lesson, I walked down most of Praia da Rocha from the lighthouse/pier towards the cliffs and past the many hotels, casino, and summer camps. It was as cold as we had been all trip--clouds had rolled in and the wind was fierce for the first 45 minutes or so. Still, I enjoyed watching the locals and non-locals on the beach. Portimao runs free group classes on the beach, it seems, so I saw people doing beach aerobics as well as aqua zumba with noodles right at the edge of the waves.

After a very successful lesson, we hiked up the stairs to Rocha Poke for lunch and warm drinks. Located in front of Rocha Surf Shop, we all loved our poke and smoothie bowls. By the time we finished, the clouds had blown away and we walked back through the old fort to see the harbor views.

After more swimming/reading/lounging, we found a flatter back way to walk into town and our booking at Terra Cotta, an Italian restaurant. We all were incredibly impressed by our food---fresh homemade pasta, really well-cooked octopus, and great drinks. I was able to book them using the Fork, and we all felt it was the best meal of this part of the trip.

Wonderful trip report, Acher. You've been to a few places I haven't, so I feel like I'm enjoying them with you, but from afar. Medical care can be an adventure overseas. Glad the urgent care visit worked out. Looking forward to your next installment.

Thanks @Wanderlust! We are also grateful that the urgent care worked out, and it was a great reminder about squaring away travel insurance, etc for health matters.

Enjoying your TR

I. too, would love to return to Lisbon.

30 July - Day 6: Silves and Ferragudo

The teens were influenced by driving by Slide and Splash on their separate drives to the resort, and this morning they won their campaign to be allowed to go. After breakfast at the hotel (ours was included with partial board), I drove the kids, my SIL, and my husband to the park and then returned to the resort. My MIL and I decided to go to Silves for the day as she felt the slides would be wasted on her, and I'd rather see new things than do something I can do in the states.

Silves was lovely. When the view of the town appears from the road, it really took my breath away. We enjoyed the free parking lot just off the main street, and though it was hot, many internal streets had shades serving to keep things cooler. We just wandered, honestly, and eventually we ended up at Silves Cathedral. I had totally forgotten that I was wearing shorts that hit just above the knee, so I gratefully borrowed a scarf to wrap as we paid our 2 euro entry fee. Some of the inside decor isn't to my taste (probably due to so many British cathedrals and even some in France/Italy), but the building itself is that stunning red sandstone with plenty of interesting architectural detail.

We also walked up to the Castle and had a great time wandering the grounds and walls. We saw more tourists here than anywhere else in town, but still very few people in the grand scheme of things. After a lovely tapas lunch just outside the castle at Sancho Wine House (highly recommend the olives, goat cheese, and wine!), we wandered back down. Sadly, the market building had closed, but we were able to get an amazing fresh-squeezed orange juice from a Ukrainian-Portuguese woman just on an outside stall. The city really markets their oranges, but she let us know that in July no Portuguese ones were available so we were drinking Spanish orange juice. :) It was refreshing, no matter where the fruit originated!

Back at the resort, we had booked dinner at their restaurant as we thought the kids might be worn out from the water park. None of us were looking forward to it due to the very average lunch from day 1, but all of us were very pleasantly surprised! Dinner was really good at Purple, and both kids finished their food, took off to change, and hopped in the pool for the last 30-40 minutes before it closed. Some of the adults even joined in though we mostly drank wine from plastic cups at the edge. The resort was very lovely at night, and not many took advantage of the evening swim time.

31 July - Day 7: Ferragudo

After a somewhat leisurely morning where I used the resort's laundry facilities (and the provided drying rack on our balcony), the other family members headed to the beach--Praia dos Caneiros. My husband was going to drop everyone and come back to get me, but I stressed that if the parking lot seemed at all in danger of filling up that I should just take the 10-15 minute Bolt ride. That is what ended up happening, and for the first time the Bolt app mispinned/moved my destination, so I was dropped in a luxury cottage area near the beach but with no direct access.

After a warm 1k hike, I found the family with hired sunbeds and pretty much ran straight at the water. Growing up spending some of every summer in the Gulf of Mexico means I love the ocean--swimming in it, wave-jumping, body surfing, it doesn't matter. In the course of this 3-4 hour stint I was in the water for most of it, and I learned when he swam out to me that this was the most my nephew had ever been in the ocean. He had certainly never been immersed in the Atlantic before. I taught him how to float (purposefully) and to navigate waves and swells. It was a really lovely time. My SIL and MIL joined, but both found the waves a bit strong for their liking (flag switched from green to yellow while we were in). Getting out of the water was the most challenging part, but it did give my MIL the chance to be helped by, in her words, "a Portuguese baywatch lifeguard." She thought the minor shin scrape was worth it, apparently. :)

The kids hunted shells and we all relaxed. SIL and nephew headed back to the pools via Uber, and the rest of us stayed a bit longer but soon we were all soaking up our last afternoon at the resort. We walked into town the long way for our last dinner with some lovely views of the town harbor. I booked us in at Port Arade, a place we'd wanted to go the first night but been told the wait would be long for our large party. The adults shared one last bottle of wine (I miss you 16 euro prices now that I'm back in the DC area), and we had gelato to walk back. Many sunset pictures were taken as the area did have great light.

What a great trip report, acher! It has been a pleasure to read. Thank you.

Thanks @Jane! Coming to the end soon! It has been nice to re-look at the pictures and remind myself of the nice time we had.

Aug 1 - Day 8: Goodbye Ferragudo and the Algarve, drive to Reguengos de Monsaraz

The British contingent booked a 9am taxi back to Faro, and after the hugs and goodbyes we went to pack up the last of our things and then make use of the luggage hold with the front desk. Though we could have fit it all in the car, we were going to be leaving the car in a parking lot while taking a boat tour that morning, and I did not want to risk anything.

The night prior, I used AirBnB Experiences to book a caves tour with Atlantis Tours out of Portimao. They had multiple languages available, and though many people turned up, the check in, life jacket, and then boat line-up process was all very orderly. Once we loaded into our RIB style boat we were off for our 1.5 hour tour. Our captain was great, and our tour guide was very funny. I'm always so impressed when people can be funny in more than one language! Of course we were headed for Benagil Cave, but we stopped at so many other caves and formations along the way. Each place was more stunning than the one before, and it was truly time and money well spent. As we waited to go in Benagil, we saw the hordes of sea kayaks doing the same thing but in their own separate side entrance. While I am sure it was nicer to be closer to the water and perhaps less crowded feeling in the cave, so many of the kayakers looked exhausted and asked if they could come with us. The currents seemed strong, and then one has to factor in navigating around all the other people who may or may not be strong kayakers. The new system allows 2 boats in at a time for 2 minutes, and we found we could easily see everything in the cave and have clear views of the beach and sky. It did take about 10-15 minutes of waiting for our turn.

As we zipped back to the harbor, I reflected on how much I love seeing new parts of the world with my family and a good boat ride! Once back, we decided that we ought to compare the Portuguese McDonalds to the one we'd had in France the previous summer since it was very close and likely to be cheap. It tasted better than home but not as good as France. After grabbing our bags from the resort, we headed back north to our lodgings booked in Reguengos de Monsaraz. It was a 2.5 hour or so drive and of course, it got hotter as we went back into the central part of Portugal.

After checking in and getting settled in our apartment just off the main square, we went to check out the local swimming pool. Our daughter really wanted to go swim in the rivers nearby, but neither of us wanted to drive much more at this point. The local pools were massive with an Olympic-sized main pool, a kids pool, and a deep pool with a diving board. It was 5 euro total for the three of us to enter, and my husband took himself up to the bar/restaurant on the top level to enjoy a cheap beer. Eventually, we all ended up there as I wanted a beer and the teenager needed chips.

Our landlord also operates C.A.T.'Espero on the main square and offered an August discount on the food if we came for dinner. He has a great selection of wines from the region and was so knowledgeable about them--I'd do a winery tour in this area in the future. The pork and lamb on the menu were delicious, and we enjoyed the Friday night vibe of being outside with mostly locals as the square fountains danced and the stunning church presides over the area. After a walk, we found some suboptimal gelato which was a bummer, but we cracked open one last bottle of wine and enjoyed the rooftop patio. The town is near a dark sky observatory, and I wish I'd done more to book there. We could see more stars than I usually do even with streetlights, so I know leaving town for the observatory would likely have been even better!

Aug 2 - Day 9: Goodbye Reguengos de Monsaraz and goodbye Portugal

Our apartment came with a nice European continental breakfast (coffee/juice, bread, fruit) back at the restaurant. They aren't open to the public at that time, so it was a fun experience to be in a booth just for us. After heading back to finish packing, I brought the key back by the 11am checkout (road was closed by the cafe, so it was easier to just walk back), and we headed out for our leisurely drive back to Lisbon.

I really wanted to see some of the monoliths in this area, so after passing by Evora, we stopped at the Cromeleque de Vale Maria do Meio. It was well-marked even after Google's directions failed, and since there hadn't been rain, the road was not washed out. It was a neat experience to be among these standing stones in the middle of fields with no one else around.

We made our way to Vendas Novas and the Mercado das Bifanas to have our first (and last :() bifanas of the trip. We all enjoyed our sandwiches, fries, and for two of us, beers at 80 cents. We did drink the small ones due to needing to finish the drive to the airport, but I still marvel at those prices.

Once more across the Vasco Da Gama bridge and then on to the airport car return. It was very busy, but the traffic control and then Guerin employees were all very efficient and got us out of the car and on our way quickly. We had just over 3 hours to our flight and intended to take advantage of TAP's text that we could check our bags for free. All of us were willing to risk it, and once we found the correct line (a challenge) we got stuck between behind multiple groups having to completely re-pack bags to meet the still-enforced weight limit.

Security was quick, and then we were in the "mall" part of the Lisbon airport. The teen wanted to shop, but I knew we needed to clear passport control before it got close to time for the flight. Yet again the family line was triple the length of the adult/e-gates line, but this time it went a bit faster and we were through with a little over an hour to the flight. Last minute purchases secured, we got in the line and eventually on a bus to the plane.

TAP Portugal was nice enough for this direct flight back to Newark. We all had enough entertainment options and felt the dinner food was ok. After 8 hours, we landed at Newark. Thanks to global entry and some crazy end of vacation magic dust, we walked through our global entry checkpoint without ever stopping other than briefly at the kiosk for a photo. Once we cleared that in less than 5 minutes, we found our bags on the carousel already ready to be picked up. We were headed for ground transportation within 30 minutes of actually getting off the plane. Compared to landing back at Dulles and suffering being stacked in a people mover, this was heavenly.

Husband and kiddo went straight to the Holiday Inn Express at the airport while I went to get the car and move it to the hotel. Knowing that we'd be exhausted, we crashed at the hotel and saved the drive home for the next day. I may do one more post with some overall wrap up thoughts!

Thanks for your report. Waiting on the wrap up post now :)

Thanks, @confuso! Coming momentarily!

Final thoughts:

CASH OR CARD: We never needed cash, but we all had 20 euros in case of card reader failure, especially at smaller stores. Towards the end of the trip, we tried to pay with cash to use it up and particularly in small towns, to help avoid fee charges.

THE WEATHER: It was hot but not DC or Rome in mid-June hot. I think a lot came down to the lack of humidity while we were there. The Evora area would have been hard for multiple days, I think, due to the beating sun and 100F+ temps. We also left before the recent wildfires picked up.

TRANSPORTATION: We enjoyed Bolt (I downloaded before leaving the USA) and also used Uber a few times. Lisbon metro was easy as was tapping in on the streetcars and buses. Driving outside of Lisbon was easy.

FINAL THOUGHTS: We had a great time. The trip wasn't ideal in many ways (too short of a time in Lisbon, some one night stays, too close to August for our preference) but since we were building around a family break at a resort and had to deal with UK school schedules, it really worked for us. We got some good ideas for what we would go back and do. I recommend using local resorts when traveling with kids near beachy areas for at least some of a trip. It is nice to have some services like laundry as well as amenities like pools, game rooms, classes, playgrounds, etc.

NEXT UP: Some domestic travel (Boston, Alabama, NYC). I'll go with my best friend to Morocco in May for 10 days if her sabbatical grant is approved (we're in the final round, so fingers crossed!) We're starting to think about an Australia trip--maybe in June or July 2026 or 2027. If the UK family does not come to us, I'm sure we will be back across the pond soon!