My husband and I spent 13 days in Portugal and we loved it all. Portugal is a beautiful country with friendly people and delicious food. We stayed in Lisbon at a centrally located apartment and walked everywhere. It's important to have comfortable shoes and be willing to walk up and down hills. We went in September and for the most part it was hot the first few days and there were lots of tourists. I think I would recommend visiting Portugal later in September and October. Lisbon is a busy city but we enjoyed the outdoor restaurants and the activity on the streets by dancing and singing at night. I used Rick Steve's travel book as I do for all our travels - it's always a perfect reference for all travel needs. Our favorite place to eat in Lisbon was a recommendation by Rick Steves called Cafe No Chiado. We used public transportation which was excellent and we took the bus to The Algarve. I highly recommend it - a great way to travel and see the sights in a new and comfortable bus. We stayed for 4 days in Luz not far from Lagos. A wonderful little town right on the Atlantic with hiking trails and great restaurants a bit touristy but we didn't mind after 7 busy days in Lisbon, Obidos, Nazare and Fatima. We stayed at a nice little resort where the staff was so friendly and served a wonderful breakfast every morning. The place is called Aparthotel Vila Luz. We loved The Algarve and highly recommend it even though Porto was recommended to go to instead - we opted for The Algarve and glad we did. Next time in Portugal we will go to Porto and the wine country. The Algarve is beautiful and on the ocean and thats hard to beat. We found it hard to leave Portugal and hopefully will return.
Posted by
WA State
3961 posts
Thanks for sharing your amazing journey to Portugal. I agree with going later in September or beyond. We were there early September of 2016 and it was 104 degrees in Lisbon. We came away with the same impressions- beautiful country, friendly people and delicious food.
We have friends that are going to Portugal next June. They are interested in the Algarve. I will forward this thread to them. Helpful report!
Posted by
franktown, colorado
2252 posts
Agreeing with the OP and Janis. I just returned from 2 weeks in Portugal. I was astounded by the relatively reasonable, if not downright 'cheap' cost of meals, drinks, lodging and even 'discretionary' spending. I loved our stay there but I must say, we did experience a misty rain several days. No big deal, though, especially since currently outside it's about 7 degrees and we have several inches of snow on the ground! We did stay in Porto a few days and loved it. Portugal is lovely. Beautiful everything-food and drinks, sights and sites, experiences, music, but most of all, the Portuguese themselves. I loved my time there and can't wait to return.
Posted by
WA State
3961 posts
Andi & OP, your descriptions of Portugal & the Portuguese people are spot on. You can read about it in guidebooks, but there is something very special about being there to experience this incredible culture. We felt genuine passion & kindness. Many positive memories. I understand how difficult it is to say goodbye to Portugal. It warrants more visits for sure.