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Portugal. The Trip
A Portugal travel experience including stops in Lisbon, Porto, the Douro Valley, and the Algarve.
A travel experience from Lisbon, Porto, the Douro Valley, and Algarve
DAY ONE
Departed Burlington, Vermont to Newark, New Jersey via United Airlines.
Burlington Airport
Flight delayed = Airport extra drink :)
New Jersey
We arrived in Newark, New Jersey with 5 minutes to spare. It appears the entire state of NJ is visiting Portugal as well with the plane delayed an hour but the flight was smooth otherwise (6 hours of total flight time with a 5-hour time difference).
Lisbon, Portugal 🇵🇹
We arrived at the Lisbon Airport with a confusing customs exit. Once found, it was a breeze and Amy was hit on by a customs agent.
Afterwards, we took the Metro Train from the airport to downtown Lisbon. It was very easy to navigate and Amy crushed planning the logistics of the trip.
We then walked to our hotel, Mera Prime, and dropped our suitcases to head out to explore the streets of Lisbon.
Breakfast at A Padaria Portuguesa
Amy’s review was “meh” but liked that the juice matched her nails…
We walked over 23,000 steps and one NJ woman commented “There are so many uppies and downies”. Afterwards, we had pre-nap beers aka mini Sagres at Union Empanadas—tiny place but great vibes.
Sagres Mini - Mini but delicious…
A tribute to Anthony Bourdain
We walked to A Ginjinha to do cherry shots!
Thanks, Anthony for the suggestion!
After a slight buzz, we decided to leave the driving to the professionals and took the Gloria Funicular Tram to Miradouro de Sao Pedro de Alcantara. PS the tram was waiting for us just as Amy and the universe planned.
Gloria Funicular Tram to Miradouro de Sao Pedro de Alcantara
Bairro Alto Neighborhood
Went to the Alto Bairo neighborhood and saw musicians, beautiful overlooking views, and pigeons…everywhere
Next stop El Santo for the best margarita of Pat’s life and an aperol spritz for Amy. Yummy nachos, guacamole, and queso!
HECK YA!
Quesoooo
Trekked back down the hill to take the ferry, but then pivoted and had an amazing dinner of shrimp curry, sardine pate on bread, and octopus at O Arco. Our table neighbors were from New Jersey and were a delight. We discussed each others travel plans for Portugal and traded important credit card tips. 😂
DAY TWO
Lisbon
Strolled to breakfast and were lured to an outdoor table by a restaurant car salesman that assured us we could have breakfast food. Found a cute bakery for Pastel de Nata and it was totally worth the hype! So delicious!
Next we grabbed an Uber to the train station and hopped on board for a 3 hour ride to Porto!
Porto
We arrived in Porto at 5pm and took a taxi right downtown to check into our hotel. We’re in a great area! First stop was for cocktails at Cafe Do Cais, but we ended up eating dinner there too. Recommend by Andrew and Meredith it was a great place on the water with awesome vibes! The tables were communal so a couple of 23 year old guys sat at our table (Ami and Nick) and we had great conversation with them for a few hours. They live in Toronto and are taking advantage of their remote jobs by traveling and working!
We strolled along the water after dinner and were called to by the siren song of “Zombie” by the Cranberries. This led us to an amazing street performance with lots of great music. We ordered takeaway beers to enjoy while we listened. Would you believe they didn’t accept US dollars as payment?! It was a good try, Pat 😉.
After some tunes, we wandered up into the Centro Historico neighborhood where we enjoyed a few glasses of wine on a hillside sidewalk. We ended the evening a little after midnight.
DAY THREE
Porto
After some much needed beauty sleep, we started a stroll to breakfast. We quickly got distracted by a fun gift shop where we bought trinkets for our house and gifts / postcards. Back on the pursuit of breakfast, we stopped into a place in the Centro Historico neighborhood and were treated to an amazing violin performance while we ate. The guy was amazing and played so many good songs!!
After breakfast we made our way to the Dom Luis bridge. It was a big climb up with lots of stairs but was so worth it for the stunning view over the Douro River and towns of Porto and Villa Nova de Gaia!
Once across the bridge, we took the Gondola down to explore Villa Nova de Gaia. Sitting along the river was beautiful. We stopped at a wine house on the river for some beers and food. We weren’t that hungry, but needed to order food if we wanted to sit at the table. An order of octopus, olives, and cod dumplings did the trick.
Back to the hotel for a little nap before dinner! We wandered up into the hilly neighborhoods in search of dinner and found a great Japanese place where we enjoyed sushi, Moscow mules, and red wine. It was the perfect weather for outdoor dining.
Final stop of the night was for a yummy mint chocolate chip gelato!
DAY FOUR
Porto
Pharmacy for Pat’s allergies
Pastel de Nata
Breakfast at amazing small B&B
Pinhão
Arrived in Pinhão and Amy finagled a shared taxi ride to our manor. We checked in and received welcome glasses of wine at Casa de Casel Loivos. A couple other guests were checking in at the same time as us. We were all gathered at the front door with our new skeleton keys and it felt very much like the start of Clue. A Rain shower followed by full sun made for some incredible lighting over the hills and valleys. Spent time exploring the grounds and vineyard
At 8:00 sharp group dinner in the dining room. Amy at head of the table. So amazing getting to here stories from all the people at the table. Rod and Jeanette (our faves) from Brighton England, Linda and - from England (Amy accidentally told Linda she was English because she thought she was asking if she spoke English 😫, Lucy and Rob from Phoenix, AZ - a couple from Belgium, Debborah and Robyn from Vancouver - Debborah is in her 70s and a Harley riding crazy adventurer! Dinner was delicious and so was the wine! George locked us in the dining room to start dinner - the Clue vibes continue!
DAY FIVE
Pinhão
Wake up for breakfast before a 10am taxi pickup with Pats allergies still in full force. Taxi took us to Wine and Soul where we met the very sweet owner, and friend of David’s, Sandra. Jose led an incredible winery tour and tasting. We shared wine and lots of laughs with the group we were tasting with. They were from London and Toronto. The wines were all so incredible. Another level. Pat says BMW of wines. We bought a white, red, and port to bring home!
Taxi picked us backup and somehow we over-tipped her €20 😂. Quadruple confirmed with Bernardo that we would not be joining for dinner this evening 😂😂. Hiked down to town through the winding vineyards. A couple of tears and a couple of raindrops fell.
Had ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch. Pat accidentally ordered a non alcoholic beer. Whoops!
Went to the market for a couple of dinner snacks that we would later need to sneak by Bernardo so he didn’t know we were really REALLY not coming to dinner. Hiked back up the vineyards - what a workout! Pat got 11x his steps in for the day!
Back at Casa de Casal Loivos we changed into our bathing suits and went down for a sunset dip in the pool. Bernardo brought us down a couple glasses of wine, and cool Deborah snapped photos of us jumping in. It was surprisingly warm sitting in the sun afterwards.
Warmed up with a shower then back out to the terrace with our wine from Wine and Soul, and our provisions from the town market as the sun finished setting. Playing a few games of cards in bed rounded out this amazing day
DAY SIX
Pinhao
Best day Pats ever had “sunshet to shunrise” after wine all day 😂
Quick breakfast at Bernardo’s. Then Filip picked us up to begin our full day Douro tour!
First stop was Pinhão train station where we learned the history of Pinhão through the art tiles on the wall.
Next up to the town where Filip is from where we took in stunning views and learned some more history about the region
Back down the winding roads to Pinhão for our first vineyard tour and wine tasting at Croft Vineyard. The winery was beautiful and we got a cute little barrel table to ourselves.
From there Filip drove us to lunch where Pat had pork ribs and Amy had lamb. SO darn good. We also got a carafe of wine and a fruit cup and Port cake for dessert. The wine is starting to kick in!
The couple seated next to us were vineyard owners from Napa Valley who had been leaf peeping in Stowe.
Next up, a boat ride on the Duoro river! This was awesome. A little baby cup of Port wine for everyone and lots of beautiful views to enjoy.
Some more people joined our group from here and we drove up to a lookout point that was actually right next to Casa de Casal Lovois.
We drove past the manor and one minute down the road was an olive oil museum and winery for our next stop! We made friends with Natalia, Catarina, and her daughter who were visiting from Slovenia. We shared lots of laughs.
Our tour ended and we walked back to i the manor because we were so close. We enjoyed some wine on the back patio to take in the scenery, but not before Pat got reamed for hiding wine glasses in our room. Bernardo was ready to roof the biscuit! 😂
Filip made dinner reservations for us then picked us up to drive us back to town. We ate at Velahdouro where Pat had the best steak of his life and Amy had amaaaaazing Sea Bream. This place was awesome!
We had a brief little snafu with Filip picking us up after dinner but we got to watch the moon rise over the river while we waited.
DAY SEVEN
Pinhao to Luz
Time to pack up our bags and head to Algarve!
A driver picked us up at the manor and drove all the windy roads out of Douro to bring us to Porto to pick up our rental car.
We took turns driving the 5 hours south with a couple pit stops at really convenient service areas
At 5:45 we arrived and the amazing Casa Luisandra and instantly fell in love!
There was a path that goes right from the house to the town through the hillside and by the beach (and cows). It’s about 25 mins so we walked to dinner - such a fun start to our time here!
Dinner was at ZaZu which was recommended by Marlene - awesome vibes, great food and drinks. Our waiter brought us bonus glasses of Port wine after our tiramizazu dessert
Ended the evening watching an amazing full moon rise!
DAY EIGHT
Luz
Best.Breakfast.Ever!!! Prepared by Marlene and Conny. Each day consisted of freshly squeezed OJ, a smoothie, a juice shot, and a “surprise”! What a way to start the day!
Took a little hike along the hillside coast.
Down to town to grab a few waters and Sagres and give ourselves some sunburns soaking up the rays and swimming in the chilly water. It was awesome!!
Beach side beers and lunch at Boatys Tapas Cafe. So good!
We walked back to the house for a quick rest then hurried out for a drive to Sagres to watch the sunset which we made it just in time for. And thank god because it was INCREDIBLE!!
DAY NINE
Luz
Another beautiful breakfast by Marlene, Conny, and their son, Pelé.
We took a short drive to Lagos to hop on the Lagos Grotto Boat Tour. We rode in and out of caves and caverns along the Ponte da Piedade coast and it was absolutely gorgeous! The other girls in our group were really nice and from US. Our tour guides Angelo and Filip were great!
After seeing Ponta da Piedade from the ocean we decided to drive up and see it from the trails high above in the cliffs. I’m so glad we did because it was breathtaking!!
After the boat tour, we picked up our rental car to find a ding in the driver side door and only paid € 2.80 to park!
We then drove up to Pointe De Piedade to explore cliffs and caverns from above. It was AMAZING with lots of cool perspectives much different from the water.
We drove back to Luz to eat a late lunch once again at Boaty’s beachside and enjoy beers and boobies. 🙃😎
After a late lunch, we returned home to drop off our rental car and catch one final nap before another delicious dinner at Santa Da Luz! We got scrumptious tuna tacos as a starter and then Amy enjoyed fish and chips and Pat enjoyed A cheeseburger and fries. For drinks Amy had an Island Boi and Pat had margaritas followed by delicious Portuguese home brews (pale ale and a double NEIPA).
The cervezaaaa taste peeeculah.
We got an Uber home and Pat drank the rest of the red wine while Amy pretended to drink as well but passed out instead. 😂😉
Then we drove to town for a small lunch back along the water at Boatys.
Big nap before dinner!
Uber to town for yummy dinner at Santa da Luz - recommended by Pelé. Awesome vibes, trendy restaurant. Really yummy Portuguese beers from Lisbon. They played great music all night.
DAY TEN
Luz to Lisbon
Sound of the cattle bells in the morning .
Left our message in the guest book.
Pat feels like this trip brought him back into the light. Literally. Luz = Light.
Started the 3 hour car ride back to Lisbon. 20 minutes in, Amy gets pulled over by the police. Turns out it’s a routine traffic check and everyone else is getting pulled over too. Phew!
Beautiful drive back, after a few turns around the rotary at the airport we were able to fill up the gas tank and return the car. No charges for the ding in the food - God is good!
Grabbed an Uber to go to our bathroom themed hotel in Lisbon (WC boutique). Pulled ourselves together and headed out for our final night in Portugal.
20 minute walk to our first craft brewery stop - Cantil. Beets were great, quail egg croquettes were meh. Almost had a great table til it was sniped by a beer chugging, cigarette smoking local, so we got the high top instead. Luckily he was out of there quickly and we got to enjoy Amy’s Spanish namesake seat.
Next stop on our Portuguese beer crawl was Crafty Corner. This place was amazing and the vibes were incredible. Had beers and flights, and shared a pickle and cheese sandwich. We realized the only thing that would make this stop better was a game of cards while we drank. No cards at the bar so Amy took a chance and ventured across the street to a souvenir shop and found a deck for €3 ! They had photos of a lot of the destinations we visited on our trip on them!
While playing, a couple from Germany sat at our large table and we invited them to play. Ellen and Felix were so nice and so much fun! We taught them Dayne’s card game and they picked up quickly. We explained in English, and anything Ellen wasn’t sure of, Felix explained further in German. We had great conversation with them and learned they had been traveling around in a converted camper van for the last 5 months and were finishing their trip and heading back to Hamburg. This was a real highlight of the trip to meet them!
Graffiti in the WC… “Take it easy - but take it”
After a few hours at Crafty Corner we made our way to Queens Ale for our final stop. But not before Pat was asked 100 times if he wanted to buy weed and cocaine. We declined haha.
Queens Ale was cool and the beers were really yummy. We shared a chicken empanada and played a few more games of cards.
Uber back to the hotel for our last sleep in Portugal.
DAY ELEVEN
Lisbon to Burlington
Packed up our bags and scrounged up some plastic bags to keep our wine and olive oil safe in our luggage for the trip home.
Uber to the airport was easy and we breezed through with a stop for coffee and breakfast before reaching our gate a short time before boarding.
Made a new friend in our row on the plane - Joel had been visiting Lisbon and the Azores for the week. Had lots to talk about and shared stories of our trips. Pat connected with him about work too.
All of Amy’s chocolate melted to liquid in her pocket in the flight home and got everywhere!!