I stayed in Go 2 Oporto, a very large apartment. More space than I needed or used but wanted the off-street parking! I liked having the kitchen, too. Very comfortable place that I would rent again. I booked an afternoon tour my first afternoon, Free Walking Tour OPorto. I left the apartment after picking up some groceries/breakfast for the next couple of days. I went to old town early. Recommendations I enjoyed the facade of Church of Saint Ildefonso. Beautiful…
I stayed in the Vila Juliette Guesthouse. Very nice room, pleasant hosts, they offered a good breakfast for 10€. Parking was difficult, however. Rather annoyed with Booking.com; when I use “free parking”/parking as a filter, I expect parking, not just, you may have street parking, if you’re lucky. There are a series of steep roads and stairs leading to the lower town. I walked down both days. Recommendations I started with a visit to the Municipal Market D. Pedro V….
I took a road trip for eight nights to central Portugal. Two nights Obidos, one night in Nazaré, one night in Tomar, and two each in Coimbra and Porto. It’s recommended to stay two weeks in Nazaré to see the big waves but there isn’t much else to do there, in my opinion. I would love to spend more time in Porto and definitely plan to return. Obidos I stayed in the Hotel Real d’Obidos. Good location right outside the…
I finally got my D7, Portugal Residency Card, so I could start planning trips to other European countries without worrying about being deported for violating EU immigration rules. Kelly was interested in visiting Spain with me, so I planned several different itineraries for Andalusia. I had one that was 14-15 days but we cut a few sites. We were both pleased with our final schedule though, Seville, Cadiz, Gibraltar, Malaga, Granada, Cordoba, then back to Seville to drop off Kelly…
I really wanted to see Gibraltar. It is one of those unique areas, despite its small size, that has been very important throughout history. It is the crossroads of Europe and Africa; Morocco is only 24 km away. It is also the crossroads between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean and, like other areas on the Mediterranean, it had a large role in WWII. We read that crossing the border with a car can take hours. So we left the car…
I spent 8 nights in beautiful Madeira, three nights in Funchal before renting a car to see the rest of the island and staying in Ponta do Sol. I flew from Faro with a layover/connection in Lisbon before arriving in Funchal. Funchal Arriving in Funchal I took the airport shuttle downtown. I booked a roundtrip ticket to save a couple euro, 6.00€, one way, 10.00€ roundtrip. Unfortunately, three days later, wanting to return to the airport to pick up my…
Everyone in Portugal talks about Evora. It’s one of the things I’m asked frequently when meeting other immigrants in Lagos. Have you been to Evora? Not yet. Well, it was time. My well-used travel book, 1000 Places to See Before You Die, has a page on Evora. It also recommended the “pousadas” or historic hotels of Portugal. These are old convents or castles. I used the Pousadas de Portugal site to reserve the Hotel Pousada Convento Évora, a 15th century…
There are so many wonderful towns to explore in the Algarve, as well as magnificent trails, rugged coasts, parks, and beautiful beaches. Here are some of my favorites sites and activities. I feel quite lucky to live here and have time to explore little towns and search out new sites. I will continue to add sites as I explore. Almadena Forte de Almadena the Fisherman’s Trail runs along here. There is a nice trail from Burgau (actually from Lagos all…
There are some great restaurants throughout the area. I have been enjoying trying different restaurants and learning more about Portuguese food. Because of all the visitors and immigrants, however, there are plenty of options and cuisines. There is a lot of seafood, of course, and I found this article that helped with different types of fish: Portuguese Fish. I used this to make a cheat sheet and saved on my phone when I eat out. Alvor Wok Fusao Pan-Asian Kitchen…
Kelly M and I decided to go to Lisbon to see the Christmas markets. We took the Flixbus from Lagos to the Lisbon Oriental station. The bus stops at Portimao and another location before taking the highway north. It’s about a 4 hour trip. I thought the train would be faster but from Lagos you have to take a fairly slow train to Faro then can catch the express to Lisbon so it can take just as long. We left…