some last minute vacation planning with my mom landed me in portugal for a little over two weeks. here's how i spent my time there:
LISBON
local
after a long journey and an equally long wait at the airport for a ride, we started off our day at Time Out Market and grabbed some long-awaited pastel de nata from Manteigaria. after a quick perusal of the rest of the spots, headed over to Praça do Comércio, passing through the ever-touristy Pink Street (fun vibe though). the plaza was much larger than expected, filled with kids running around and adults resting at the central Equestrian Statue of King José I. the sun was peaking, so we sought out a gelado shop, the first of many. got myself tiramisu, while my mom got pineapple.
we then headed over to Museu do Dinheiro, exploring the several exhibits documenting the history of money and its Portuguese relevance. after some wandering around, the sound of music led us to Praça Dom Pedro IV, where a large crowd had already formed. moving closer to the center, there were three women on stage putting on a high-energy dance performance, which went on for a solid 30 minutes. less than 20 minutes later, we spotted another large crowd near a Força Portugal shop, where multiple people were taking selfies with a man in a jersey — i snapped a pic as well and through fantastic internet searching, i found out it was Fred Bruno (popular sports influencer). we ended the day by the coast with some steak bifanas, but i was personally not a fan (i later looked up the sandwich and i think i was scammed).
óbidos
we ended up missing our planned bus by three minutes, so we had to wait for basically another hour. when we finally got there, we were greeted by a man playing a rain drum at the Passos do Calvário steps, which set a nice tone for the day. we walked straight through the town to see Igreja de Santa Maria. from there, we hiked around the outside of the castle walls first, then headed back in to walk along the walls themselves (as my mom freaked out over the height). lunch was a quick stop at Ja!món Ja!món, followed by gelado (i got chestnuts with port wine and my mom got passion fruit). after weaving through bookstores and chocolate shops, we ducked into a small boutique to try ginja, a Portuguese cherry liqueur served in a tiny chocolate cup, which was actually pretty good. i wish i took a set back home! did a final walkthrough before catching the bus back and grabbed dinner at a pizza place in Lisbon. a friend back home had messaged me about Too Good to Go (which i didn't know worked internationally!), so i placed an order from Confeitaria Nacional and picked up a solid selection of pastries. the éclairs were my favorite.
sintra
first stop was Biester Castle, which was completely empty. this was SO shocking given how crowded Sintra is. parts of the Johnny Depp movie The Ninth Gate were filmed there too, which was pretty cool. it's genuinely so underrated and worth visiting — highly recommend!! we hiked up to a few viewpoints before heading back into town for lunch, where we had our first piri piri chicken. next was the National Palace of Sintra, after which we grabbed travesseiros, a local Sintra specialty, on the way out. last stop of the day was the Park and Palace of Monserrate, similarly empty and similarly great. while hiking around the neighboring gardens, i stumbled across a couple mid-bridal photoshoot, which was a fun surprise (how she managed to get up there without her dress getting messed up was a mystery). dinner was back at Time Out Market and for some reason my mom chose Asian food (it was not good). once again, we closed out with gelado, a combination of vanilla, pastel de nata, and coffee.
cascais
this was a full day of wandering and inadvertent tanning by the everlasting sun. we walked up the main road and stopped into some local, unnamed art museums along the way. Casa das Histórias had a bit of a unnerving exhibition to be honest, but the message behind it was interesting to think about. after that, we walked over to Boca do Inferno, which was a little out of the way, but had great viewpoints. we also hit the Santa Marta Lighthouse Museum and Casa de Santa Maria before ending up at Praia de Santa Marta. we ended up getting lunch (bacalhau à brás and polvo à lagareiro) at a tourist trap (#regret). to course correct, we went back to a gelado shop, Santini, that we had seen earlier. mango, pineapple, and coconut for me, raspberry, passion fruit, and pistachio for my mom. walked around the central area and along the beaches before heading back to Lisbon.
PORTO
local
caught an early morning train to Porto. first stop was Mercado do Bolhão, where we made the mistake of grabbing lunch at ANOTHER tourist trap. the line for the stall was so long, but it was quite disappointing, as the pasta was wildly undercooked. the codfish croquette and spicy codfish chips from another stall made up for it, alongside some dried fruits and snacks we picked up to go. on the way out, we grabbed pastries from Confeitaria do Bolhão, going off the staff's recommendations. we walked to the azulejo façades of Capela das Almas, Paróquia de Santo Ildefonso, and São Bento Station. then, courtesy of Atlas Obscura, we made our way to the McDonald's Imperial:
It opened in 1995 in the space previously occupied by the famous Portuguese coffeeshop, which was an icon in the 1930s. The building retained many of the original Art Deco features including the ornate ceilings, chandeliers, and a large stained glass wall, which is currently behind the counter.
we ordered items we haven't seen back home, a pineapple sundae and a McFlurry® Daim® Caramelo (i still dream about these). stopped by Prometeu Artesanato, where i bought a Snoopy tile and some tile earrings, then made our way down to Cais da Ribeira. took the cable car up, ate our pastries from earlier at Jardim do Morro, and watched the sunset before heading back down. dinner was at Taberna de Rio, where i tried francesinha for the first time! the waterfront at night was nice and calming, and the lights everywhere provided a great ambience.
our host recommended Padaria Cristal for breakfast, which was a great choice. we got a honey cookie, a brioche-style croissant, bolo de arroz, a pineapple pastry, and like, three coffees for only about €7. amazing. while walking, it started to drizzle, so we quickly took shelter in Museu da Cidade do Porto, which had a neat collection of tiles and coins, followed by Igreja das Carmelitas just around the corner. lunch was at Nosolo Italia (please don't judge me for the amount of Italian food i ate). next was Torre dos Clérigos; as we climbed to the top, the bell happened to strike the hour. it was much louder than i was expecting, but a cool experience nonetheless, since i've only ever heard bells chime from far away.
Palácio da Bolsa requires a guided tour, which we didn't realize (we are very much a DIY pair, if it wasn't obvious). the tour group was also humongous and the guide insisted we stay close. honestly, the strat i discovered though was to just be the last person in the group. they don't really notice if you linger a minute or two. the guide called the main hall "the wow room," which was a good laugh as everyone did, in fact, say "wow" as they entered. ended the day with gelado from Nelito (banoffee for me, raspberry for my mom), then grabbed pastries from a tourist-loaded mini-market for dinner and called it a night.
douro valley
yet another rainy morning, which stressed me out a little as we took the train out to the Douro Valley. it was still scenic, even with the clouds and drizzle. once we arrived, we booked a boat tour, but we hadn't made a winery reservation in advance, so we walked across the bridge to Quinta das Carvalhas (luckily, they had space. hooray!). on our way back, we battled some slippery cobblestone roads, grabbed some pastries for a quick snack (pretty mid, unfortunately) before heading back to catch the boat. the tour crossed the river, pointed out the different wineries along the way, and offered a ruby port tasting.
as we walked back again to the winery, the rain started to clear up. the winery minibus took us up to the top of the mountain for the views, during which we met up again with a family that was on the boat tour with us. back at the winery, they poured a tawny port and one other variety i've since forgotten the name of. stopped for a quick dinner before the train arrived and it seemed like everyone had the same idea at Cardanhos dos Presuntos: we got flaming chorizo to start, then a cheese and meat platter.
local
livraria lello first thing in the morning. it was incredibly overcrowded and honestly pretty overrated, BUT, the ticket offsets the cost of two books, so it balanced out. from there, another gelado stop. yes, at 10 in the morning. the woman in front of me in line was in awe at the way Amorino sculpts the gelado into flower petals on the cone, literally "ooh"-ing and "aah"-ing out loud (soo cute). i got coffee, caramel, stracciatella, and roasted peanut, while my mom got coffee and tiramisu.
spent the rest of the morning walking around and checking out local art shops. we had spotted a queue outside Taberna dos Mercadores the day before and decided we had time to try it. ended up waiting 1.5 hours (omg) to get in, making friends with two American groups behind us in line — we all cheered for each other as each group finally got a table. the food was good, but nothing crazy (2000+ people, including our new friends, would probably disagree with me): pan-seared shrimp, codfish croquettes, octopus rice, and an apple meringue pie that actually broke my heart </3. staff were great though, no complaints there!
FARO
local
woke up at about 3AM to catch our flight to Faro. i forgot to download Airbnb and because i wasn't able to communicate with the host because of 2FA (*angry old man shaking fist*), we ended up waiting outside the apartment for over an hour. breakfast at a local spot (solid french toast), then straight to Capela dos Ossos, which was kind of spooky, but very interesting. the art murals around the city were great and varied. we then stopped by the Paço Episcopal de Faro to see some tiles, then stumbled upon an Indian restaurant, Namastey, for lunch. the owner was very welcoming and told us he also owned the popular sushi restaurant called Kaira (named after his daughter!), which we later even spotted in a local guidebook. walked along the coast for a bit before heading back early (3AM started catching up to us).
highlight of the day had to be the first place we went to, Faro Municipal Market. the shop we stopped by probably had the best value for food we had the entire trip. the only downside was that it was a little cold, but it tasted great and felt more authentic than other places (lots of local people there too, which is always a good sign). stopped by the hypermarket afterward to pick up some local snacks for the road. later spent some time near the water and walked through Faro Old Town, then visited the Faro Municipal Museum.
lagos
grabbed breakfast from Faisca & Henriques before catching the train. we didn't do too much (any) research, so only when we got to Lagos did we realize we had to walk up the entire coastline up to Ponta da Piedade. 26,000+ steps by the end of the day. whew. the views were completely worth it though. dinner was at a pizza place where i encountered the joys of bottled piri piri sauce for the first time. we walked along the coast and marina before heading back to Faro.
LISBON
belém
Pastéis de Belém first thing in the morning, and yes, it's worth the hype. there is truly nothing like a warm, fresh pastel de nata. we got lunch at McDonald's (€12 for two massive meals, genuinely couldn't believe it). again, please don't judge me. the city is crazy busy. went through the Belém monuments: Jerónimos Monastery, Belém Tower (closed, but still looked great from the outside), and Monument to the Discoveries. the last ended up being my favorite of the three; the figures carved into the sides were really impressive up close.
the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT) was next, which i'll admit i may have confused with a different museum when reading reviews. it was nice, and the building architecture from the outside is really cool, but overall, it wasn't worth the ticket. the energy exhibit was an exception though — very well done, good graphics, and super informative. walked along the coast to get a closer look at Ponte 25 de Abril before heading back to Pastéis de Belém for dinner. ordered the hot chocolate (which i should've remembered from Barcelona is literally just melted chocolate), alongside more pastel de nata and ham sandwiches.
sintra
the more niche spots in Sintra were visited during the first stint of the trip, so the second day trip was dedicated to the big ones: National Palace of Pena and Quinta da Regaleira. we didn't plan the timing for Pena Palace correctly AT ALL. the train timing was fine, but we totally underestimated the bus transit time and the real kicker, the shuttle line. apparently, a lot of people had the same idea to take the shuttle up to the palace, so it was absurdly long. we ended up arriving three minutes before it had technically closed. the guard told us if we got up to the top in the next three minutes, his guard friend would let us in (we did and he did).
after a quick stop for food, Quinta da Regaleira was next. we spent 1.5 hours hiking up and down the area looking for the famous initiation well. as it turned out, we had walked directly past it in the first five minutes. nice. the only plus was that other people were clearly lost as well. the well itself was pretty neat, just a little rushed with all the people inside. what really stood out though were the grottoes — i felt like an explorer navigating through them.
stopped at Casa Piriquita on the way out for another Sintra specialty, queijadas, and more travesseiros. it was hard to find a dinner spot so early in the evening, but we came across Cantinho Gourmet, and ordered arroz de pato com salada and smoked salmon toast, which were both way better than expected.
alfama
started at Museu do Fado, which also ended up being a favorite of ours. there is a huge selection fado audio, instruments, and history. we had lunch at Manjerico Alegre: i ordered Portuguese style steak with egg and homemade fries and my mom had chicken scallops with mushroom sauce. honestly, i'm not a steak girl, but i loved it; the manager was also super sweet! we walked up to a few viewpoints afterward, taking in the endless orange roofs. to beat the heat, we stopped at Insano Gelato, where the shopkeeper insisted on people trying every flavor before committing. coconut and lemon for me, mixed berries and dark chocolate for my mom. walked through the rest of the neighborhood and stopped at a few local art shops to buy souvenirs. last stop of the day (and the trip, more or less) was Conserveira de Lisboa, a tinnery. we selected mackerel on the owner's recommendation, sardines in spicy tomato sauce, and codfish.
overall, the area is super vibrant and has a ton of history — the tiles, architecture, views, food, and the people are all amazing. after my trip, i read somewhere that Portugal isn't a place that you can "complete" — you have to just explore and wander. this is pretty different from how i tend to travel, but in retrospect, i totally get it. i had a great time in Europe and it was a much needed vacation. till next time!