Visited September/October 2022

The Gallivanting Goldies are back.
Corona is “over” and we, a little more golden, are back on the road.
This time we spent 15 magnificent days doing a road trip in Portugal, from Porto in the North to The Algarve in the South.
We flew into Lisbon, took a connecting flight to Porto, spent 4 amazing nights in this city which albeit at first looks grim and unimpressive but very quicky grows on you.
On the fifth day we rented a car and started our road trip:- Douro Valley, Sintra, The Algarve and Lisbon.

Porto

Porto – the city that gave the country its’ name and the world Port Wine.
It is a mix of old and new, very steep roads and alleys, loads of roadworks (when we were there), and a character that grows on you. To enjoy Porto I suggest roaming its’ streets, alleys and river promenade and marvelling at all it has to offer.

We stayed 4 nights at Casa Camelia  a fabulous Bed & Breakfast which I highly recommend. Casa Camelia is situated in what used to be The Jewish Quarter which as was the custom was outside the city walls. It turned out that our bedroom was built on the ruins of the ancient Jewish public bath “the mikveh” of the Jewish Quarter.

Porto is glorious. It grows on you. And yes it is hilly and steep. All you need to do in Porto is walk and capture the city’s ambience. We did one walking tour which was both informative and enjoyable – Porto Free Walkers. For the rest we roamed around the city, crossed the famous Louis Dom 1 Bridge, walked  the river promenades both on the Porto side and  on the Vila Nova de Gaia side, visited the famous department store, El Corte Ingles Gaia (where I bought a suitcase) and in a nutshell savoured the city.

There are loads of viewpoints/lookout points all over the city. The best one that we came acroos was on our walking tour – an amazing view of the Louis Dom 1 Bridge and the riverfront of both side and this from an overrun neglected parking lot situated to the left of the Louis Dom 1 Bridge (when facing the bridge).

The famous Azulejo tilework is evident all over Porto and the iconic Bento Railway Station shows it off superbly – definetly worth a visit. 

The old Stock Exchange Palace – The  Bolsa Palace is well worth visiting. The only way to visit is to book and join a guided tour that the Palace organizes. We booked on the spot – you can choose the tour according to the desired language. This National Monument is a perfect example of “don’t judge a book by its’ cover” – while the exterior is rather drab the interior rooms of the Palace are super impressive.

We went into the so called “must see” Mc Donalds’ Branch on Praca da Liberdade.  I would do it only in passing – you need about 2 minutes for this and it is really not such a “must see”.

We walked across the Louis Dom 1 Bridge and had great views of both sides of the Douro River. On the Vila Nova de Gaia side we took the cable car down to the  to the waterfront.
It is a lovely place to wander about and to enjoy the views of Porto from the other side.

For anyone looking to buy some good quality cork shoes/bags/purses etc, I recommend Cultura Portuguesa .
Having said that we also found really lovely eye glass cases at the riverside promenade market on the Vila Nova de Gaia side.

On our last day in Porto we picked up our rental car from the Airport. We rented via Drive on Holidays.
At Lagos the car became undriveable – this very frustrating experience was made easier by the good and prompt service we received from Drive on Holidays.

From Porto we started our Road Trip – first stop The Duoro Valley.

Douro Valley

In preparation for our trip I had read and heard so much about the Douro Valley and all the hype surrounding it. Nothing was exaggerated. It truly is magnificent. The road along the river, particularly from Regua to Pinhao (N222) is cited as one of the most beautiful drives which it is,  and yet we found the most stunning drive from where we were staying at Casa das Pipas  Quinta da Portal down to Pinhao – Route N322.

We stayed at Casa das Pipas right in the middle of the vineyards. Albeit not overlooking the Douro River but the setting is beautiful. 
We ate in the winery’s Chef Restaurant both nights and it was excellent.
There is a shop on site where we bought the house wine.

We did a boat trip from Pinhao east – wouldn’t recommend it. The boat was crowded, the explanations not very informative and basically the boat went up and down the river.

Highly recommend making the trek up to the lookout at Casal de Loivos – the road is narrow and very steep but when you get to the top so worth it. The view of the Douro Valley with the Douro River running through it is stunning. 
Casal de Loivos is north of Pinhão and close to it. 

Our Road Trip continues to Sintra

From The Douro Valley our road trip continued to Sintra where we spent 3 nights at the most wonderfully central Sintra Boutique Hotel.
The Hotel was a great find, the staff exceptional and location fabulous.
Sintra is famous for the colorful National Palace of Peña. There is so much hype about Peña, but hard to get to, hard to get into and long lines everywhere. 

We took the bus, the drive up to Peña was in itself an experience – the views were stunning – the driving less impressive. Once at Peña we decided to just walk around the outside of The Palace without going in to it.

Instead of battling the lines at Peña we opted for the underrated and less popular Park and Palace of Monserrate. We spent several hours here roaming the magnificent gardens and touring the Palace. This Palace and its gardens deserve far more attention than they get. They are super impressive and really well worth spending several hours here.

We ate twice at the superb Incomum Restaurant and I highly recommend it.
We roamed the steep alleyways of the Old City and tasted the famous Portuguese liquer made of berries – Ginja.

From Sintra our road trip continued south to Lagos with a brief stop at Cascais.

The Algarve – Lagos

We stayed at the Lagos Avenida Hotel which is directly opposite the Marina and about 5 minutes walk from the Old City. Great Location and great hotel with Roof Top Bar and Swimming Pool. The breakfasts were excellent too!

On Saturdays behind the Hotel there is an authentic local farmers market.

After reading how crowded the Benagil Caves get we decided to take a boat to the Grottos near Lagos. Turned out to be a great choice. The boat trip with Blue Fleet took us through the famous Ponta da Piedade. This area boasts amazing rock formations and caves in the sea. It is spectacular and not to be missed.

I highly recommend driving to Sagres, the Southern most tip of Portugal. Apart from the Sagres Fortress (which we couldn’t visit as was closed) the cliffs in this area are breathtaking. The iconic photos that one sees of The Algarve,  I am sure are taken here – well at least some of them. It is windy, even in the Summer, so go prepared but don’t miss this wonderfully gorgeous part of Portugal.

Last leg of our Road Trip :- Lisbon

The last leg of our road trip was from Lagos to Lisbon.
We spent 3 nights at the fantastic Memmo Alfama Hotel. 

The Hotel is situated in the heart of the Alfama District. It is a fabulous Hotel with a rooftop where there is a small pool and deck . The staff are friendly and accomodating. The Hotel organizes for its’ guest a walking tour which was informative and fun. Our guide very happily and proudly told us that the era of pickpocketing in Lisbon had passed and pickpocketing, which was always an issue in Lisbon, was now a thing of the past. 

A couple of hours later we were walking down one of the main streets near the Hotel and I was pickpocketed while standing on the pavement and looking at photos of our grandchildren that had just come in on WhatsApp!

 

Lisbon is a wonderful city to walk around, lots of vibe, lots to see and so steep that lots of steps! We visited some of the usual tourist sights:- Praca do Comercio; Rossio Square; Santa Justa Lift (which we didn’t go up – lines too long), Lisbon Cathedral; LXFactory;  Jeronimos Monastery; Belem Tower and Padrao dos Descobrimentos – the very impressive and imposing monument overlooking the sea dedicated to the Portuguese navigators.

After visiting the Jeronimos Monastery and before checking out the Padora dos Descobrimtos and Belem we joined the crowds and went to have Pasteis at the iconic Pasteis de Belem

Fado in Lisbon

From my research it appeared that most people experience Fado by going to a restaurant where while you eat they have musicians, usually two, playing Fado. We decided to go to a Fado concert in a concert hall. Turned out to be a great choice.
I highly recommend Fado in Chiado 

We also enjoyed a fabulous Fado evening at the Hotel – here it included food and the Fado performance.

We returned the rented car upon arrival in Lisbon, so during our 3 days in Lisbon we walked and walked and sometimes also took Uber or Bolt. Bolt was usually cheaper than Uber.

All the photos are mine taken with either my Iphone or Ipad.

This post is part of my independent travel blog – I have not received any freebies, sponsorships or gifts. All my travels are self funded. So what you read is mine and mine alone devoid of any material influence and outside pressure. And from now onwards no more ads in my posts!

If you would like to know a little bit more about this gallivanting goldie please take a look at my site. Here are just a few of my posts:-

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