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Trip Report
A Fabulous Week Exploring Portugal
This one-week guide offers a well-rounded experience across Portugal, including visits to historical and cultural sights, popular food hotspots, jaw-dropping beaches and amazing nightlife!
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EuropePortugal7 days / September 2019
Highs & Lows
Kayaking through secret caves in Lagos!
Porto's weather is known to be cold and rainy. In fact, it rained for most days I was there.
Itinerary Overview
Portugal has seen a massive boom in tourism over the past couple of years and for very good reason!! It's a country that caters to all - from rich history, delicious cuisine, to some very impressive architecture! But it also boasts a warm climate year-round and its geographic position along the Atlantic coastline makes it a popular destination for both nature and water sport lovers.
Personally, Portugal holds a special place in my heart. I visited in the fall of 2019 and it was my first ever solo-travel experience. I visited for just over a month, which allowed me to indulge in a slow-travel lifestyle - where I relished living in Lisbon for some time until later moving on to the south and then all the way up to the country's northern region.
The beauty of Portugal is that it is relatively small in size, making it very easy to move around and experience as much in as little time as possible.
This guide comprises of a thorough one-week guide to Portugal; covering the top cities and attractions from top to bottom. Destinations for visiting include Lisbon, a day-trip to Sintra, Algarve's town of Lagos and the northern city of Porto.
Q & A
Packing tips?
Most important packing tip: bring COMFORTABLE running shoes/ sneakers!! I can't stress this enough! Portugal is literally built on hills, so for each location, you're naturally going to be doing lots of walking up and down. On this topic - ladies, ditch the heels! I normally like bringing a pair or two for nights out but I never used them once on this trip because of all the steep up-climbing. Also, if possible, it's best recommended to pack in a travel backpack rather than a regular rolling luggage. This is because all the cobblestone hills will quickly wear down the wheels of your luggage and tire you out much quicker. Lastly, bring a light rain jacket and umbrella if you can. It tends to rain heavily quite often in Porto, and I personally found that just an umbrella alone did not suffice....Read More
Transportation Tips?
Portugal is fairly easy to get around. It is a small country, so it's very doable to do the south to north and everything in between in one trip! If you're travelling with a group, I'd suggest looking into renting a car. Otherwise, my best recommendation is to take the railway or coach buses when moving from one city to another. Main stations in Lisbon are Sete Rios (bus) and Estação do Oriente (train and bus). I personally recommend taking the national coach bus, Rede Expressos. It's cheaper than the train and there's often night schedules available so you can make the most of your time exploring. Tickets from Lisbon to either Lagos or Porto roughly cost the same, at around $20-30 USD one-way....Read More
Any surprises?
I was seriously not prepared for Porto's weather. I dressed as if I were in other parts of Portugal, which usually stay much warmer and sunnier. But that's not quite the case in Porto. It's a city known to be slightly cooler and much more rainy than the rest of the country. On my first day there, I had a full-day walking tour prepared, which was a rain-or-shine activity and it literally rained the WHOLE time. The rain made me super cold and it was not the best time because of this. For this reason, plan your activities if possible around the weather that day - it tends to be rainy half the day and then sunshine for the rest so adjust accordingly! Also pack appropriate clothing for the weather!...Read More
Lodging
1. Oasis Backpackers Mansion Lisboa (Lively hostel). 2. No Limit Bairro Alto (Great location in the party hub of the city, however this particular hostel is pretty quite and is more for travelers who want to keep to themselves).
1. TopCity Hostels & Suites (Great view and rooftop pool) 2. Rising Cock hostel (Party hostel)
Yes! Porto Hostel (Great social atmosphere and centrally located)