Lisbon | Sintra | Lagos | Seville | Granada | Ronda | Cordoba

Portugal’s Algarve region sports turquoise beaches, rugged coastlines and tiny fishing towns anchored around local and European tourism. Visiting Lagos, Portugal is no exception ⁠— Even when we went in early November during the off season, there was still plenty of sunshine to enjoy a boat tour to get a view of the beaches and iconic Ponta da Piedade, and walk around the historic old town.

We spent a day here after visiting Lisbon and before a bus ride into Spain, a decision to break up the travel time and to experience Portugal’s coast. One day was perfect, but with more time in a summer month we might have kicked back on the beaches, rented kayaks or joined another excursion. They are easy to find: Tour operators post up in rows on the boardwalks.

Read More: Part of our Portugal and Andalucia, Spain Trip

Boat Tour

In the morning when we walked around looking for an excursion, there was only one tour group offering a boat ride out to the coves, crannies and rock formations down to Ponta da Piedade, the famous headland out into the Atlantic.

Our grizzled Portuguese guide didn’t speak English but between some gesturing and words he offered to a French-speaking couple that I could grasp for Romance language roots (“oh, éléphant!” “La couleur!” ), we put some names to imagining whimsical rock formations, and enjoyed a fun, casual ride around the beautiful coast. On the way back up to the docks, he kicked the boat in gear and sped us in teasing trajectories for head-first collisions with rock outcrops, pulling away at the last minute in a swerve and splash of sea-spray.

Historic Center

We spent an hour or so strolling the town, ducking into tourist shops and passing by the Igreja de Santo António. It’s a very relaxed destination and easy to navigate.

Lunch at Saibos

We stumbled into this cute tapas place, and it was one of our favorite meals in Portugal, with seafood and mussels straight from the Algarve.

Where to Stay

Lagos Avenida Hotel was a reasonably priced and gorgeous room, an easy walk from the train station and centrally located.

Our Portugal & Andalucia Trip

Lisbon | Sintra | Lagos | Seville | Granada | Ronda | Cordoba

Lagos was part of a trip that began in Lisbon and took us to explore the Andalucian region of Spain. After Lagos, we took a 4-hour bus into Spain via ALSA and arrived in Seville.

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Lisbon | Sintra | Lagos | Seville | Granada | Ronda | Cordoba

The picturesque beauty of Pena National Palace and the roaming, rugged Moorish Castle make Sintra the perfect day trip for visitors to Lisbon.

With seven hours, we were also able to take a gorgeous forested hike down to the town center, and visit the eclectic and playful Gothic gardens of the Quinta da Regaleira (though we didn’t have nearly enough time there).

In early November, the weather was wet and romantic. I wore nice rubber boots but was still covered in mud from all the hiking, and grateful for a waterproof coat and umbrella.

Getting there from Lisbon:

A train runs about every 30 minutes from the Rossio Station in Lisbon to Sintra, takes 40 minutes, and can be paid for with the reloadable Viva Viagem card, if you used other public transportation in Lisbon.

We took the 8 am train to make sure we were there as early as possible. So did everyone else! This is going to be crowded no matter how you dice it, as tour groups flood the morning hours and if you come any later, you cut yourself short on time to experience everything.

Our greatest decision was hailing a cab from the Sintra train station to take us to the Pena Palace. It was inexpensive, fast (I mean, really, really fast — these guys do this trip all day and know every swerve in the road), and we beat everyone waiting for the buses.

Order of Sights:

To minimize backtracking up hills, see the sights in this order: Pena Palace, walk down the street to Castelo dos Mouros (Moorish Castle), then walk into town via the beautiful Vila Sassetti hiking trail. From the end of the trail, Quinta da Regaleira is a short (but steep) ten-minute walk to your left.

Pena National Palace

Book your tickets online in advance. If you’d like to tour the residential interior of the palace, which I’d recommend if it’s not peak season when the lines get lengthy, opt for the Park and Palace ticket. You’ll hop in line at the gate here, get scanned in, and then hike uphill about ten minutes to the entrance. It’s steep but manageable, and a better option if possible for you than waiting in the big lines for the bus.

Once you’re in, it’s playtime. This beautiful, decorative mishmash of architecture styles under King Ferdinand’s creative vision incorporates some distinctly Portuguese Romanticism along with tiles, a clock tower, and lavish rooms used by the royal family in the summer.

The palace interior is the only ticketed section once you are inside the grounds. We went straight here when it opened and did not wait in line, but spied a big wait in the afternoon that later cleared out again. If it’s busy, try again. There’s lots to explore in the meantime.

Castelo dos Mouros (Moorish Castle)

By this point in our day the rain had settled in, a runic mist that hung over the moss-flecked spine of fortifications winding up and over the forested hillside, and wrapped against wind and water, we trekked the castle walls scouting for invaders in the fog like soldiers of old.

The Moorish Castle is just a quick walk downhill from Pena Palace, on the right side. There is a forested approach before you reach the ruins.

Vila Sassetti Trail

Rather than ride back down into the city center, we were pleased with this gorgeous nature trail. We had a couple of false starts trying to find the trailhead, so be sure to follow directions: Once you exit the Moorish Castle, take a right on the road and walk until you hit the “Lakes Exit” of the Pena Palace (referred to here as Bilheteira do Parque da Pena). You’ll see a sign for the Vila Sassetti trail with a hiker on it, and a parking lot on your right. Walk to the back of the long parking lot to start the hike.

The trail takes about 30 minutes and winds near the walls of the Moorish Castle near huge boulders used for rock-climbing, through forests and finally by the exterior gardens of a pretty villa.

Quinta da Regaleira

This intriguing estate is a bit of a Gothic playground, with its own gargoyle-studded palace and park full of green lagoons, waterfalls, dark cave tunnels and the famous Initiation Well, the photogenic swirling spiral staircase designed with Tarot mysticism and grown over with lush green moss.

We squeezed this in before catching a train back to Sintra, as we were on a tight schedule to pick up our bags in the Rossio Station, transfer to Entrecampos and head out to our night’s stay on the coast of the Algarve. Unfortunately, this meant we only had a half hour to explore and it was certainly not enough. Thank goodness we had the sense to hail a tuk-tuk for the ride down to the train station, or we would have thrown everything off. After all the walking in the rain, the last ride through Sintra in the comfort of the tuk-tuk was worth the price.

I’d recommend somewhere to eat, but we didn’t eat The one restaurant we tried for lunch wasn’t accepting any more diners, and we had to make a decision to wander through Quinta da Regaleira or scrounge for a quick bite. Sightseeing won the contest, and I destroyed a hearty bifana (Portuguese pork sandwich) back in Lisbon before our next train.

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Lisbon | Sintra | Lagos | Seville | Granada | Ronda | Cordoba

Lisbon is a hip capital where visitors can tap into the exploratory spirit that dominated this country and commercial port for a good chunk of European history. But you won’t need to pack the schedule to see everything at breakneck speed: Lisbon is truly for wandering, admiring, and getting a bit lost.

We spent one day on historic plazas, scenic overlooks and urban walks through the zigzagging lanes of the Baixa, Barrio Alto and Alfama, and a second on a quick ride out to Belem to explore architecture and celebratory monuments.

Don’t miss a day trip after to the palaces of Sintra, covered in a blog soon.

Getting Around:

We used the metro to travel from the airport to Rossio Station by purchasing a reloadable Viva Viagem card from the machines. We added more to the card to ride Tram 28, the bus out and back from Belem, and to take the train to and from Sintra on our day trip. Accessing everything else was easy by foot.

Day 1: Baixa & Barrio Alto

Rua Augusta & Praca do Commercio

Our hotel (Be Poet Baixa) in this central neighborhood was the perfect home base for three nights, offering easy access to the surrounding districts. You’ll be dodging tourist shops and restaurants (“don’t eat here,” pleaded the savvy locals on our hotel staff) but it was safe, convenient and well-trafficked. If you don’t stay here, it’s worth a quick walk for the tiled lanes and grand Arco Triunfal that opens to the sprawl of famous Praca do Commercio, once a bustling square where wealth moved from trading ships into Portugal’s heart.

Rossio Square

In a wondrous, jet-lagged stupor as we crawled across the city center from the underground airport transfer, this was the first place we walked and where I returned with camera in hand after dinner to snap shots of rain glinting off the undulating grey and white tiles. We passed by this square several times on our outings, and I became so fond of it, I bought socks patterned in its honor.

A Ginjinha

One man. One bottle of famous ginja, a cherry liqueur. One drink for €1.20. That’s all there is to this fun little Lisbon tradition, so it’s worth running by to join the throng sipping and puckering up over the suspended cherries if you order it com fruta (my husband and I could only stomach one of two).

Tram 28

This charming yellow-sided electric clunker still serves Lisboans as public transportation, and has been picked up as a tourist must-do for its scenic route through the city as it climbs hills and on certain stretches defies speeds I thought impossible for something born in 1914.

I’ve read that at peak times, lines for this particular tram grow hours long and pack in riders like sardines. My takeaway: It’s so fun and worth it if you can walk on and sit down. In early November at 9am, we had no lines at this stop and no trouble snagging a seat to watch the Barrio Alto and Alfama roll by out the window. Otherwise, spend your time exploring.

Funiculars

Like most things in Lisbon, we didn’t seek them out, but ran across them. Cute and graffiti-clad, they lurk in alleys haul passengers up and down slippery tiled hills that I may not or not have fallen twice on, even in sturdy boots…

Carmo Convent

This striking roofless ruin, another architectural victim of the 1755 earthquake, was once a Catholic convent and now a quiet, reflective space where we found visitors respectfully staying out of photo ops to admire the play of sunlight off arches.

Church of Sao Roque

My preferred church visit over Se Cathedral, this decorative Jesuit place of worship houses ornate paintings, intricate gold chapels and Catholic altars with visions of the macabre: Human remains on the Altar of the Holy Virgins peek through glass cases and form the bones of arm-shaped reliquaries.

Santa Justa Lift

I’m all for ornate elevators. I love lifts, funiculars, trams and gondolas, and this beauty is enticing: Built in the 19th century to help city dwellers and future tourists with the local issue of “how do I get up this hill?”, the design and views are lovely. But every time we walked by en route somewhere else, we eyed the hour-long line outside and said, eh. Go up if you can spare it, as the view looks amazing.

Barrio Alto & Chiado

We meandered around these neighborhoods at different times during our stay for food and window shopping (and some actual shopping when I dipped into an H&M for much-needed socks that worked with my boots), and while we were too tired to make it out late with locals, apparently Chiado is a hotspot for nightlife and bars.

Day 1: Alfama

Our favorite for wandering. We spent most of the day in a maze of tiny streets, tiles, old homes and tiny doors for an ancient generation of much smaller inhabitants. On a sunny day in November, street players were out, people were dancing and beer was cheap. We sat around Miradouro das Portas do Sol and ate something I pointed at in a stall window that surprised us with shrimp inside.

Miradouros

I had a plan of attack for visiting all these famous scenic overlooks in the Alfama District that was quickly swapped for a more Lisbon-suited style of sight-seeing: Just walk around and stumble across them.

Miradouro de Santa Catarina

Miradouro das Portas do Sol

Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara

Miradouro de Santa Luzia

If you do opt to navigate yourself toward one in particular, this is a beauty for its tiled walls, pergola and blooming bougainvilleas shivering in a sea breeze.

Castelo de São Jorge

This hilltop fortification changed hands many a time, earning a 14th-century dedication to dragon-slaying St. George and suffering damage during the 1755 earthquake (you’ll see a lot of this in Lisbon’s architectural history). Now it’s a relaxed heritage center where you can trek the castle ramparts for beautiful views over the city and pick up a bit of history in the museum.

If you’re in shape for some stairs (okay, a lot of stairs), go out on the long lookout extension that’s visible from all over town. The entrance to the castle complex is in the Alfama, but if you’re downhill in the city center/Baixa/Chiado area, you can catch a lift on the elevator here (Google Maps).

Se Cathedral

If you’re in the area, the city’s oldest church offers free admission to peek inside.

Day 2: Belem

Seeing the sights down the coast from the city’s heart will take half a day, and we found there was no rush to hop on the bus and head over. We got to the unmissable Jerónimos Monastery by 11 am and had plenty of time to see everything.

Jerónimos Monastery

The critical advice to enjoy this beautiful 16th-century complex is to walk right by the monstrous line forming outside the ticket area and head into the Museu Nacional de Arqueologia. There is no wait to buy a combo ticket from the machine here, and it is only a few euros more. We made a quick loop of the museum itself, and then walked back out to the street and straight inside.

If you’re not familiar with the Manueline style of architecture, you will be now. Entrancing arches, filigrees and symbols like the differing animal rainspouts keep the eye busy as you wander around the cloister court and upper level. There’s even a nice view inside the connected Santa Maria de Belem Church – so nice we decided to skip the 45-minute line to enter it on the ground level.

Pastéis de Belém

The line goes quick at this famous bakery, where Portugal’s egg custard tarts get a local spin with an ancient recipe developed at the monastery. We enjoyed ours on a bench watching the fountain at the Praça do Império.

Padrão dos Descobrimentos (Monument of the Discoveries)

Portugal’s Age of Discovery is commemorated in a late ’50s stone monument featuring famous navigators, explorers, writers and one queen along a striking prow that overlooks the Tagus River. Approach along a beautiful tiled compass court and good luck fitting the whole thing in a shot. There is an exhibit and viewpoint inside that we skipped.

Belém Tower

Enjoy the sunshine along the walking path from the Monument to the Belém Tower. The 1500’s fortress once guarded the harbor, and if you look for it in old art and paintings, you’ll notice it appears father out in the water in a century when it occupied an island out in the river. The changing course of the Tagus has brought it back up to the bank.

Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga

While not technically in Belem, we hit this museum on the way back east into town. It is a fantastic collection of national paintings, reliquaries, furniture, ceramics and the stunningly intricate sculptures of the Portuguese “crib,” or nativity scene I’d refer to as a manger.

Where to Eat

Lunch at Cruzes Credo

I can’t recommend this place enough. Located along the outer wall of the Se Cathedral, it was relaxing, charming and exquisite. We got three courses for € 9 each plus porto and wine, and sat a while at the window watching leaves fall outside. We ate here Day 1 while walking around the Alfama.

Dinner at Time Out Market

Our Day 1 dinner was at the popular one-roof, many-chefs concept launched first in Lisbon and carried onto other big cities internationally. The busy food-court style space offers options around the outside and foists you onto precious bench seating to enjoy your vinho verde and small bites.

Dinner at Ramiro

The line for seafood heaven is packed at the local 8pm dinner time, but we hadn’t quite adjusted to the new rules and I am glad we did. At 6pm, we waited a half-hour outside this spectacular, low-key restaurant before getting inside and cracking into crab, jumbo prawns, mussels and more.

We spied the menu item “Edible Crab” off of a neighbor, and my husband taught me how to smash and pick apart legs with the provided tools between filling up on bread and the dip dished up inside the main crab shell. So good. Thank you to the Web Summit attendee at our table (one of many in the city for a conference) who ordered it first and shared the wine they didn’t want.

Drinks at Topo Rooftop Bar

As we’re wandering back south from dinner at Ramiro, wondering where to grab a drink, we hear a screeching from the heights above as a panel pulls back from some rooftop perch. We squint, take stock of neon signage that helpfully reads BAR, and decide to check it out. Topo had an awesome vibe and a range of well-priced drinks. We met an awesome husband and wife power couple flown from New York to work in film and stake a claim for citizenship in Portugal, a process that involves just living there for a few years, and got to learn more about the city from their perspective.

We went to Sintra the next day to visit the palaces. You can read about it coming soon, as well as a day on Portugal’s coast in Lagos.

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