This one is well overdue - almost 4 months! I recently visited Portugal and Spain back in Oct 2018 with a group of lovely friends and decided to share my experience with you here. We arrived in Lisbon - or how locals call it Lisboa - by taking a direct flight with TAP airlines. I actually have to say we were a little nervous when we booked our flights having no experience with the national Portuguese airline but it turned out to be a great overall experience.
On our way to Lisbon
We spent half a day in Lisbon wondering around Comércio Plaza. Had our first Pastel de Nata at Manteigaria before driving with our rental car (Citroen C3) to Evora, a wine county region just 45 minutes west of Lisbon. We checked in at our hotel late at night and went straight to bed. Next day was mostly spent walking around the beautiful streets of Evora, drinking green wine and enjoying light snacks here and there. We visited Catedral de Évora with great views of the city and Ossos chapel which had a room filled with human bones and skulls! Had a light lunch somewhere local but managed to book a table at Vinho e Noz and what a great choice it turned out to be! The atmosphere was great and I loved my stone cooked Striploin Steak shared with a bottle of Portuguesse red wine which ended our night on a high note!
Polpo (Octopus in Portuguese) at a restaurant in Huelva
Next day we left for the highly anticipated Albufeira, 2 hours drive there was very scenic going through mountains and lots of olive trees. Checked in at our hotel around noon and went straight to the beach. The sunset is absolutely mesmerizing there with gorgeous shades of blue from Atlantic Ocean and and highly seating cliffs - simply breathtaking. We joked around how it kind of looks like Santorini but of course I’ve never been there so…!
Sunset at Albufeira, Algarve
Had a quick lunch and went to the streets to explore the city which was exploding with lots of tourists mostly from Britain, being loud, singing songs and dancing through the streets. We went back to the hotel, rested and got ready for dinner at a nice water front restaurant which turned out to be good.
2 Michelin Star Ocean Restaurant
Next day was mostly spent on the Atlantic coast roads travelling from Albufeira to Sagres. We stopped at Lagos midway and went down to one of the beautiful beaches with breathtaking sceneries. We looked up a restaurant and had some sea food there before getting back on the road to Sagres. Wow, what a great decision, it truly fits its name - End of the World! I mean I might be biased because Sagres holds a special place in my heart because of what happened there that day but if you are planning to go to south Portugal, make sure you leave a few hours for Sagres - you wont be disappointed. I already had booked a table 3 months in advance at the highly anticipated 2 Michelin Star “Ocean Restaurant” and I have no words to describe our experience there. We opted for the 9 course Culinary menu and every course was magical. We had lots of sea food dishes, lamb, pork, octopus and many many more items which I cant even explain. We wondered around the Vila Vita resort where the restaurant was located and drove back to Albufeira. All I can say now looking back at it is that it was probably one of the best days of my life.
Coast of Lagos
It was time to leave and get back to the road again, this time for Spain! we left in the morning and went straight to Huelva, the first city after the border on Spain side. Stayed there for lunch and had one of the best Octopus dishes I have ever had, wondered in the streets for few hours and left for the beautiful Seville. Got there around 6pm, checked into our airbnb which was great, spacious and clean and the location was superb. We came downstairs and we were right in the middle of everything. The area was called Centro (Central) and had many amazing restaurants, coffee shops and retail stores surrounding it. We walked for a few hours in the streets, had ice cream at Amorino and visited Las Setas De Sevilla. Then walked back to Catedral de Sevilla with the beautiful streets which looked even more spectacular at night. Found a street full of restaurants (Tapas bars) called Calle Mateos Gago and ate at Bar La Sacristía which was one of our trip’s best highlights with their famous Grilled Goat Cheese and Honey, drooling!!! We stayed up till really late wondering in the streets and went back to our place to sleep.
Plaza de Espana, Seville
Following day was spent sightseeing and eating amazing food in every little corner we could find. We spent a great amount of time around Royal Alcázar of Seville, Seville University and Plaza de España. The second is an absolute must - a great place to walk around and take beautiful pictures. Walked back to Centro and ate some more tapas there before going back to our airbnb to rest. We went out again at night going from one bar to another eating more food and lots of sangria before getting lost and walking back very very tired to our airbnb. We had a long drive in front of us the next day and had to rest.
Streets of Seville
Woke up early, went for breakfast and headed to the streets again for more sightseeing before hitting the road again. We drove for a few hours all the way to the north and stopped at the last city in Spain called Badajoz and had more delicious tapas at a local restaurant. Finally entered Portugal again, stopped at a little village called Mora for a much needed espresso, the locals were sitting at tables having coffee and talking in Portuguese which just made the entire coffee experience even more relaxing. Another hour of driving and we hit Lisbon and its rush hour. Found our hotel and went for dinner at the closest high rating restaurant around our place. Food again turned out to be amazing and I personally had 4 dishes just for myself - thats how good it was!
Jamón and other meat slices at Bar La Sacristía
Next day was mostly spent at Sintra going up the hills in a tuk tuk and walking from one palace to another with beautiful architecture and scenery. Took lots of photos and went back to central Lisbon where we had Italian food for a change! Walked up Avenue da Liberdade, had a espresso at a local coffee shop, took a taxi and went back to our place, we were TIRED after walking around almost 12 kms non-stop!
Sintra, Lisbon
On our last day I wasn’t feeling well and the whole trip exhaustion finally caught up to me, I stayed at the hotel and everyone else went out for lunch. It was finally time to go back home so we packed our bag, dropped off our rental car and got a shuttle. We passed by both Sporting Lisbon and Benfica’s stadiums on our way to the airport. Had something small there (KFC serves Beer!!!!) checked in our bag and took the flight back home. At the end of it all - as cliche as it sounds - no place is like home but I can say with high confidence that every one of us had an amazing experience visiting these two lovely countries and we would definitely be interested to go back again to see the rest of it!
Obrigado!