For When You Miss Me: The Algarve, Porto, and Lisbon

Welcome back to another segment of “For When You Miss Me”, I hope you all have been enjoying my thoughts on the places that I’ve been so far. This week, I have decided to jumble all of my Portuguese city experiences into one abbreviated post. But let’s recap first.

Into the Algarve

Last week we ended up in Barcelona, a city that famously I was not too fond of. From there we decided to fly into Faro and pick up a rental car from Europcar. And let me just say, this experience reminded me of why I hate rental car agencies. Why are they so pushy? I swear it’s like their only goal is to try to take advantage of you, I do not understand. But nevertheless after nearly an hour we finally got a car.

Now, we were never asked for it but before we left my mom and I both made sure to get ourselves International Driving Permits at our local AAA office. I don’t know if you necessarily need to do this for most countries, but I thought it would be good to mention. Another thing worth mentioning is that you should get a car no larger than a compact SUV! Do not be persuaded on this. DON’T DO IT! (but more on this later)

Anyways so after we got that out of nightmare, we stayed the night at the Ria Formosa Guesthouse just minutes from the airport and then continued on our way to our Airbnb for the next week in Cabanas.

Originally we were disappointed because we thought we had booked a place in town in Tavira but because we had a car it ended up being a benefit to be a few minutes away. The place we stayed at is listed as a Hint of Lime on Plumguide, and we would both highly recommend it to anyone. Go to Continente for any grocery, laundry, or home good products that you need while you are there.

During our time in the Algarve we went on quite a few different adventures! We went kayaking through Benagil Cave, mountain biking in Lagos, and enjoyed some delicious local cuisine at Zeca de Bica. I never knew that pork + clams would make such an INCREDIBLE combination but alas here we are. Also they had homemade lemon meringue pie, so what am I supposed to do? Say no?

The Best Restaurant In The Algarve

If you’re a coffee lover order a pingado. In Portugal, "pingado" refers to a coffee drink made with a small amount of cold milk added to an espresso. It's essentially an espresso with "a drip" of milk, hence the name. I told my mom that the only souvenir I want from Portugal is an espresso machine for when I get home, lol!

A View of Lagos

The Drive to Porto

After our week in the Algarve it was time to drive the five hours to Lisbon. Honestly the drive was not bad! There was hardly ever any major traffic on the road and we even got to stop at MacDonald’s for the first time this trip! I know what you’re thinking “Omg, you guys are in a beautiful foreign country and all you want is a chicken nugget meal?” and to that I say…. “Well yes, yes that is exactly what I want actually.”

Tell Me You’re American Without Telling Me You’re American

Unfortunately after our brief visit to french fry heaven this is where things took a turn. In search of our elusive hotel, we made the mistake of driving straight into the main city center of Porto. I’m telling you this right now, if you think, even for a second that you will be able to fit a large car in those streets, you would simply be incorrect. Driving in Porto is like entering the 10th layer of hell. Everyone is honking, there are a million people running all over the road, too many one way roads to count, oh and did I mention that all of this was in the middle of rush hour traffic? When I tell you that we genuinely had to rebook a separate hotel because there was absolutely no parking, I’m not kidding. Tears were shed by all parties involved.

Nevertheless we finally made it to our end destination, the Hilton Porto Gaia. I cannot recommend this hotel enough. It’s huge, has a spa, fitness center, and a super trendy rooftop bar with delicious Peruvian inspired Portuguese drinks and cuisine. When our friends arrived the next day we actually all decided to leave our mis-marketed Airbnb and head straight back to the Hilton. That’s how good it was. It’s also just over the bridge from downtown Porto so you can still get an amazing view of the city while being far enough away to not feel stuck in the hustle and bustle.

It rained the entire time we were in Porto but we did still manage to do quite a bit. Looking back I honestly probably would have done less. We were running on a jam packed schedule which while looking at my beautiful printed out google sheets itinerary didn’t look too hectic, but in actuality was way too much.

Here’s what to do:

• Visit the World of Wine (The Wine Experience, The World of Chocolate, and The Pink Palace)

• Walk the Paxia Walkways

• Do a Walking Tour

• Visit the Library that supposedly inspired J.K. Rowling to write Harry Potter called the Livraria Lello if that’s your thing (if not you can totally skip it tbh as it’s quite literally always packed). In fact, my favorite thing about this stop was visiting the gelato place next door for a latte.

The Streets of Porto

Learning Lisbon

After our time in Portugal, the gals had arranged a private transport to Lisbon. This convenience was well worth it, especially considering there were six of us, each with more than one bag. Immediately upon arrival we headed off to join a bike tour of the city. And let me just say they don’t call Lisbon “The City of 7 Hills” for nothing. Whether you plan to walk or bike be prepared for a leg workout.

I truthfully felt quite sorry for my mom this week. For those of you who may not know, my mom had one of her ankle joints replaced back in October of last year and despite the length of time between the surgery and our trip her ankle is not exactly where we’d thought it’d be. This became even more obvious in Lisbon when we were constantly having to go up and down numerous flights of stairs.

Anyways, the bike tour was grand just a little precarious when you descended the hills. Our guide even let us stop for one of Lisbon’s most popular snacks called a Bifana (aka “an incredibly delicious pork sandwich”).

Bike Tour Time

Other things we did in Lisbon that I would recommend include:

• booking a kayak tour

• trying a pastel de nata

• visiting the TimeOut Market

• taking a cooking + market class with Cooking Lisbon

• attending a Fado show at a small underground restaurant

I would go more into detail about each of these but frankly we were, again, so on the go that I didn’t have enough time to really savor each activity.

Our Delicious Meal From Our Cooking Class

Final thoughts.

All in all, I would personally recommend Lisbon over Portugal. The city is right on the water and feels much more spread out than Portugal. There’s less graffiti, more green outdoor spaces, and the city is frankly just so much cleaner.

Our Airbnb was located in historic Alfama district which made everything feel quite walkable as long as you had comfortable shoes.

No matter where you go if I were to give you one piece of advice it would be to take your time. I regret not scheduling in more free time during this part of our trip, but I’m grateful that I learned that lesson now and not two months from now. While I agree that it’s important to try to take in the culture of wherever you’re visiting, I think it’s equally important (if not more so) to let those things sink in. You cannot appreciate something for what it is if you don’t give yourself a chance to.

Tavira, Portugal